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Emma Shapplin crashes and burns in Haifa

Usually, when touring musical acts make their way to Israel, they rise to the occasion and put on a stellar show. Just look at Paul McCartney, Faith No More, Leonard Cohen – despite the lofty price tags, they delivered with consumately professional concerts that left audiences thrilled.

But there’s another kind of concert thrill – the train wreck. Even more surprising is the train conductor in this case – French pop soprano Emma Shapplin, who launched a world tour last week with two shows, in Haifa and Tel Aviv.

Now we’re not talking about someone who you’d expect to be erratic, like grungy Pete Doherty. Shapplin has a distinguished track record of dazzling performances featuring spine-tingling vocals. Her 2003 show in Caesarea was so outstanding that she released it as a live album and DVD.

However, she’s had a few years between albums, and when I talked to her a few weeks ago, she seemed somewhat hesitant about rushing out to perform her new album Macadam Flower ahead of time.

“When we received the offer to do these two shows, I thought, ‘well, it’s a bit premature. The album isn’t finished yet, we haven’t started rehearsing,’” she said.

It turns out that Shapplin’s apprehensions were well justified. According to a review in The Jerusalem Post of the first night’s show by my colleague, Amanda Borschel-Dan, Shappelin was like a deer in the headlights.

Aside from obvious technical difficulties with microphones, etc., Shapplin was confused, forgetting words and musical phrases, once to the point of restarting a number twice and waving away the accompanist who was playing “a different arrangement… why did Shapplin decide to perform a series of classical soprano arias when she was obviously under-prepared?

While the concert-goers were justifiably unsatisfied with the performance, I found myself thinking that it was refreshing to see someone screw up in public. We’re so conditioned to perfection that any blemishes are considered to be horrible miscues and an affront to art. On the contrary, false starts, flubbed cues, and unreached notes are performance art at its most riveting.

Shapplin may have had an off night, or maybe she’s fallen off of her pedestal and is just showing her humanity. Rather than booing her, audiences should be embracing her flaws as well as her talent.

Israeli Hallmark

If you haven’t sent out those Rosh Hashana greetings yet — whether in card or email format, or, lo, facebook — never fear. A fantastic Jerusalem collage artist has created greeting cards that will negate all belated wishes, because they’re just so fun and clever.

Yael Bar, according to her bio, is a Jerusalemite who has never lived in Tel Aviv. (Another reason to like her.) After earning a first degree in the history of art and theater, she is now a recent graduate from Bezalel. I think she’s looking for a job, but in the meantime, is making these one-of-a-kind greeting cards that include all sorts of Israeli and non-Israeli personalities, from Shoshana Damari to Leonard Cohen.

Besides the Rosh Hashana editions, which I’m sending to my nearest and dearest, there are cards for all sorts of occasions, from Mazal Tovs and Chag Sameachs to her particular take on Israeli life, with collages lifted from recent newspaper articles, such as Divorce in Modi’in and prime ministers’ ranking.

My favorite Jerusalem gift store, Nisha, was selling the cards, but you can also contact Yael by email and order some of your own.

Hallelujah!

You just haven’t lived until you’re in a stadium with 49,999 other people, all of whom are singing along with Leonard Cohen as he performs “Hallelujah.”

This was just one of the countless transcendent, goose bump-invoking moments in Cohen’s concert Thursday night in Ramat Gan Stadium. It was one of those shows where you enter some kind of suspended time zone in which for three hours, somehow all seems to be right on the planet.

Full of joy, hope, great musicianship, and excrutiatingly beautiful moments, the show was perfectly placed only a few days before Yom Kippur, a time of reflection and self examination. Seeing and hearing Cohen sing his songs like in some long-carved-in-stone prayers transformed the stadium into the world’s biggest, yet most intimate synagogue. And when the singer offered a dramatic rendering of the Bikat Kohanim (the Priestly blessing) late in the show, it only added to that feeling.

The audience, consisting of ages from teen to Cohen-era 70s, hung on his every lyric and delivery. A few times when he kneeled, there were a few gasps from people fearful of a repeat of the fainting incident that occurred in Spain last week, but Cohen was only making the moves for dramatic effect.

The three and a half hour concert (including a 25-minute break in the middle), included a slew of encores, with Cohen seemingly unwilling to leave the stage on his last show of a huge European tour. In fact, he brought out all the crew members on stage, introduced them and thanked them at the end.

