Announcement of the Nov 27 concert in Phnom Penh

[Gala]

Harriet/ Nicole,

What bemuses me is why you take everything so personally. when I gripe about the way the concert was organized, how does that affect you? Am I not allowed to voice my own opinions? And when I mentioned 'no finger pointing or blame' i was referring to the previous poster casterbridgecohen and NOT Robert Kory. I know that English isnt your first language but perhaps you should read more clearly before u decide to jump in with your own opinion. and if us fans were angry about how the situation turned out, what is it to you? are you the organizer, the promoter, the manager?? Nope. I love LC and but once again might i mention that i am peeved about the situation and how things turned out. One can be both a fan and still be upset about the cancellation. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Not everything is black or white. I am not sure you would be as 'zen' if you were in our situation. Comparing this to your financial loss during the economic crisis is laughable. We who have bought the tickets etc are commiserating in this forum, that's all. we are not about to assasinate LC or anything like that. so please stop being so defensive.

[GaryP27]

"The "not working out of the concert" was no evil plan"

I missed the part where one single person said it was. However I didn't miss the part where you have said it was the fans' own fault.

It amazes me that in defending their idol some have to make up claims that are false, like the above, and the one about people demanding air fares back.

As I said, not one single person bought this ticket because it said "The Mekong Sessions" on the ticket. They bought it because it said Leonard Cohen. And yes, as Robert Kory says, they worked with a promoter who could not keep his promises. No evil plan, but certainly a mistake. As Robert also says "First please accept my personal apologies for my failure to foresee the disasters that led to cancellation of the Cambodian concert"

What some of us have said, to the fury of Lizzy, is no different to what Robert acknowledges here. And fans pay for the mistake.

Admiring someone's work, or even their heart, does not make them or their management infallible or beyond any criticism ... unless you are twelve.

And Nicole, as for "This forum thread should be renamed, adding: "For actively venting and angry members only - those not venting or angry will not be tolerated or welcome"

No, it should be renamed: "Forum for the entirely unaffected to shout down justified criticism".

Ever heard the expression: "Putting out the fire with gasoline"?

From the self-righteousnesses of the unaffected
Cohen preserve us.

[kikilala]

Harriet

I think we (Phnom Penh ticket holders) are having a very hard time dealing with our loss and trying to come to terms with it

It would be nice if you could not incite our feelings further by rebutting every sentence we make.

You have taken some of my expressions of pain (and those of others) and recited them as allegedly trying to hurt LC. There was no such intention of course.

Do you realise what you are doing is pretty unkind in itself?

I bear you no ill will okay.. just hoping for some respite from your sanctimonious (and misconceived) pronouncements

Thanks

[Gala]

Dear folks, in the words of Harriet:

'Some accusations feel inadequate to me, particularly, when i consider the timing at the end of about 3 years of committed & heartfelt touring- although the timing is not even relevant. Thereby it does not matter how many concerts one may or one may not have attended. Why wait until the very end of 3 years until buying a single ticket?

The world tour was...long, in 2008, in 2009 and in 2010 there were a lot of opportunities for buying a concert ticket for a suitable location – worldwide - NZ/Australia / North America / Europe - just nearly exact 250 possibilities and locations of choice!!! The world tour could not travel to every single corner on the planet. It is not up to us to decide the travel direction and schedule. Phnom Phen obviously did not make it, unfortunately, too good to be true, but alas – there were more than 240 other concerts people were invited to go to, that’s a lot! All performed with ~ heartfelt ~ commitment. '


Oh I am so sorry Harriet, I should have bought the tickets at the right time!! why did i or everyone else who bought the phnom penh tickets wait til the very end of 3 years??! Silly me. I think my psychic powers were not working at the time. I really blame myself for not knowing that this historic concert would be cancelled!!!

[davidrichards]

Instead of all this bad feeling between fans why doesn't everyone who has something to say send their remarks to

cminko@themekongsessions.com

It may not achieve anything in terms of getting the concert re-scheduled (indeed with their lack of experience they shouldn't be let anywhere near another concert)
but it would certainly let them know how true fans feel (not that they are probably bothered about that either)
and as a by-product it might just clog up their IT system.
Childish maybe, but it does give a certain amount of satisfaction.

[danslenoir]

Equipment production costs alone rose to over $500,000. That cost is not feasible for a 2,000 person concert, The venue only holds 3,500. In addition to the equipment production costs, you have to add air charter, security, hotels, etc for 40 people. Total show costs would reach over $800,000. In short the concert would have been a financial disaster even if every ticket were sold; there would not only be no money for charity, but the local promoter would be bankrupt and we would no doubt have incurred great travel and hotel expense for which we would not be reimbursed.

I welcome Robert's statement (at last), but do wonder about the figures he mentions.

2,000 x $340 (category 3 ticket price, seems to be about the average) = $680,000

So round about $120,000 loss, as the charity money is being donated anyway so can't really be considered

Is that really so much of a financial disaster compared to the accumulated profit generated from 250+ sell out shows?

