Getting ready for visits from Madonna and Leonard

August 29, 2009 - 7:54 PM by David

madonna September is going to be a five star month in Israel for appearances by visiting pop performers. Within a few week period, we’ll be treated to shows by Madonna, Leonard Cohen, Faith No More, Julio Iglesias, MGMT, and Dinosaur Jr. This follows a couple of great shows last week by Calexico, The Kaiser Chiefs and even an entertaining jaunt by Lady Gaga.

Clearly, Israel is on the map for touring artists, and music lovers here are ready to welcome them with open arms, despite the hefty prices. Entrance to stadium shows like Madonna and Cohen generally begin at NIS 450 and soar all the way to the thousands for VIP seating. However, that hasn’t dissuaded local audiences from buying tickets. Cohen’s September 24 show at Ramat Gan Stadium sold 47,000 tickets in only 16 hours, and Madonna added a second date on September 2 to her 45,000-plus sold out September 1 show at Hayarkon Park. Even veteran Iglesias added a second show on September 9 at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Center after his September 8 show sold out.

I decided to talk to some of the promotors and managers involved in the flurry of activity to find out if anything changed to suddenly make Israel a desireable place to perform after years of fallowness.

According to Leonard Cohen’s manager Robert Kory, there’s a word of mouth circuit in the industry based on artists’ touring experiences, that can influence another artist’s willingness to perform in Israel.

“There’s definitely communication among managers and artists’ agents. When an artist plays somewhere and has a successful show and enthusiastic audience, other people hear about it,” Kory said.

To read more about the local promotors and their attempts to bring artists like The Killers, Green Day and Coldplay to Israel, see the full story here.

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