Dudu Zarzevsky working nonstop to prepare ground for what could be Israel's biggest ever cultural event.
By DAVID BRINNmccartney 224.88(photo credit: AP)
When you're put on hold while waiting to speak to concert promoter Dudu Zarzevsky, the music playing on the phone in the background is The Beatles' "Help." Even though it's a John Lennon tune, the song is certainly appropriate, because the 46year-old Zarzevsky needs lots of help these few days before the biggest professional moment of his life - and perhaps the biggest cultural event in Israel's history - takes place: Paul McCartney's first concert in Israel.
(Robin Lingwood)ALL TOGETHER NOW. It is important for Paul McCartney that he appears for the people, not just the privileged, so massive screens are being imported from Europe to ensure clear views for everyone, explains Dudu Zarzevsky (inset, right, beside concert backer Yakir Sha'ashua). The promoter had initially expected to be welcoming George Michael this summer.
"It's taking up all of my time. I'm going to sleep at 1 a.m. and praying that I'll sleep until 7. But usually I'm already up at 4 or 5 because I'm already thinking about what I need to do next," said the harried but convivial Zarzevsky, who took a few minutes out of the flurry of activity ahead of the former Beatle's September 25th performance at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv to talk to The Jerusalem Post.
"It's like giving birth," he said, describing the elaborate planning and complex logistics required to bring McCartney here. "It started slowly over a few months of negotiations. Now, we're beginning contractions, which will get bigger and bigger until show time."
A veteran promoter on the Israeli scene for over 20 years, Zarzevsky has been involved with the Eilat Jazz Festival, many classical music and world music shows, and events like the Tamar Festival at the Dead Sea during Succot, which is entering its ninth year. He also knows his way around a pop concert, having promoted shows over the last year by Lauryn Hill, Cypress Hill and Ian Brown. However, none of those endeavors has prepared him for the "to-do list" involved in the McCartney show.
"The quantity and quality of the equipment is amazing. The attention to detail is mind boggling. I don't remember a show like this ever being put on in Israel, and it's going to be only him and four musicians on the stage," said Zarzevsky, defending the hefty ticket price for the show.
The price is NIS 490, but there are many options. With Isracard, you can get a NIS 100 discount, and with different workers' committees and through organizations, you can also get between NIS 40 and NIS 100 off, he said.
"Ultimately, though, this is not a regular concert, I'm sorry. This is one of the most influential musicians of all time. I've heard claims on TV that the promoters stand to earn millions of shekels in profit. It's bullshit. Most of cost of the ticket sales is going into the production. The costs are terrific.
"Paul's requirements are that every person in the venue has to be capable of hearing and seeing him like they're right in front. And for that, we're bringing in a huge custom sound system from Europe and these huge LED video screens. Even in the back, people will be able to see exactly what he's doing. But all that equipment is so expensive, you couldn't imagine," he added.
WITH 200 people working on the preshow logistics and setup, which will rise to 1,000 workers the day before the show, Zarzevsky is involved in every aspect of the planning - even down to the material of the couches that will grace McCartney's personal tent backstage.
"I spent this morning at the show site. The backstage area is almost like a little city. There are going to be 20 different full-scale tent buildings - one for Paul, who demands his privacy, another for the international production staff, one for the local production staff, a communications center, dining room and so on," said Zarzevsky.
"And every tent is equipped with air conditioning, Internet and phone lines, furniture.
Paul is very green and very healthy. That means no fish or meat is allowed, not just for him, but for anybody in the whole backstage area. Even the furniture can't be made of leather, and must be designed with only natural materials."
It's a far cry from the demands of George Michael. The smooth British R&B crooner was the artist that Zarzevsky originally planned to bring to Israel this summer, before it fell through and McCartney landed in his lap.
"I work with an entertainment planning firm in London called Lilac Palm that alerts us about artists and availability. We were actually far along on a deal to bring over George Michael - we had done all the pre-production, and then he decided he didn't want to come to Tel Aviv at this point in time," said Zarzevsky.
"Lilac Palm told me they'll be in touch if anything else sounds promising. And a few weeks later they called and said, 'what do you think about Paul McCartney?' The rest is history." WELL, NOT quite. The exorbitant costs - estimated at over $4 million - and the elaborate banking requirements that McCartney's appearance required almost stopped the show in its infancy when Zarzevsky's original financial backer, Partner, dropped out.
"The negotiations were such a difficult process, and it took so much time to pin down, that Partner lost patience," he said. "At the beginning we agreed that we needed at least two months to plan for the show - if we didn't get confirmation by then, we wouldn't be able to do it. Then came the six-week mark, then five weeks."
Amid last-minute conference calls and attempts to meet McCartney's demands, Partner decided it was too close for comfort to the show date and backed out, a move which Zarzevsky said he understood and bore no grudge about.
"For me it was very disappointing, and I felt bad for them because they were involved from the very beginning and they did so much work," he said.
However, Zarzevsky was left in the lurch, and McCartney's people gave him only a few days to see if he could arrange for alternative financial support.
"I had meetings around the clock - with companies, sponsors and businessmen," recalled Zarzevsky, who might have been humming the McCartney tune "We Can Work it Out" to himself and his colleagues.
"It was at the very last minute that we found this wonderful, special guy Yakir Sha'ashua, who is an Israeli businessman who lives in London. He sat with us and said, 'guys, I'm with you.' So I and all the people in Israel must thank Yakir, otherwise this would have been the second time that Paul McCartney almost came to Israel," said Zarzevsky, referring to the now infamous attempt to bring The Beatles here in 1966.
WHILE MCCARTNEY is indeed arriving this time, it's unclear if his schedule will entail any sightseeing or, like U2 and Elton John in the 1990s, the superstar will simply jet in and out in a 24-hour period around the show.
"He's coming for the music, so it's unclear if he's going to take time to see the country. He's now busy rehearsing in London," said Zarzevsky, adding that the show, slated to begin exactly at 8 p.m., will be McCartney and only McCartney.
"There won't be any opening act. It's not the kind of concert that needs a warm-up. In any event, we need to finish by 11 p.m. according to police regulations, so it's going to start on time because he's been known to play up to three hours, and we don't want any problems near the end of having to cut him off," he said, adding that his personal favorite Beatles/McCartney song is "Let It Be."
According to Zarzevsky, it was due to McCartney's personal intervention that special VIP sections for the performance were moved from the front of the stage area to the sides.
"It was very important for Paul that he be able to appear for the people, not just the privileged. At the beginning, we planned to put the VIP seats in front of the stage, and we heard right away from them to move it, because he wants to feel and see the people standing next to him."
As D- day gets closer, Zarzevsky said he would be spending more time at the Hayarkon Park venue, and planned to move in for the three days prior to the show.
"I won't be sleeping anyway, so I might as well be there," he said, expressing no regrets at biting off such a big apple from the pop music tree.
"This is a very huge project - totally irregular, out of the ordinary, any superlative adjective you can think of. But for many Israelis my age, The Beatles were a guide for our lives through music. So for them, this is going to be the biggest concert ever."
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