In short the concert would have been a financial disaster even if every ticket were sold

If every ticket was sold at the lowest ticket price of $290, that would generate over $1 million total in ticket sales, more than the "over $800,000 total show costs" he mentions.

These figures are obviously pretty general, but they quite literally do not add up.

[casterbridgecohen]

Whoops - Excuse me whilst I wipe that egg off my face!

I dont know how that got under the radar as I well remember Sihanouk (spelling?) - who seemed to be part of Cambodia - forever stepping down 5 or 6 years ago and also talking to people about the differences bbtween the roles the Kings play in Cambodia and Thailand.

That will teach me to make long posts in the middle of the night!

[jmudrick]

Whoops - Excuse me whilst I wipe that egg off my face!

I dont know how that got under the radar as I well remember Sihanouk (spelling?) - who seemed to be part of Cambodia - forever stepping down 5 or 6 years ago and also talking to people about the differences bbtween the roles the Kings play in Cambodia and Thailand.

King Sihamoni is quit well liked though essentially a figurehead. One of the pleasures of running the riverfront restaurant I had was seeing him coming down the street, head out the window of his black car, huge smile on his face and waving to the crowds that would run out to greet him. Don't know if he is a Cohen fan, though given his artistic nature and the amount of time he has spent in the Czech Republic it wouldn't come as a surprise.

[GaryP27]

Aren't you in HK, Gary? Surely that will be one of the stops if/when they do Asia. I know that doesn't nearly offset your current disappointment and predicament, but it helps a little.

Yes I am. I'll hope for the best, but simultaneously not get my hopes up.

The Rolling Stones, Santana, Jeff Beck, and Neil Young have played here, so there ought to be enough decent sound equipment around.

[jmudrick]

Would love to see Leonard come to HK. It wouldn't surprise me though if his associations with Tibet made a China trip difficult. Sure didn't work out well for Dylan.

[lizzytysh]

Several comments made regarding things I've said here have been off the mark, but the horse is already dead and duly beaten, so I'm moving on, except to clarify these two things. When someone [was it Harriet?] asked about why no one bought a ticket to see Leonard since 2008 and, instead, waited til the last one scheduled. The response was to the effect of not having had a crystal ball [not those words, but that idea]. I'd just like to point out that the Phnom Penh concert was an add-on to begin with and not so long ago. It's not even as if it was on the tour schedule all year long. So, the comment didn't invalidate the point made by Harriet. The other thing is [I think, it was Gary], I didn't say that anyone had demanded airfare reimbursement... yet, there was little left, after the cd idea was rejected, given the circumstances. Or so I thought. What I can't help but wonder is why it took me finding Robert's AMAZINGLY open and forthcoming email [I cannot imagine another, single person in his position revealing this level of detail and, truth be known, he doesn't owe anyone this level of detail] to read this:

Please let us know if there is any way we can assist you in seeing one of the remaining concerts in Australia or North America. Tickets will be our gift.

Or THIS sentence:

That donation will come directly from my pocket and from Leonard's.

From THIS:

By the way, we are making a donation to charity in Cambodia from revenues earned in Australia because we told the Cambodian public that a charitable donation would be made. That donation will come directly from my pocket and from Leonard's.

I would love to hear that I somehow missed someone's having quoted and commented upon the two quotes that are enlarged and in Red.

Leonard and Robert are being amazingly generous in all of this. Now, I'm interested in knowing who is booking flights to see Leonard at no charge... and before this 2010 World Tour ends.


~ Lizzy

[GaryP27]

From what I heard the Dylan incident was a familiar story.

Lousy local promoter. Even though a gig in Hong Kong was announced, no venue was booked

I blame the Chinese government for many things, but not for this one.

[lizzytysh]

So, hopefully, people will accept the gracious gift of free tickets and come to one of the remaining 2010 concerts, as offered by Robert. Then, they won't need to be quite as concerned about what happens in 2011.


~ Lizzy

[GaryP27]

Not everyone who has written to him has received that offer or even a reply and it is tough to get to the US and back in a weekend. Believe me I would.

Which is not to say it's not a kind offer.

But I just wonder why you feel obliged to keep fanning the flames.

[lizzytysh]

I don't feel obliged to keep fanning them; yet, even after the full explanation in the email [and the notice that there will be one on the Forum, as soon as the damage is fully known; that reasonable stance one takes prior to making a formal announcement] and the comments I've highlighted, I've seen some complaints persist, almost as though Robert's words hadn't appeared, at all. So, when I finally had a chance to read them myself and discovered those particular ones, I felt no ambivalence in posting and highlighting them; and the posts I'm referring to are quite out of sync with what I've quoted.

It's good to see someone [you, in this case] comment on the gesture and acknowledge its being a kind offer.

And, I would hope that the person who posted Robert's email was circumspect enough prior to that decision to be pretty dang sure that this gesture wasn't being made just to him. If he did and it doesn't turn out to be a generalized one, then he's only planted a seed for further resentment. The official notice on the Forum may well not include all that detail, either. I'd like to think that for both those reasons, he got Robert's permission before posting Robert's email.


~ Lizzy