Presale to Phnom Penh from July 1 to July 15

[jmudrick]

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.

About the target audience you would be right. About how many well heeled fans from the region come out I guess it remains to be seen.

The concert is being held in the smaller indoor arena at the Olympic Stadium complex (which seats roughly 4400).

The promotors were good enough to sit down with me last night for a couple of beers and I left with a great deal more clarity about what's being attempted here. This is definitely not, first and firmost, or even to a significant extent a concert for fans. It's foremost a concert to raise money for two Cambodian charities and the promoters are confident they can sell all these tickets at these prices, and in doing so provide maximum benefit to the charities. Will a lot of fans miss out? Yes they will. According to the promoters, they and Leonard are ok with that, that's not what this is about. Is it an elitist event (or at least an event for the elite), yes it is, by intention. Honestly, I can live with that too if Leonard can find another way to connect with the locals (an appearance on CTN perhaps as is often done with visiting acts). I do believe that this concert means a lot to Leonard and that he will find a way to make that connection.

***Text size and color edits by me -- Thanks for posting the information, Jeff. This is the background info we needed! / Jarkko***

[casterbridgecohen]

Thanks for this Jeff which adds some clarity

One assumes the local promoters have enough experience to correctly judge whether they can sell 4500 tickets into their local market. After all they are carrying the overheads - not us!

[jmudrick]

There is an expectation that SOME fans of course will cough up the bucks, perhaps half those in attendance expected to be non-Khmer (i.e. Cambodian) according to the promoter, certainly fans from the region among them.

[jimmyscratch]

Getting 4400 people out to a concert in PP is just laughable. not going to happen. If they want to make money for Cambodian charities, they would be much better off selling the tickets at 1/4 of the price and filling the stadium. Oh well. And at the current prices I can only imagine that the Cambodians in attendance will be those who could get the 500 or so allotted tickets, not that I have met any Cambodians who know who Leonard Cohen is. I live in Saigon and go to Phnom Penh a couple of times a year. We fans here were excited when we first heard the news about the tconcert. That is until we heard the price. Maybe ten or twenty people out of my community will go, rather than 200 to 400.

[jarkko]

ALL tickets are guaranteed to be sold. This is a very exceptional charity concert with the idea to collect as much money as possible for the good purposes.

[casterbridgecohen]

Now I am really interested - I would love to know how to guarantee all tickets will be sold!

We organise about 120 concerts a year in Europe and many are free but however prestigious the venue we can never guarantee our choirs anything as far as audience sizes are concerned.

[bridger15]

Now I am really interested - I would love to know how to guarantee all tickets will be sold!

"Jarkko": very exceptional charity concert

I am not familiar with the culture in that part of the world. But the key words that are linked in my mind are universal, "charity" and "guaranteed". My guess is this implies that multi-national corporations will be buying large blocks of tickets, as sponsors, in exchange for fostering goodwill with the country and a comfortable tax write off. And even if all the tickets are guaranteed to be sold, that does not mean all the seats will be filled or filled for the entire performance. Such is the stuff of charity events.

---Arlene

[casterbridgecohen]

I have been to Phnom Penh a couple of times in recent years and I cannot really see that - Phnom Penh and Vientienne are very different to HK, Singapore and Bangkok. NGO workers Yes - a plethora of International Corporate entitities - No.

Yes it is the capital but it is still a big Cambodian village in many ways with a reputation for perhaps more corruption than in other South East Asian states..

The difference between PP and eg Singapre or HK is similar to the differences between Flint Michigan (or maybe London Ontario) and Los Angeles - locations I am fairly sure you are familiar with.

Nevertheless it will be interesting to see what any PP residents think - perhaps the government is underwriting all costs by guaranteeing to pick up the tab for all unpaid tickets in an attempt to raise Cambodia's international profile. That could be the answer (as Jarkko was very specific) but I have no idea if this kind of thinking and mindset is typical of the Cambodian government

[sturgess66]

http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=10

Cambodian Cohen Fanbase Growing

Convinced of the reverence with which Cambodian music lovers will hold Leonard Cohen, the Mekong Sessions has been screening Live in London to select Cambodian audiences prior to its upcoming national broadcast on Bayon TV.

Last night at the Under the Shade restaurant in Phnom Penh, over 30 Cambodians of all ages sat enthralled through the 3 hour concert as the elegance of the performance filtered through the sultry night air.

Pich Piseth, a 25 year old Cambodian was astounded at the similarities with the great Khmer artists of the pre-Khmer Rouge era, "The songs are beautiful and pull at your heart" he said, "It's very similar to the love songs of Sinn Sisamouth and they never sound old."

Piseth's mother who also watched the now legendary Live in London gig was overwhelmed by the power of the performance, "We are so proud that an artist who is so famous and so loved around the world has chosen to play in Cambodia. This means a lot to us to know we are again being recognised as a place of peace and culture."

With market vendors stacking up on Cohen recordings, the Mekong Sessions is certain that the Cambodia Cohen fan Club is just around the corner!

MEKONG SESSION EVENT PRODUCTION TEAM -
http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... 3&Itemid=4

[sturgess66]

http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=10

Live In London to air on Cambodian TV

Leonard Cohen's legendary Live in London performance in 2008 will be aired on terrestrial Cambodian television on the Bayon TV channel in the coming weeks thanks to an agreement with Cohen's management.


