Announcement of the Nov 27 concert in Phnom Penh

[jmudrick]

For what it's worth, for those who do plan on making the trip to Phnom Penh, I hope you''ll make a stop at Garage, drinks on me (and his entire recorded output is here). As a huge fan this is terribly disappointing, but at least I'm local and didn't have to incur any extraordinary costs.

[margaret]

Gary,

I really feel for you. I would be just as angry and disappointed after paying out so much money. I missed the Zagreb concert when it was postponed, but as the flights were non refundable a group of us went anyway and enjoyed a long weekend. The expense however was probably not as bad as your costs to get to Cambodia.
Can you try to talk the airline into giving you a credit for another flight in the future? Or a flight to another destination?
If not I would really consider going anyway and make a point of visiting Angkor Wat, one of the great wonders of the region.

Margaret

[liverpoolken]

rumours about special gigs that mr dylan will be giving next year to celebrate his 70th. birthday are rife at the moment (celtic connections in glasgow anybody?) including one about a possible phnom penh gig….

...chris minko seems to have a bit of a reputation locally that hopefully dylan’s people will investigate before even picking up the phone in the way that it look’s like leonard’s management didn’t.......

...take a look at nofan’s prescient comment below taken from Lady Phen’s website a couple of weeks back when the rumours of a dylan concert first started

http://www.ladypenh.com/article1982001.html

hopefully if leonard or bob decide to play in the far east sometime in the future it's not going to be in phnom penh courtesy of mr minko no matter what the meekong sessions would have us believe.....

[andys]

Gary,

I know how it feels. I'm in the same situation as you - flights booked from Singapore, hotels booked, time taken off work, my son joining us from Hong Kong with his flight also booked. Everyone said we were crazy to fly to another country just to see a concert - and now it seems they were right.

As you say, at least we can get another copy of a CD we already have.

Try to keep smiling.

Andy

[GaryP27]

We've already had a Bob Dylan fiasco in this part of the world.

He was supposed to be coming to Hong Kong, but I was sceptical when I asked around and discovered no venue seemed to have been booked even a few weeks before.

Too many Asian promoters (outside of maybe Japan and Singapore) seem to have their heads up their rectums. Right now I see no reason why Cohen and his team have any faith in Chris Minko.

There is no way I am buying tickets for a Dylan concert "arranged" by this guy.



Andy, my friends thought it was crazy too, but at least they thought it was good crazy.

There is only one artist in existence that I would do this for.

Margaret, yes we'll probably take your advice and get to Angkor Wat. May just drop one night's hotel in Phnom Penh and do an overnight in Siem Reap so it doesn't have to be a day trip

[tigerm]

Interesting reading the many stories of east Asia concert debacles. I worked as a tour guide in Thailand and India in the 1990's and I have first hand knowledge of things like this happening. It is not usually corruption, usually it was some local guy with connections who hopes to make a deal.
The best example of this was, we used to have boat/scuba diving trip as part of our tour. Our regular and reliable boat and captain needed to cancel a booking due to repairs. I wasted the best part of 3-4 days dealing with guys who had a family/friend/dog's uncle who had a boat. No-one could ever supply many details of the boat, except they could get one. The whole Phnom Penh deal sounds like it was the local guy, who was probably claiming he could do wonders, sell seats etc and hoping it would all come right on the night. I am sure AEG/LC's management were waiting for some guarantee's to arrive that never did.

[kikilala]

Yesterday my close friend and I who have booked tics flight hotel etc met to discuss what we are going to do and how sad we felt about the cancellation...

I am trying to be zennish about this as I am sure Leonard would be but it was not just a concert.. Leonard has been with me through all the ups and downs of life and this feels like a huge betrayal somehow..why is he not saying anything to us? How can he not know how much people like us really love him and what he means to us??

What is even worse..I can't seem to listen to his songs anymore so even that is lost..I really hope I can get over this

[GaryP27]

kikilala, I don't want to wallow, but I understand entirely how you feel. I guess the disappointment exactly matches the level of anticipation.

