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Last update - 11:51 19/06/2008 Morrissey hasn't canceled yet By Roni Dori Tags: Morrissey, Madonna  It would not be exaggerated to say it's easier to count the foreign artists who won't be appearing in Israel this summer than to list those scheduled to come here. The last few weeks has seen bustle of activity with local media coming up with new names almost daily. Hayarkon Park will be busier than ever this summer. So far this year, Ian Brown, the "Australian Pink Floyd," Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dinosaur Jr. and Modern Talking have appeared. The flutist George Zamfir came last week for six performances and before the end of the month, the hip-hop group, Cypress Hill, and Greek performer Haris Alexiou will be coming, too. At the end of the first week of July, Blondie and Air Supply will be appearing. Later in July, Sean Kingston, Branford Marsalis and Morrissey are scheduled to come, and the warm-up act for him will be New York Dolls and Siouxsie Sioux, the former soloist of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Macy Gray and the Breeders are scheduled to perform in August. Advertisement The onslaught continues through September and October, with scheduled arrivals including the keyboardist Richard Clayderman, Blood Sweat and Tears, Snoop Dogg, Chris Cornell, Air and the Gutter Twins (Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan), the alternative duo Low (who performed with Radiohead and Coldplay) and Laurie Anderson. It is still unclear whether the reports of the planned arrival of Leonard Cohen, the Gorillas and Madonna are true. No discounts Impresario and producer Shuki Weiss doesn't think it is a case of inflation. "At least as far as my shows, the season is organized carefully," he says. "It is possible there are a few more performances than usual this year, it's a result of the weak season last summer. There is a combination of a relatively strong economy here and relative quiet on the security front. These are important factors in the artists' level of openness to and interest in coming here. It's a sign of normalcy that there is an increase in cultural events." Weiss, who two weeks ago announced the cancelation of Bjork's performances due to poor ticket sales, acknowledges a bit of downturn in ticket sales, but is convinced that the audience will grasp how worthwhile it is to order tickets as early as possible, for example, when it comes to seating. "Our people coordinate with international agents and if an artist charges $50, for example for a ticket to his performance, I can't decide suddenly to change the price to $40. So there are no real hopes of getting any last-minute discounts." Weiss rejects the idea that the audience waits to buy tickets to "steal time" and get a complete picture of scheduled performances, so that they can plan wisely in terms of their spending: "I don't believe in the approach that if there is a Morrissey concert in Hayarkon Park in July, that they won't buy then because they'll wait for Madonna's concert in October." Apropos of Madonna, Weiss refers to the media handling of the rumors of her arrival as "a journalistic lame duck." And adds: "it's just talk and not right to talk about things that aren't happening." As for Leonard Cohen, he says: "I was involved in the efforts to bring him and I received notice that he will not be coming. If an impresario has a contract with an artist for a performance, and he sells tickets, then probably he'll come." There are still no tickets on sale. Producer Dudu Zerzevsky, who brought Ian Brown to Israel and will soon bring Cypress Hill, and Sean Kingston, bewails the media treatment of the summer concerts. "We have a rule among us," he says. "You don't issue a press release about a concert before the contract is signed. There are endless names dropped, there is talk that artists have been fighting over venues, and it's unclear if they'll even come. I'm hesitant about the publicity for Leonard Cohen. The big question is if he's coming." According to him, the onslaught this coming summer is a result of the relative calm in the security situation: "When the country is in turmoil and things are happening, the artists don't come, but Tel Aviv is a city that does not lag far behind the important centers and artists like coming here. But premier league singers have yet to come." What does he think about the lag in ticket purchases? "It's true, we feel a bit of a slowdown. The audience has adopted strange behavior; it buys a ticket at the last minute because it's not sure the artist will show up. But when the news of Roger Waters' arrival was published, ticket sales surged immediately, and I imagine that if Madonna comes, they also won't wait." Zerzevsky, who also produces the Date Festival at the Dead Sea, estimates that the impact on local artists' performances will be minimal, if any at all. "The artists work well, I see them in Caesarea, the market works and it has a direct impact on the local market. Perhaps it's harder for them and I'm not aware enough. All in all, there are many performances open to the general public and this affects them. At the Avoda Ivrit show, for example, there was a real celebration. I also wouldn't rush afterward to see a performance by one of the artists who performed there." Rough business Producer Shahaf Schwartz says: "This is the busiest season for groups and most of the proposals reaching the impresarios are arranged for the summer months. Obviously there will be cancelations. Part of it is because the whole network of reciprocal arrangements between impresarios in Israel and impresarios abroad has changed. There is always another new producer or two. "The impresarios in Israel have to compete more among themselves to bring over an artist. Once artists could earn nicely from the sale of discs, today it isn't that way anymore, and the troupes earn their keep mostly from concerts. For this reason, they don't allow everyone to profit off them, and even when you bring somebody big, they want 90 percent of the ticket sales from you and expect you to take upon yourself all of the risks and earn a pittance, if anything. The artists negotiate, they are in contact with several impresarios at the same time, so a situation is created in which the impresarios issue press releases to mark the territory. In the end, in many cases it amounts to contacts only, and it is uncertain that there will be an advance and a contract signed. "Another reason for the advanced ads is prestige, and yet another reason is the attempt to flood the market with dozens of names to shut competitors up. That's what happened to me, I saw that the summer was crazy and moved things to September. In the end, many groups turned down the offers and the concerts didn't happen, and many of the shows that prompted me not to take the risk and go for an alternative audience in the end weren't relevant. "During the past year, at least half of the performances were canceled, and I estimate that this season as well, close to 50 percent of them will be canceled," he says. "And even with the best intentions, there is still the matter of ticket sales, which don't always succeed. The competition among producers is only intensifying the situation, because there is considerable willingness to take a big risk, and in the end it affects everyone: When a certain producer counts on a future budget, he causes the prices to spike in order to supplement the rest and bring the artist to Israel, and in the end, when he gets this budget, suddenly he cannot meet the expense and this hole causes him to cancel the concert. The impresarios today run to the media at the first opportunity they have to announce contacts, but from the moment the report is published until a performance actually takes place, it's such a long, winding and exhausting road." Schwartz, who in past years brought Devendra Barnhart, Regina Spector, Alphaville and Twilight Singers, is convinced that "this is the niche that remains for us to deal in, quality alternative artists whose performances audiences will be willing to pay for." According to him, the increased number of foreign performances very much affects the local market: "The clubs in Israel that work on the local market are dead in the summer. In the past I managed, Barbie, and I saw what happens there in these months. The top artists, such as Barry Saharoff, for example, appear four times a week in the summer, because they find ways to appear in places where audiences can see them for free: there are, after all, dozens of student days, shows that the municipalities organize for their residents. They move away from the box office openings. The ones affected are the smaller artists, who need to push themselves to get through the summer. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Sarkozy's promise 'France will never compromise Israel's security' Israel's agenda Is an Israeli strike on Iran still on the government's agenda?   1.   Depresso-Rock 21:31  |  W 19/06/08   2.   Morrissey 19:41  |  Joe 20/06/08   3.   Who`s Morrissey? 22:06  |  The Leprechaun 21/06/08   4.   Wow ! 15:48  |  Sean 22/06/08   5.   Not much going on in Ireland though, is there Seany? 19:53  |  Hannah 22/06/08   6.   Plenty Hannah ! 00:48  |  Sean 23/06/08   7.   Seany, get your decades right, love. 09:58  |  Hannah 23/06/08   8.   Sean 12:13  |  George 23/06/08

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