Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen in MUPA

As usual, I was running late. Why is it that every time I go to a concert I seem to be booking it in shoes that are hard to run in?

Fortunately, not only did we make it (huffing and puffing as the lights dimmed), but we got better seats than we'd paid for, presumably because they hadn't sold enough tickets in the gods - yay!I was seated next to a man with a prosperous belly in T-shirt and shorts who smelled like he'd spent the whole day smoking in the sun.

I came to this concert because of Philip Glass, having no idea at all that it was Leonard Cohen's poetry and images put to music. The only thing I knew about LC was Hallelujah (it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift - always liked those lyrics). I found out through this concert that his other words are wry, pithy and heavy-handed by turns, that he likes drawing his face and guitars, and that his voice is deep and gravelly.

There was a small ensemble of musicians, and 4 singers belting it in near-showtune style harmonies. The words were always sung with gravity, even when they were saying "Do not try to pet the ant, you'll destroy it with your awkward affection". I couldn't help laughing though it didn't seem appropriate since nobody else was. Glass tinkered on his keyboard on the stage in front of some fantastic instrumentalists, all of whom took turns on solos and kept up with those endless arpeggios and triplets. Sometimes the singers sat, or walked off stage in deliberate exits. The bass baritone was regal. The mezzo reminded me of Shockheaded Peter.

Other snippets of words:

daffodil machete

I circle round your privacy for a lonesome mile

your thighs a flock of sheep

Three bows (the soprano seemed quite touched by the display of admiration from the crowd, not realising that this is the Hungarian way) and we were off to an evening of me saying "Oh heck, why the hell not, another small beer..."