WHEN Leonard Cohen opened his world tour in Fredericton, Canada last May, he was given a three-minute standing ovation before singing a single note.

At age 74, and with 15 years under his belt since his last concert, many fans had doubted they would hear him perform again, and they let their appreciation be known.

"The first show, Fredericton, was a mind-blower - the initial audience reaction to Leonard's presence on stage was amazing," Cohen's guitar technician Leif Bodnarchuk told Uncut Magazine.

"I've seen kids go wild, but this older audience was incredible."

Back-up singer Charley Webb added: "It took a while to harden to being affected by grown men and women crying and sobbing and screaming directly in front of you."

Watch a clip of Leonard Cohen singing Hallelujah in Dublin in 2008 Watch Leonard Cohen video clips at his website or on YouTube

For Cohen, who once upon a time drank three bottles of wine before performing to quell his nerves, it was a dream come true.

"This is every musician's dream, to stand in front of an audience and not have to prove your credentials, to come into that warmth," he told Maclean's magazine after one of the first shows of the tour.

"Of course, it creates other anxieties, because you really want to deliver. There's a lot to live up to. But it is quite a rare thing."

There was a time when even Cohen wondered whether his performing days were behind him.

The Canadian songwriting legend spent much of the 1990s at a Zen Buddhist centre in California, facing his demons.

"Even when I was in the monastery at Mt Baldy, there were times when I would ask myself, 'Are you really never going to get up on a stage again?' It was always unresolved," he told Maclean's.

"From time to time, I'd see my guitar, I was still writing songs. But the idea of performing was starting to recede further and further back."

Theft drives tour

It was the theft of almost all of his fortune that prompted Cohen to start touring again.

In 2005 Cohen accused his trusted long-time manager Kelley Lynch of defrauding him of more than $US5 million, leaving him with just $150,000 from his 30-year career.

The following year he was awarded $US9 million in a civil lawsuit but so far Lynch has ignored the verdict and a subpoena for her financial records and Cohen may never be able to reclaim his fortune.

Cohen is matter-of-fact about the reasons behind his return to the spotlight.

"I had to go to work," he told London's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

"I have no money left. I'm not saying it's bad. I have enough of an understanding of the way the world works to understand that these things happen."

Now or never

There was also a sense, he told Maclean's, that it was a case of now or never.

"If I didn't do it this year, I don't think I'm going to do it when I'm 75, or 77, or 80," he said.

"It was hard for me to say never ... I'm at that age where 'never' had a really strong resonance."

The move has paid off for Cohen.

Around the world his shows have sold out in record time, with critics calling his performances "immaculate, beautiful, exquisite" and "an event of biblical dimensions".

Leonard Cohen heads hot season of Brisbane concerts

There is likely to be a similar reaction when Cohen arrives in Australia and New Zealand for a string of shows, starting in Wellington on January 20 and taking in Auckland, the Yarra Valley, Adelaide, Sydney, the Hunter Valley, Bowral, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.

And it's not just the baby boomers who are excited.

Hallelujah

Cohen continues to attract new generations of fans, thanks largely to his 1984 song Hallelujah.

The song has been covered by more than 100 artists including Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Allison Crowe, kd lang, Damien Rice, Bono, Sheryl Crow, Rufus Wainwright and, most famously, Jeff Buckley.

Buckley's 1994 version featured on his debut album Grace, which sold millions worldwide before the singer drowned in 1997.

It was Buckley's version rather than Cohen's that made the song universally recognisable, and just last month it was at the top of the UK charts thanks to the winner of TV talent contest X Factor, Alexandra Burke.

Her gospel-chorus version of Hallelujah became the fastest-selling single by a British female in chart history - outselling the rest of the Top 20 combined with more than 576,000 copies moving.

At the same time Buckley fans kicked off an internet campaign to get his version to top the charts and got in to number two - the first time in more than 50 years that the same song has held the two top spots in the UK singles charts.

Cohen's own version of the song entered the charts as a new entry at number 36, his first British Top 40 hit.

Cohen has maintained a resolute silence on Hallelujah's success and the merits of the relative versions.

But he says on this world tour he has developed a new appreciation for his songs.

"One of the surprises was getting to know these songs again - I hadn't really looked at them for a long, long time," he told Maclean's.

"The songs are good. They hold up and you can get into them."

Leonard Cohen plays the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on February 3 supported by Paul Kelly. Silver tickets $140.25, gold $195.80.