From the moment he ran onto the stage of Kingston's K-Rock Centre to the moment the last echoes of the sound of the band, crew, and him singing from the "Book Of Ruth" faded into applause and bows, Leonard Cohen held our hearts and souls in the palm of his hand last night (May 22, 09). Normally I wouldn't feel either comfortable or safe surrendering that much of myself to anybody, but not only wasn't there much I could do about it in this instance, I doubt any of us gathered together last night could have been in safer or better hands. As a poet, singer, novelist, and song writer, Cohen has always delved into deep emotional waters, but when you see him in concert he not only tells you about those experiences, he becomes your guide through them.

Cohen's first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies was published in 1956 and his first recording,Songs Of Leonard Cohen, was released in 1967. Since then has released twelve books, fourteen albums, and been in front of audiences almost continually either reading or singing his work. At seventy-five the one time enfant-terrible of Canadian poetry has evolved into a grand master/guru to whom people around the world now turn for their heart's easing and their soul's comfort. For where he was once perceived as dark and brooding, cut from the same cloth as Lord Byron and the Romantics of the nineteenth century, as his locks have greyed people have allowed themselves to see past the image they tried to create for him, and let his words and voice reach them instead.

Which is exactly what happened last night as Cohen performed songs from nearly his entire repertoire of recordings for an audience that clung to each word he said and every note he and his band sang or played. Eager as a child and humble as a supplicant, Cohen stood before us with hat in hand (literally and figuratively) asking us to join him in celebrating something most of the world would have us deny - our emotions. He coaxed, teased, joked, and cajoled us into breaking down the walls the world builds around our hearts, while simultaneously providing the reassurance required to allow us to do so in public. Unlike those who would manipulate you with their music in order to make you react in a specific way, Cohen offered the audience the opportunity to feel whatever it was we needed in whatever amount we required.

Having recently reviewed the DVD Leonard Cohen Live In London, a recording made earlier during this current tour, I was slightly worried that I would have spoiled the experience of seeing Cohen in concert for myself as he would most likely perform the same show here in Kingston as was recorded in London. While it's true that the majority of the material was the same, including the sequence in which they were performed and the patter between songs, the difference between even the best that modern technology has to offer and seeing Cohen perform live is immeasurable.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the recently published What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and online all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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