leonardcohenforum.com

well when i was buying, some of those ticket categories said sold out already ... so not sure what's going on... releasing more throughout the day???

and the prices have increased slightly from when I bought mine earlier today

I did make a post earlier with a link to a Press Release from PP that stated 500 tickets in the up to 50,000 capacity stadium were going to be made available to locals at a reduced price but it seems to have mysteriously disapeared!

I did say it appeared to me to be a little condescending to encourage as many as 500 people to enjoy a concert in their own country and I do hope my comment has not upset an over sensitive moderator out there in cyberspace.

***I tried to locate your earlier message, and can't remember having seen it. I am sure that the moderators have not deleted your message. When you had written it, did you wait until it was properly submitted? - All the press releases are copied in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=21908&start=15 / Jarkko***

really...this is taking the piss. I know you got jonesed by your former manager, leonard, but this kind of pricing in a least developed country is a joke.

look at Michael Jackson. AEG will be the death of you...

I dare say that ticket prices would have to be slashed 90% to make the concert attractive to hundreds of locals perhaps 50% to sure a large number of local expats. The Los Angeles based band Dengue Fever, quite well known among the expat crowd here, recently played a benefit concert here and struggled over ticket prices of $10 per ticket. People wanting to remain in the good graces of the Prime Minister will cough up whatever it takes but it's hard to imagine any other locals coming up with that kind of money for someone they've never heard of. Well heeled expats will be willing to pay to see Leonard but I think even for them the announced prices are pretty hard to swallow.

casterbridgecohen wrote:I did make a post earlier with a link to a Press Release from PP that stated 500 tickets in the up to 50,000 capacity stadium were going to be made available to locals at a reduced price but it seems to have mysteriously disapeared!

Venue is indoor stadium used for Boxing , volleyball etc not the outdoor stadium so capacity is 3,600 but I think that they will struggle to get 600 PP residents to attend at those prices. & whats with not having a seating plan on the ticketing site.
from http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=10


Phnom Penh Cohen Concert Expected to be Most Intimate of World Tour
With just 3600 seats available for Leonard Cohen’s historic Phnom Penh concert at the Olympic Stadium on 27 November 2010, organisers and fans alike expect it to be the most intimate of any date on his world tour yet.
A Special Note for Cambodian Residents
The Mekong Sessions wishes to remind all of the devout Leonard Cohen fans resident in Phnom Penh who wish to purchase any of the special 600 tickets specially reserved for Cambodia that online ticket sales commence at 09.00hrs GMT on July 14 2010.
The link will go live at 15.00hrs local time here in Phnom Penh.

drwahwah wrote: Phnom Penh Cohen Concert Expected to be Most Intimate of World Tour
With just 3600 seats available for Leonard Cohen’s historic Phnom Penh concert at the Olympic Stadium on 27 November 2010, organisers and fans alike expect it to be the most intimate of any date on his world tour yet.

This is a bit of hyperbole. LC gave concerts in several venues with less than 3600 seats since his world tour began in 2008. As examples, I attended two of the smaller theatres, San Diego Copley Symphony Hall, seating capacity 2248 and Kansas City AMC Midland, seating capacity 3573.

---Arlene

Correct me if I am wrong but the presale link in Europe for sure went to AEG and there was no indication of a Seat Plan on the page that displayed the prices and I thought many of the comments and Press releases referred to the architecturally reknowned Oympic Stadium.

At least one price band was showing full within a couple of hours of commencement - this could be because price tickets in that range (the cheapest) were being held back for general sale. Maybe the thought was that people interested in buying tickets in the presale and flying half way around the world would be able to afford the more expensive tickets?

None of us are in a position to second guess the pricing policy - it would be nice to think the team were doing this one at cost at every level - management, promoters and performers to help the local community which is trying to recover from years of suffering. Maybe the thought was if it is a small venue then the prices need to be doubled to cover costs?

Personally I think that they have got that the pricing policy wrong and I can only comment that a number of people who I know were thinking of flying out to South East Asia and make this concert the centrepiece of their trip but the ticket prices has just killed the idea stone dead.

casterbridgecohen wrote:
None of us are in a position to second guess the pricing policy - it would be nice to think the team were doing this one at cost at every level - management, promoters and performers to help the local community which is trying to recover from years of suffering. Maybe the thought was if it is a small venue then the prices need to be doubled to cover costs?

Well I'd say that's a pretty generous outlook. I'd say when perhaps the most expensive concert Leonard has ever played takes place in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet, with the majority of seats not available for public sale, there is some burden of explanation that falls to the promoter if not to management itself.

jmudrick wrote:I'd say when perhaps the most expensive concert Leonard has ever played takes place in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet, with the majority of seats not available for public sale, there is some burden of explanation that falls to the promoter if not to management itself.

Alas, whatever the generous intentions of Leonard, his management and AEG might be, they are inevitably in the hands of the local promoter and whatever the consequences of that might be.

What I would say is that distances and remoteness also seem to play a big part in ticket pricing, reflecting the cost of shipping a massive entourage - band and crew - and truckloads of equipment to and from the concert location. Thus, the price of a top ticket in North America is considerably higher than in Europe and one for a show in Australia is even more expensive. Prices are at their highest in the most remote locations - e.g. Israel, Moscow, Phnom Penh. Of course, the reasons for high ticket prices in Moscow may also have a lot in common with the reasons for high ticket prices in Phnom Penh. Who knows ....