Even though there were definitely some Palestinians and Israeli Arabs in attendance, some involved in the Fund for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace, which was launched earlier in the evening with proceeds that Cohen donated from the show, I kept thinking how nice it would have been if the crowd had been half Jewish, half Arab.

If only Cohen’s message of hope, peace and reconciliation had been allowed to be heard in Ramallah as well, and not been banned by angry Palestinians who refused to let a planned concert take place there. Witnessing 50,000 Palestinians singing “Hallelujah” and applauding efforts for reconciliation would have been a real New Year gift for all of us.

Another Cohen in Israel

After all the months (years?) of speculation, rumors, false starts, boycott calls and health scares, Leonard Cohen will finally be performing on Thursday night before 50,000 fans in Ramat Gan Stadium.

It was almost as if someone – or something – didn’t want this show to take place. As Ethan Bronner wrote in The New York Times, “Leonard Cohen’s path to his sold-out concert here Thursday night has been strewn with obstacles. Those seeking to ostracize Israel through an international boycott demanded that he call it off. When he offered instead a matching concert in the West Bank, Palestinians said no thanks. Amnesty International agreed to help him distribute the concert’s proceeds to peace groups; Amnesty International withdrew. Then last Friday, three days before turning 75, Mr. Cohen collapsed onstage in Valencia, Spain, in the middle of his classic “Bird on a Wire” and was rushed to the hospital.”

Thankfully, Cohen has recovered, performed in Barcelona on Monday, and arrived in Israel on Tuesday looking dapper as ever. He’s “in great shape,” Cohen’s manager Robert Kory told The Times. And indeed, last night, Cohen was seen onstage at the stadium testing out the sound system and getting his bearings for the show, which is being billed as “A Concert for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace.”

Cohen is giving the expected profits of $1.5 million to $2 million to a new charity he has created of the same name, run by a board of Israelis and Palestinians, which will distribute money to groups focused on coexistence here – particularly organizations composed of people who have paid a great personal price because of the dispute and yet are working for peace, like the Parents Circle — Families Forum, made up of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost close family members to the conflict.

Why has the Cohen concert, which sold out in record time, generated so much controversy and coverage? My colleague Ben Jacobson, one of the country’s foremost Cohen fans and scholars, had some interesting insights in a recent essay in The Jerusalem Post.

Why is everyone so up in arms over a folk singer from the ’60s entertaining some civilians with large wallets? Perhaps Cohen’s appearance in Israel was taken to be a potentially partisan threat because of the perception that he is “one of ours,” having grown up in the upscale Montreal neighborhood of Westmount, where he attended Herzliah High School and Camp Mishmar in his teens and played in the Hillel Band at McGill University.

But Cohen’s world view is hardly oriented towards taking sides in any given conflict – it is, rather, strictly a vehicle for expressing his artistic ideas. Cohen’s oft-uniformed “Field Commander Cohen” persona, which has informed several works and inspired the title of a 1979 concert tour, grew out of his posturing as a guerrilla of verse, a rogue revolutionary who champions the cause of the underdog.

“Field Commander Cohen” only came into his own in the fall of 1973, when Cohen, facing crises in his career and family life, dropped everything to participate in the Yom Kippur War. Arriving in Tel Aviv from his habitual haven in Hydra, he announced to the press that he had come “to make my atonement” – and to entertain the troops.

He also noted that while he had once advocated an unconditional return to the 1967 borders, recent events had inspired a change of heart. Cohen joined a group of local musicians that included Ilana Rovina and Matti Caspi on an informal performance tour of bases close to the front in Sinai, at one point even pocketing a firearm so that he could feel like he was ready to participate in the battles.

In his unpublished memoir, The Final Revision of My Life in Art, Cohen reflected on having shared a bottle of cognac with General Ariel Sharon at a makeshift desert wilderness fort. “I want his job,” he wrote of the 1973 meeting, in a sentiment more significant for its self-conscious romanticism of military strength than for its political alignment. After all, the trip to Israel was possibly more about personal redemption for the artist than anything else. In Cohen’s mind, Israel was “a place where you may begin again,” he would write.

To this end, he was determined to perform a pilgrimage from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on foot before his return to Hydra; he ended up wandering back to the cafes of Dizengoff Square after a few hours, of course.

