If all men are pack animals, as has been suggested now and then, then Leonard Cohen is the Alpha Male in my particular pack.

The Warhol crowd based on most depictions and descriptions I've gotten were indeed a bunch of assholes. As for Cohen, I like him as a songwriter, not so much as a performer.

I saw Cohen once at UCLA. A large, quiet backing band that included Michelle Phillips. (I actually have seen him 5 times over the years.)

There was a disruption, some crazy/stoned guy yelling and coming onto the stage. He was immediately surrounded by security, but Cohen waved them off.

The two sat on the edge of the stage and talked quietly for several minutes, at one point holding hands.

Then Cohen gets up, goes back to the microphone, and says that to be fair, anyone who wants to can come up to the stage and see the rest of the set from there.

So I got to sit on the floor of the stage, a bit away from Cohen, to see him finish the show. A lot of people cite a lot of performances they have seen by people as "magic," and I guess this is one for that column for me.

I love, love Leonard Cohen. I actually like his voice a lot, gruff and throaty. He can carry tunes such as "I am your man" or "Dance me to the end of Love" without being cheap or sappy. He just takes over. Hm, I adore him.

I met his daughter Lorca in L.A. She's so hot it's sick.