Wendy

jmudrick wrote:Well I'd say that's a pretty generous outlook. I'd say when perhaps the most expensive concert Leonard has ever played takes place in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet, with the majority of seats not available for public sale, there is some burden of explanation that falls to the promoter if not to management itself.

I thought that (from the mekongsessions article) "proceeds from this concert will benefit the Cambodian Red Cross and Cambodian persons with a disability"

IMM wrote:

jmudrick wrote:Well I'd say that's a pretty generous outlook. I'd say when perhaps the most expensive concert Leonard has ever played takes place in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet, with the majority of seats not available for public sale, there is some burden of explanation that falls to the promoter if not to management itself.

I thought that (from the mekongsessions article) "proceeds from this concert will benefit the Cambodian Red Cross and Cambodian persons with a disability"

That statement is extremely vague and the concert has not been promoted as a benefit - their ads do not mention this. It can't be literally all of the proceeds going to these two organizations because from the proceeds they have to first cover all their costs including paying Mister Cohen, but it doesn't say how much of the proceeds will be going to which institution. Weasel words, especially after the apparently misleading statement from the promoter that suggested that tickets had already been sold to fan club members (in advance of any price announcement), a statement which they later "clarified" by saying that they "anticipated" strong fan club sales.

On top of all these shenanagins, add in the lack credibility of the hype/PR and the outrageous prices and the whole thing adds up to an event I can't wait to miss and something that seems - unintentionally - to show off Leonard Cohen in a not-so-attractive light. That's a real shame.

I thought that (from the mekongsessions article) "proceeds from this concert will benefit the Cambodian Red Cross and Cambodian persons with a disability"

Yes, that is what The Mekong Sessions series of concerts is all about. I don't have the ads in front of me, but I do believe all or most have indicated the linkage to the Red Cross and CNVLD though I'll double check that MythicalDude.

Regardless, that's not really my point of concern, although in this country one always must be circumspect in following the money trail. Rather my concern is that Leonard is going to end up doing a concert, not for his well-heeled fans for a good cause, which would be fine, but for the elite in a country which is essentially a kleptocracy. It looks bad, it smells bad, it is bad if that's the way it turns out.

The "regeneration of Phnom Penh as a center of culture" would be better signaled by the reconstruction of the Royal Univerity of Phnom Penh campus which as you'll recall MythicalDude has been underwater the last two rainy seasons, than by a concert for Cambodian Peoples Party VIP's by Leonard.

Some people have compared the Phnom Penh situation to Moscow which I see did have some crazy crazy prices for best seats and lots presold to "VIP's". I will observe though that there were at least some tickets in the $150 range in Moscow, not a terribly expensive ticket in world terms (comparable to N.America and Australia) certainly not in Moscow terms.

Leonard Cohen Live in Phnom Penh tickets sales moved forward by one week
http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=10

Thanks to the huge interest in the Phnom Penh concert, Leonard Cohen and AEG Live together with the Mekong Sessions are pleased to announce that tickets for the concert will now be available for sale earlier than previously announced.
Leonard Cohen Live in Phnom Penh tickets are available for purchase as follows:

All ticket sales are only available online. No telephone bookings will be accepted. The following links will go live at the times below:

600 tickets have been reserved for Cambodian residents and will be available for purchase online via a special ticketing link 24 hours before the general release of tickets. Cash sales are also available at the Mekong Sessions office. Resident’s online presales will be disabled at 08.00 GMT July 11 and tickets must be collected from the Mekong Sessions office in Phnom Penh by the end of July.

09.00 GMT July 10: Cambodian Residents pre-sales:
http://www.seetickets.com/aeglive/leona ... n-cambodia

09.00 GMT July 11: General sales:
http://www.seetickets.com/aeglive/?a=le ... r2=general

Our presale will close 1 hour before the beginning of the general sale.

I have to say the announcement that 600 tickets being made available to the Cambodian residents strikes me as a little condescending - I am fairly certain that the link I thought I posted some days ago said that 500 tickets were being made available to Cambodian residents at a lower price.

The announcement that tickets are being made available for locals at a discounted rate pretty much states that this is an 'event' taking place in Cambodia but not really with the expectations that locals will want or can afford to attand. Can you imagine the furor if concerts were announced in New Orleans, Quebec or Nimes with the rider - 500 tickets will be held back for the locals. Perhaps these are poor examples so how about Dakar, Rio or Bangkok - people might well find it an affront to their nationality that an event was taking place in their country but a limited number of tickets are being made available for them at a discounted price - seems like crumbs off atable or a message that the locals are second class citizens.

Personally I think they have got the pricing all wrong - the middle classes from Bangkok, KL, HK, Singapore etc will not be coming at these prices and the super rich who could afford to make the trip from other cities in South East Asia do not know Leonard from a bar of soap.

So one can fairly assume that the target audience will be friends of the government, NGOs based in PP and Cohenites in Australasia, North America and Europe but the postings on this board would indicate the latter may be few and far between.

The Press Release on the AEG website states that the concert is at the Olympic Stadium (which I understand normally has a capacity of 50,000) but others (based in PP?) have indicated that it is in a smaller venue.