Later, he would be known for having played impromptu sets for IDF troops during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Eleven years later, Cohen’s public Middle Eastern anti-politics surfaced once again, this time in the context of his compilation of personal psalm-like essays, The Book of Mercy. The work includes several references to the nation of “Ishmael,” and in one passage, Cohen tears down all of the region’s constructs of alignment: “Israel, and you who call yourself Israel, the Church that calls itself Israel, and the revolt that calls itself Israel, and every nation chosen to be a nation – none of these lands is yours, all of you are thieves of holiness, all of you at war with Mercy… Therefore the lands belong to none of you, the borders do not hold, the Law will never serve the lawless.”

For the perpetual Canadian-American-Jewish-Zen-Greek exile, traditional trappings of nationalism and alignments are to be scoffed at and simply employed as tools for conveying one’s own artistic statements.

As Cohen wrote in “Democracy,” a 1993 song, which, based on recent set-lists, he’s likely to perform on Thursday, “I love the country but I can’t stand the scene / And I’m neither left or right / I’m just staying home tonight / getting lost in that hopeless little screen.”

Getting ready for visits from Madonna and Leonard

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.

Leonard Cohen opens his pockets for Israelis and Palestinians

Most international musical superstars who come to Israel might pay lip service to promoting peace in the region – like Paul McCartney did with his ‘Friendship First’ concert – but few actually put their money where their singing voices are.

Leonard Cohen is apparently the exception. In the middle of a long world tour that has raised him to the ranks of the world’s most loved performers, Cohen could have easily skipped Israel at the end of his European swing. But not only did he want to perform in the country, he decided that he couldn’t take money out of the country.

According to his manager Robert Kory, who spoke to me on Sunday, the revenue from Cohen’s Ramat Gan Stadium show on September 24th will be donated through a new fund to benefit Israeli and Palestinian organizations that are working toward conciliation.

The Fund For Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace will provide financial support for organizations and individuals working in Israel and the PA, focusing on bereaved Israeli and Palestinian parents who have experienced loss yet continue to strive to achieve peace in the region through their efforts.

Initial beneficiaries of Cohen’s altruism will be the Parents Circle – Family Forum, an NGO reprenting Israeli and Palestinian parents who have lost children in the conflict and who have made the commitment to work together in building a consensus for peace, the Peres Center for Peace Children’s Medical Program, Combatants for Peace, an organization which attempts to bring together IDF veterans and Palestinian terrorists who have renounced their ways, and the Palestinian Happy Child Center, a developmental center that works with special needs children in Ramallah.

“I got a call from someone identifying themself as Leonard Cohen’s manager. I thought to myself, ‘what’s going on here?’” laughed the Parents Circle founder Yitzhak Frankenthal, whose son Arik was murdered by terrorists near Ramallah in 1994.

“Robert told me that Leonard would like to donate money from his show to people who have paid the price and still continue to do what they can to achieve reconciliation. They invited me to meet them in New York, and I discovered two wonderful people – Leonard and Robert, they complete each other. It was really special and unusual to find someone like Leonard who cares about what’s going on here in the Middle East and tries to do something to help.”

While Cohen will undoubtedly be razzed by some for trying to put his two cents into our region of the world, and for the fact that the fund is going to be administered by Amnesty International, not perceived as Israel’s greatests friends, the fact that he’s doing something concrete that seems to be only helping Israelis and Palestinians in a non-political manner, if that’s possible, can only be commendable. He’s my man.

And here’s a tip for Cohen fans out there – an announcement is going to be made this week about the launching of ticket sales for the show. Get your wallet ready.

Israelis go on tour

There’s plenty of rock shows being imported here this summer, but nothing that you’d want to write home about: Appearances by Joe Jackson, Suzanne Vega, Steve Vai, Chris Cornell and Dream Theater, may satisfy some people, and Leonard Cohen in September will likely be a grand event. And we may even have Madonna to celebrate Yom Kippur with.

But when bona fide heavyweights like Springsteen, U2, The Killers, Coldplay and Pearl Jam are only a couple thousand miles away in Europe, it’s a little hard to get excited about our dubious offerings.

But thanks to a couple of Israeli entrepreneurial endeavors, getting to those superstars isn’t any more difficult than finding parking near Ramat Gan stadium. On.Tour, a Tel-Aviv based online rock & roll travel agency – and similar companies like Kavei Hofsha – provide Israeli music fans with package tours to the top festivals and shows in Europe – including airfare, hotel, transportation and, of course, the coveted tickets to the shows, even those that are listed as sold-out.