Whatever Cohen's people say about having faith in him, the words I have for Minko the local promoter are too strong to be permitted on this forum. How can you have faith in someone who royally screwed so many of your fans?

[Gibbons]

I'm sorry but , 'these things happen' made me nearly as mad as the concert being cancelled. I have been a fan for 42 years. these things should not just happen. it is not good enough.
If I stuffed up like that, I would lose my job.
The disappointment is huge. As is the £200 air fare I won't get back. and no I didn't get offered a CD.

[Gala]

First of all, why a concert in Phnom Penh ??? Why, out of soo many cities in the world did he have to choose a place where the average person's daily salary is less than 50 cents. And then to charge so exorbitantly for the tickets. Management must have been well aware that given the daunting ticket prices, majority of the fans would be foreigners flying in rather than the average local. Being a hard core fan, I happily shelled out US$550, applied for leave, and booked my flights and hotel. The worst thing about this whole cancellation is the absolute lack of transparency or sincerity. I'm sorry, but 'insurmountable logistical difficulties' really does not say much at all. Was it the location? The equipment? The concert venue? The hot weather?? !!! Why not just come clean and say they couldnt sell enough tickets? As well, the concert is said to be postponed 'indefinitely'. Technically, they could 'stage' a concert in 2054 and say : '' ooops Leonard Cohen is no longer alive..cue the familiar refrain: "insurmountable logistical difficulties!" I feel that the handling of the whole situation shows a blatant disregard for the fans who have shelled out enormous time and money for what was supposed to be the concert of their lives. Management had obviously not done their homework, nor did they bother to do any damage control thereafter. Leonard could have personally issued a heartfelt apology but he didnt bother as well. Now I will be stuck in Phnom Penh doing god-knows-what.. What I'm sure I WONT be doing is ever listening again to any music by Mr Cohen. They can take their free CD and shove it where the sun dont shine

[olive branch]

So you're such a "hard-core fan" that you'll never be listening to anything by Mr. Cohen ever again. Listen, I'm sorry you've lost money on this but what about the open hearted many and broken hearted few who are on their knees and haven't been able to raise the funds to attend a concert in their home venue, let alone fly around the world collecting concerts like postcards as some fortunate people on this forum. It's a spiritual occasion not a consumer event!

[davidrichards]

Whilst I have great sympathy for Gala, I do feel that anger and revenge should be directed to those most at fault. As I said a few posts ago, the real problem lies with the promoters. They are the ones who agree the "fee" for the performers and they are then the ones who "promote" the concert and set the ticket prices. The performers will not make more money from a full house or less money from a half empty house. The promoters are also normally the ones who rake in the cash though I appreciate that this concert was meant to raise money for charity. Maybe any anger should be directed to the promoters - Mekong Sessions. Email - cminko@themekongsessions.com. Their answer to me was "Leonard Cohen remains committed to performing in Cambodia in 2011 and Cohen, Robert Kory Management and AEG Live retain their full confidence in the local promoter, the Mekong Sessions, and will continue to work with the local promoter to ensure the concert goes ahead following the end of the 2010 World Tour." Methinks that this is the proverbial load of ******** and is merely a get out for a promoter who obviously does not know how to organise something of this magnitude and complexity.

I don't know if bombarding Mekong Sessions will do any good but at least any anger will be directed towards the promoters who are responsible for the concert rather than the performers who really have no say in the way it is organised! Other people have already stated that their organisation leaves much to be desired, though I do agree that some acknowledgement by AEG would at least go some way to healing wounds.

Again the real losers are those who will not be watching the most accomplished band of musicians ever to be assembled! Our sympathy should be directed towards them.

[Harriet175]

While understanding your disappointment and anger regarding this sudden cancellation of the concert – understanding your financial loss and personal shock this may involve - to be honest, i am also very shocked about your personal outpouring of anger directed against Leonard Cohen.

Your reactions reminded me somehow of the reactions of those “loyal Beatles Fans” in 1966 - burning the Beatles LPs and Beatles ‘memorabilia’ in 1966 - after some words of John Lennon...“we are more popular than Jesus”...had been (mis) quoted, misunderstood, and then widespread over the media.