Local concert promoters the Mekong Sessions, certain of Cambodian interest in Cohen's style of music, are aiming to build a local fan base prior to his concert at the Olympic Stadium Phnom Penh on 27 November 2010.

"Cohen's lyrics and the sentiments he expresses are, in many respects, very similar to prevalent themes in Cambodian popular music" said Sessions CEO Chris Minko, "We are sure that greater exposure to his music and his phenomenal live performances will quickly result in generating dedicated Cambodian fans. We're very excited about the public reaction to the airing of the now legendary London gig and wish to thank Mr Cohen and his management for this unique broadcast opportunity. Even the local market music vendors are already playing more and more of his songs knowing that he will be performing here soon."

The dates for the Bayon TV Leonard Cohen Live in London special broadcast will be announced soon. Watch this space for more details!

Watch Leonard Cohen perform Live in London on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHI9BTpGkp8

[casterbridgecohen]

Cambodia produces some of the worlds cheapest dvd copies - guess where this will go next?

Well Done to them for drumming up interest however

[sturgess66]

Leonard Cohen donated the proceeds from his concert last September in Tel Aviv to charity. And now he is doing the same with his concert in Phnom Penh. It seems so ironic that both concerts should be surrounded by such controversy. There were many threads about the dissension surrounding the concert in Israel last year - in the POLITICAL section - here at the forum . In the end - Tel Aviv was a most memorable concert, and no doubt a "gift" that kept on giving. I wish we had better video from that show - but I am delighted to hear that one of the tracks on the upcoming DVD "Songs From the Road" will be a performance from Tel Aviv!!!

A beautiful gesture on the part of Leonard Cohen and his management and AEG and appreciated by these countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ8ETB2mVQQ

From The MeKong Sessions -

Beneficiaries

Thanks to the exceptional generosity of Leonard Cohen and AEG Live, proceeds from the Leonard Cohen Live in Phnom Penh concert on 27 November 2010 will benefit the Cambodian Red Cross and Cambodian athletes with a disability.

This special page details the exact beneificiaries from these proceeds in three main sections:

1. The Olympic Stadium Phnom Penh

2. Cambodian Red Cross

3. Athletes with a Disability of Cambodia

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WORK OF THE CNVLD AT: http://www.standupcambodia.net/

STANDUPCAMBODIA.NET

This is a very long posting - with a LOT of detailed information about these charities - and once again ends with this statement -

The Mekong Sessions thanks Leonard Cohen and AEG Live for their immense generosity in agreeing to perform this benefit concert with proceeds going to Cambodian Red Cross and the athletes with a disability of Cambodia.

You can read the whole posting here -
http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=12

I wish I could be there*.



*While I'm waiting for the miracle - I take note that both "Phnom" and "Philadelphia" start with "Ph" - I'm wondering if this is a sign?

[sturgess66]

http://www.themekongsessions.com/index. ... &Itemid=10

July 13, 2009
AEG Live President Rob Hallett Visits Phnom Penh




The Mekong Sessions was honoured to host AEG Live President Rob Hallett this week in preparation for Leonard Cohen Live in Phnom Penh on 27 November.

Hanging his hat in Phnom Penh for an A-Z inspection of the concert planning, Mr Hallett also toured the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and travelled to Neak Leung to receive a traditional Buddhist blessing before visiting a local school to be supported through Cambodian Red Cross from partial proceeds of the concert.

Determined to make the Cohen concert “not just a blip in history”, Mr Hallett expressed his hope that AEG Live and the Mekong Sessions would bring European, American and Asian acts to Phnom Penh with Khmer support acts to inspire, build and re-energise a Cambodian music scene which was so prevalent in the 1960s.

Photos: Luke Duggleby

[strangemusic]

As a lifelong Cohen fan living in Bangkok, I was looking forward to this concert and the chance to see the man in Phnom Penh. Upon seeing the pricing, I am now almost certain that I won't be going. This is obscenely expensive because:

-- The venue holds 50,000 people. It's a big place. I'm not sure if they're planning on sectioning it off, but $300 "cheap" seats could be really terrible seats.

-- The Cambodian government is hugely corrupt and I am sure that a large amount of this money would go into the Hun Sen and cronies' whiskey fund regardless of the good intentions of the promoters. There are simply too many stories of charitable enterprises being turned into money-making operations for corrupt officials.

-- Frankly, Mr Cohen is not exactly in the flower of youth and if something should happen either with him or organisers and a need arise for tickets to be refunded, I would absolutely hate having to do that in Cambodia. You'd spend 10% of what you paid for the ticket on phone calls and hassle in trying to get the cash back.

Sadly, I'm going to have to pass, though perhaps I might turn up at the event on the day and see about getting some last minute sell-off tickets. I cannot fathom how organizers imagine that they will be able to fill the stadium at these outrageous prices. Even at half of the current prices listed, this would be very expensive, but worth it just because it is a rare chance to see the man in such a unique environment. But at half the price, the tickets might just have sold out.. At these prices, I reckon it's a guarantee that they will not.

[jarkko]

Please read all messages in this thread to get correct information. The capacity of the venue is 3.600 and not 50.000. The tickets are not sold by any Cambodian party but Seeticket in London (in cooperation with AEG Live). Several messages here explain the pricing policy. This concert is an ambitious charity project, and therefore the fans are not the target group. ALL other concerts are naturally directed at fans around the world, so we shouldn't complain if one of almost 250 concerts in 2008-2010 has exceptional goals.