"I'm Your Man"

He sure is. Todd and I went to Leonard Cohen's sold-out performance in Kitchener. He sang six of the eight tracks from one of my very favourite albums, I'm Your Man. I would have gone home happy with just that, but he performed for three solid hours, with a short break between sets. Not bad for a guy who's almost 74.

It was a memorable concert. The audience was enthusiastic and grateful, given him many standing ovations, the first one occurring before he'd uttered a single word. This is a man who can recite hockey scores and make it sound like poetry. He did exactly that, 15 years ago, when I saw him perform at the same location, during the Stanley Cup playoffs. You can't grow up in Montreal and not be a Canadiens fan.

Leonard Cohen was witty, charming and humble. He had a superb back-up band, which Todd appreciated, as he doesn't share the same enthusiasm for the poetry alone that I do. Leonard Cohen played a good number of newer pieces, but he treated us to classics like, "Suzanne" (of course), "Who By Fire" and "Hallelujah". His voice just gets better with age ... really. I can't wait to see him in concert when he's 80.