Do you really think that L. Cohen has everything in his own hands, the world tour and whole organisation concerned, so many people and others involved? Does getting bitter makes you feel better? Don’t you make it too easy for yourselves to blame him, to use him so quickly as a suitable scapegoat?

This seems naive and unfair, in my opinion. And this while you are still ignorant about the whole affair, not knowing fully the facts, which of course you or we may not know, unfortunately, at this time. i am convinced that the organisation and cancellation of the concert was not well planned - the whole organisation being unskilful - but certainly not in the hands of Leonard Cohen himself, neither decided by the other musicians. In my thinking, i am making a distinction between the performer and the manager(s). In my opinion it is rather the manager who manages, and the performer who performs,... plus the other parties and factors coming into play, so there's a lot we cannot know.

If i was having your attitude, looking at how much i had lost in the financial crisis during the last years, now very far away from beeing financially safe, i cannot afford traveling to those far-away places...i would have had to kill myself at least a 100 times – or better the others who were actually responsible for the loss?

I had also lost money - you are not alone - fortunately it was “just” money. Now, not having much left, for me there is not much to lose any more. Yes i was happy or "fortunate" to be able to attend a few concerts "nearby", as traveling to those places was rather close in Europe, but my appreciation of the music remains in spite of...the world.
And my appreciation was there all those years even BEFORE there were any concerts in sight.
kind regards Nicole

[Gala]

Olive Branch,

Surely you can't be so naive as to still consider this a spiritual event??!!! what's happened here is that the tickets are not being sold as was expected , hence the sudden cancellation. Let's call a spade a spade. Be it the management, the promoters, everyone involved... money is the bottomline. i have no problem with that. but this being a so - called charity event and all, it's disheartening that they are pulling out at the last minute due to poor ticket sales. I can't imagine what other 'logistical difficulty' is involved. if only they would be more open and honest, perhaps the fans would be more understanding. My other problem is the organizers even choosing or agreeing to such a venue... surely anyone with more than one brain cell would hesitate to stage such an event in a place like Phnom Penh... esp given the hefty ticket prices. Did they not ever consider the prospect of sustaining a loss? Just because I am flying to another country to watch a concert doesnt mean that I am usually going around the world collecting concert tickets like badges. To many of us this is a lifetime dream.. a dream that has been so cruelly dashed. some of the people on this forum have been waiting 40 years to watch him. who knows when, or if ever, he would perform again.

[GaryP27]

Sorry, but while I am pretty sure the ball was dropped by Mr Minko, Leonard Cohen's managers chose him to arrange this concert.

Even a little research on the internet regarding past controversies would have suggested this might not have been a good idea. I think what leads one to direct some of the frustration back at the management is their statement that they STILL have every faith in him. There is no reason to have every faith in him. He has screwed us.

It would have been better for all of us if this concert had not been announced until it was 100% confirmed. I too was surprised at how good the seats still available were so close to the concert date.

Poor ticket sales seem very likely a part of the problem. Frankly the idea that this is "postponed" is bs. We deserve better.

I can love Mr Cohen's music and still think this is a shabby way to treat some of his most devoted fans. I don't see why some of you cannot do the same. Even he would not claim sainthood.

Well, this is a fan forum, so one criticises the gods at one's own peril. And as for the comment about "fly around the world collecting concerts like postcards", that is beneath contempt. This was a great stretch for many of his most devoted fans across Asia (where he has not appeared much) who thought this was a once in a lifetime chance to see him. If we could "fly around the world" at whim or see seven concerts in our "neighbourhood" like "Harriet" we'd have less reason to be disappointed. Oh, and frankly 'Harriet" I too had problems during the financial crisis, which made this expense a harder decision to make, but then I tend to respect Leonard Cohen more than I respect the average Wall Street shill. I have few expectations and hopes of them.

But yes, I will continue to love the work. So will, I am sure, the others given time. Have the courage and the decency to respect and allow their disappointment.