We don’t know when we’ll be back again this way, so, until then, take care, friends. The weather’s kinda tricky, so don’t catch a cold. If you’ve got to fall, try to fall on the side of luck. And may you be surrounded by friends and family. And if this is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude.

– Leonard Cohen, Philadelphia, May 12, 2009

As you may know, Leonard Cohen played the Academy of Music last night, and though good manners prevent us from gloating here about just how great he was at length, suffice to say it was one of the single greatest performances by any human being that we’ve ever seen in our lives. With a backing band in which every single was musician was, if we may slide into muso-talk here, an absolute fucking monster, Cohen ran through more of his catalog than we’d ever thought we’d hear direct from the source, with each turn of it delivered, frankly, magnificently. (If, for any reason, you have the means to travel to any part of the world and see Cohen play while he’s still doing these shows, do that now; the world is already ruined for your children.) He was spry. He was wry. He danced, and he genuflected. And we’ve never seen a crowd more firmly in the palm of one man’s hand (and this counts Obama and Morrissey). There were standing ovations, explosive outbursts of applause for the way the man delivered single lines, and thunderous applause when Cohen abandoned his accompaniment altogether and recited poetry. He played “Tower Of Song” on a little Casio-crappy keyboard, and it killed; he played “Famous Blue Raincoat” better than you could ever imagine it; he played them all. And at the end of it, backed by a chorus of musicians, he delivered the benediction you see above. We reprint it here both as a way to say, no, thank you, L. Cohen, and also because it’s a pretty badass thing for you to say next time you leave a party. Print it out on a card and put it in your wallet. You know, just in case.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 3:53 pm.