Leonard Cohen, Wembley Arena, review Leonard Cohen's concert began in sorrow and ended in triumph. The show was meant to have taken place at Hop Farm but was mysteriously relocated to Wembley Arena. "I learnt about it at the same time you did," Cohen told the audience, apologising for any inconvenience the relocation may have caused. What followed was a masterclass in musical generosity. Cohen demonstrated how to treat one's back catalogue, band members and the audience with politeness, respect and warmth. The show was to support Cohen's most recent album, Old Ideas. As the title hints, the songs feature a reassuring lack of collaborations with Rihanna. Likewise, there were no unwise excursions into grime: what fascinates Cohen instead is the dirty business of finding dignity and beauty amid the inevitability of death. That might sound about as much fun as being robbed of your savings by your manager but this was a sublimely pleasurable evening. The men in the band, dressed in fedoras and dark suits, resembled ageing wise guys with Cohen their gravel-voiced godfather. It began with a delicate Dance Me to the End of Love and a pulsating The Future. Everybody Knows was warmed by the harmonising of backing singers Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters. Songs were fleshed out but never turned flabby: Neil Larsen's Hammond organ shaded Bird on a Wire, while Avalanche began with a mesmerising solo on the 12-stringe guitar from Javier Mas - everyone else on stage was stone still, like actors witnessing a show-stopping soliloquy. During Sisters of Mercy, I turned to see my wife sobbing softly. She was thinking about a friend of ours who had died only days earlier from motor-neurone disease, aged just 37. She loved Leonard but never got to see him in concert. There was also humour: the squeals from the women in the audience when Cohen promised "I'll examine every part of you" on I'm Your Man and joy at being able to hear Hallelujah without the threat of mobile phones being held aloft. The house lights came up for So Long, Marianne and Famous Blue Raincoat before Cohen closed with a gorgeous cover of The Drifters" Save the Last Dance for Me. Then he was off, skipping - yes skipping - after three-and-a-half hours, proving that he may be 78 next week but this remains a country for old Len.