CHAPTER :
Hunter Valley, Australia To Verona Italy And Back Again
With entries from:
Lindy Asimus   —   10 years ago

I'd always liked Leonard Cohen's work. I was just a child when I would wander around singing Suzanne. In 2009 I got to accompany a friend to Bimbadgen Winery in the Hunter Valley and learned what a Leonard Cohen experience was like. Several things struck me - the adoration of all those in the audience. Even the younger ones at the end of the concerts, we were all converts to the Cohen Camp. But more than this was the honesty of a man sharing his place in time right now, his life's work and his sharing of the fruits of his garden that he's supplied us with over so many seasons and remain fresh today. An older man now singing his songs, many of them written as a much younger man. These songs that tell a story from a different place now and take on a piquancy that only time can add, and will only ever improve if the wine in the bottle is excellent from the outset.

Vintage Cohen is a very nice drop.

Blessed again, we were able to see Leonard Cohen in Sydney with some 18,000 people for a strangely intimate experience, particularly when he walked alone onto the stage with just his guitar. So many people to see him and you could have heard a pin drop.

That's mastery.

So much so that the option to see Leonard Cohen in Verona, within the ancient arena was much too attractive for me and my concert buddy, who is a lecturer in ancient Roman history. We were blessed with being able to experience this wonderful performance and also to meet with so many others whose lives had been lit up by the work of this man.

Blessed again, we again saw him in Sydney and for me, full circle back to Bimbadgen.

Thank you Leonard Cohen for sharing your work and your life with us. You give us hope when life does not go the way we think it should and remind us that it goes on anyway.

I hope we shall see you again soon.

  • - just now