Leonard

When I last saw Leonard Cohen I didn't think I would get to see him on stage again. He toured the world for the fifth year in a row, and I saw him for the sixth time. I travelled to Bruges, Bruxelles and Ghent, and attended the concert here in the Westerpark in Amsterdam. The first concert I saw was in Bruges, on a rainy evening, outside in a park. It was a beautiful setting, a festival site with big pink Flamingos stuck on lamp posts. Umbrellas, rain, a fairly small stage, and intimate surroundings. Martha Wainwright opened the show for him, but soon after he did without an opening act. He needed the time for his own show.

A friend would be joining me but he got stuck in traffic and arrived late, so he ended up a little further back in the crowd. The decoration of the venue lead him to send me one of the best text messages I ever received: "I will meet you after the concert at the crashed flamingo". I felt very Cambridge spies. Just one of my memories of that night, along with the umbrellas, the intimacy.

Leonard had just gotten back to touring, I had read some reports, but was not entirely sure what to expect. I had never heard him sing live before, I had only come to appreciate his music a few years before the concerts because I was living with a man who was a great fan. It took a while for me to get used to the sound, the voice, and to learn to appreciate those and the words. We travelled to Bruges from Amsterdam, full of expectation, but not too sure about what we would get, but we were not disappointed. It was just wonderful to hear all those songs we knew so well, to see this man perform on stage, such a wonderful personality. He kept saying nice things about the members of his band, a little too much maybe. During later concerts he kept his thankyous much shorter.

That first concert was quite intimate. Maybe they chose smaller venues because there was no indication just how many people might turn up. A few days after the first concert he came to Amsterdam, to the Westerpark. Bigger than the Minnewaterpark, more open, but a little less wet too. During the concert we even got a beautiful rainbow. More room here, more air, a different atmosphere. But still the magic of the songs, the voice and the man.

For the next tours the venues seemed to get bigger. The winter concerts indoor, but a preference for outdoor in the summer, the big square in Gent, a magical venue, surrounded by very old building in the evening light, and the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. It took me a while to remember that, as a member of the forum, I could use advance booking so I could get good seats for most venues. In Amsterdam, the last concert at the Ziggo Dome, I was in row 4, a great view. This was the final European concert, one day before his 79th birthday. Lots of singing in the audience too that night.

I still find it hard to believe I got to see this man in concert six times, enjoyed every single time, and found special moments in all concerts. I got to appreciate different songs, at different concerts. I completely love "Famous Blue Raincoat", and now I understand why that is the one everyone seems to be waiting for.

It was strange, the setlist remained more or less the same over the years, the jokes were often the same, the introductions, but the familiarity gave the concerts their intimacy. Small touches changed, but there was a shared past and experience that added to it all. In the end it was all about the songs, those beautiful words and feelings, and about the man, the gentleness, the humility and the joy. It is hard to describe it all, to put it into words, all I know is that they are evenings I will never forget.