Rodriguez, hours before getting on stage to perform Thursday, walked slowly across the floor of the Neptune Theater to applause. The man was only being led, presumably, to the green room, or to some other part of the theater, but the people at the Neptune applauded his very existence, the very fact that he was here in Seattle to perform.

The show, which opened with a set from Jenny O., who donned blue jeans with big flower patches, began at about 9 pm. People in the crowd whistled, they shouted, clapped, pounded the stage in anticipation. It was a sold out show for the star of the recent documentary, Searching for Sugar Man, which documented the story of Rodriguez’ life working as a laborer while, unbeknownst to him, his music was selling thousands of copies abroad in South Africa. He is currently on a national tour, taking him next to Portland, OR, then Salt Lake City, UT.

Everyone in the crowd had been asking one another, “Have you seen the movie?” and saying, “What an amazing story!” It was this sort of build up that led to the raucous cheer Rodriguez got as he walked on stage at about 9. Dressed in black shirt, black leather pants, bolo tie, felt hat and amber sunglasses, his voice projected clearly from behind an almost clenched jaw.

“We love you!” the people screamed. “I love you back,” he told us.

When one of his hits, “I Wonder,” finished, he said into the microphone, “I wonder, but I don’t really want to know!” This received a loud round of laughter.

For me, it was impossible not to stare at his hands. Thick fingers, veiny wrists. One couldn’t help but think of all the hours he spent working, either building or demolishing houses. How much history and effort was in those hands. I even caught the drummer staring at them when Rodriguez turned away from the mic. And yet, with all that hard work, how well those hands still knew the neck of a guitar.

Rodriguez was jovial, light, he smiled a lot and even told a few jokes including the one about two cannibals eating a clown and “Did that taste funny to you?” At one point he took off his black shirt, leaving only a sleeveless black undershirt. Again you could see the strength and the wear in his body. Despite his ease on stage, there was still an undeniable struggle. One got the sense that the constant clapping and cheering from the audience was what was keeping him going. “I’m 70 years old,” he said. “I just want to be treated like an ordinary legend!”

He even had time to tell us about the song “Sugar Man” – a song about finding a drug dealer to cure your woes – saying, “That is a descriptive song. Not a prescriptive song. Get your hugs. Stay off drugs. Be Smart. Don’t start!” Again cheers.

It was an older audience on the whole – what might you expect, with a man who wrote Dylanesque tunes in the 1970’s. But there were still children dancing in the crowd – a testament to the power of his melody. “Seattle loves Rodriguez!” people shouted, as if we were trying to prove that his wait to be discovered was worth all the time and agony. Here we were! Here he was! Let’s celebrate!

“I know it’s the drinks,” he repeated over and over to us. “But I love you back.”

Rodriguez played for nearly two hours, including a cover of “Blue Suede Shoes”. He played a few tunes solo, but many of them were with the accompanying three-piece behind him: drums, bass and lead guitar. After the set, he was cheered on for an encore. He came back on stage and played a magnificent version of Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone.” This was, somehow, perfect.

“It has been an honor, it has been a pleasure, it has been a privilege,” he told us. “Seattle, I miss you already.” Then, like that, the show was over and what seemed like 10,000 people flooded out into the city streets, happy.