Trying to fill in your next travel itinerary? Check out the tour schedules of your favorite bands and musicians – they may point you toward an adventure in a city you otherwise would overlook. It also may surprise you to learn how popular some acts are in smaller countries around the world.
For example, Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen is not performing in Atlanta on his current tour, but he is playing five nights in Ghent, Belgium. What’s in Ghent, you ask? Well, not much, but I saw him perform there on a recent tour, and it was an undeniably magical evening.
I included a weekend in Ghent as part of my grand European tour specifically to catch Cohen’s concert in St. Peter’s Square. While Belgium’s larger cities like Brussels and Bruges are modern cities with their own unique tweaks, Ghent is sleepier and sublime. Good news if you enjoy strolling around a beautiful old town bolstered by strong beer and chocolate — bad news if you need a working ATM on a Sunday.
Sure, the people were friendly, joking that with their love of high-caloric luxuries they were among the more rotund countries in the European Union, but I didn’t quite understand why Cohen would spend so much time in this small town until the show began. After all, this is the greatest lyricist of our time — it seemed odd that he would be so popular in a place where English is only one of many spoken languages. He is a Canadian who has spent much of his recent years living in near-seclusion in a California monastery; he isn’t exactly someone promoted alongside the “Jersey Shore” cast on MTV.
Once the sun set and I found myself settled into the temporary bleachers, all doubts vanished. St. Peter’s in Ghent is not the Vatican, but it has a stately, ornate facade that provides all of a church’s beauty without the dreaded dogma. Compared to Cohen’s U.S. venues like Radio City Music Hall, the setting is intimate; just a few Belgian fans getting together to enjoy a perfect late-summer evening with Leonard.
It occurred to me that I didn’t need to buy a ticket to enjoy this concert — Cohen’s deep voice can likely be heard anywhere in the tiny town when he performs in the square. Still, he sells out multiple nights to fans who are delighted to experience the gravel and wisdom of “Suzanne” and “Chelsea Hotel” in person.
Not since I was a teenager in Atlanta had the universality of music struck such a strong chord in me. How bad can things be if Leonard Cohen can still sell out five nights in Ghent, right? In a town I never thought I’d see, watching the words of one of my idols wash over a worshipful crowd in a deliciously divine setting, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.