And it’s suprisingly affordable – not much more than the vacation without the concert tickets would be. A quick glance at the On.Tours homepage finds a generous offering of summer festivals, including this year’s Rock Werchter, featuring Coldplay, Metallica and The Killers; Denmark’s Roskild with Coldplay, Oasis and Slipknot; Germany’s Rock Im Park (RIP) featuring The Killers, The Kooks and Placebo; Istanbul’s questionably titled Rock & Coke, featuring Linkin Park, Nine Inch Nails and the Kaiser Chiefs; and some of the most popular attractions – the heavy metal festivals like Wacken 2009, The Ozora Festival and Hellfest. The average price for a package, including three or four nights’ accommodations, runs between NIS 4,000 and NIS 5,000.

“Pretty quickly, we learned that Israelis weren’t interested only in music festivals, but in concerts as well. There’s not a lot of top names coming here, and through us, you can go see just about any of the top names touring Europe,” Ido Mart, the company’s marketing director told me last week.

Indeed, the site offers packages for artists ranging from U2 and Springsteen to Britney Spears and Take That, all for prices similar to the festival tariff. According to Mart, On.Tours not only removes the hassle of arranging your own flights and accommodations, it also eases the stress of the biggest task of all – getting tickets to sold out shows.

Lianna Yedida, 25, who has traveled on three On.Tours packages, including two festivals in Europe and is signed up to see Radiohead this summer in Berlin, can’t praise the service too much.

“Everything was great, and of course, it’s easier than doing it yourself. They worry about everything,” she said, adding that the attention to detail was the biggest feature. According to Mart, those details include providing free transportation from the airport to the hotel and back again, and other amenities, like tips on after-show parties and access to them.

So, if you’re going to take a vacation outside of Israel anyway, why not make it a musical one?

Israeli chanson on the Riviera

The French aren’t exactly known for their love of things Jewish and Israeli.

But with music made by Israelis [] and Israel lovers gaining in popularity internationally, even the French are playing along. They’d better – some of the most interesting acts in the Israeli musical export roster are part French. Ramat Hasharon-raised, Steve Jobs-endorsed songstress Yael Naim was actually born in gay Paris. Cheeky electro pop DJ and singer Onili, who splits her time between the clubs and stages of France and Tel Aviv, was raised in Paris. Keren Ann moved there when she was 11.

Israel’s musical French connection was on display on the Riviera late July, when the 60th Nice Jazz Festival welcomed several Israel-related performers.

The three-stage, eight-night festival, located adjacent to a Franciscan monastery, the Henri Matisse Museum and Roman ruins, drew some 41,000 people to 48 performances by local acts as well as big names like Rufus Wainwright, George Benson, Diana Krall, Maceo Parker, John Mayall and Joan Baez.

As part of an extended French tour that included other festival appearances, Yael Naim was on the Nice Jazz roster, and the opening night included a performance by Avichai Cohen (pictured), the Chick Corea-affiliated, New York-based jazz bassist who hails from the Judean Hills.

Another descendant of the ancient tribe of Judean altar boys, international man of poetic mystery Leonard Cohen drew one of the biggest crowds of the festival on the night he played. The 73-year-old Herzlia High School-educated (true, that’s Montreal’s Herzlia High School) singer-songwriter who is reported to have shared a glass of cognac with Arik Sharon during the 1973 war is actually perfect for the Nice Jazz scene:

He wowed the international audience with a Nice-customized verse of “Hallelujah,” an acoustic version of the High Holiday liturgy-inspired “Who by Fire” and plenty of other favorites spanning his career. The festival grounds were packed with fans who sang along in awe, Cohen pausing at one point to warn a young lady who had climbed up one of the park’s olive trees to be careful.

In Europe, jazz festivals are often wide in scope, and Leonard Cohen’s show was well-suited for French audiences, his late-Sixties dreamy folk sound having long since evolved into a sort of post-country cabaret.

If only the reports of a mid-September Leonard Cohen Israel concert hadn’t been greatly exaggerated.

 

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  Israel is often seen as a place of conflict and strife. In reality there is much more: there's business and research; art and culture; community and family. At ISRAELITY, Israelis blog their daily thoughts, experiences and insights. It's the real Israel, not the media's Israel. It's people living ordinary lives in an extraordinary place.

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