I was one of the privileged 4,500 people who managed to obtain seats for the Leonard Cohen show last Wednesday at the Brighton Centre.

The performance was everything your critic stated (The Argus, August 31) and more.

I admit, even though I should know better at the age of 67, I was one of the first to “stampede” to the front of the stage at 10.30pm when the audience were calling for him to return for an encore. It was amazing to be within yards of the great man when he skipped back on for another 40 minutes of songs.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve been a fan for 40-odd years. What a contrast to the first ever Leonard Cohen concert I slid into at the Brighton Dome in the late 1970s as a closet fan (it wasn’t considered cool in those days to love Cohen and his music, which was generally considered to be tuneless and boring). Now you are lucky to get a seat for any of his amazing come-back gigs.

After 40 years of loving every song he has ever written and travelling across the world over the past six years to see him (including the Yarra Valley in Australia and New York), it is great to see how popular he has become in his older years.

Leonard was charming his audience with his 40 minutes of encores and engaging with his audience in a way so few stars do today. He seemed to be genuinely appreciative of our support in coming to see him. I can’t wait for the 2014 tour to begin.

Sheila Gavan, Welbeck Avenue, Hove