The world, apparently, is still spinning but cultural life has yet to resume its pre-coronavirus trajectory. Yes, there are festivals and concerts going on around the country, particularly during this most festive of seasons, but you’d be hard-pressed to espy the name of a stellar offshore performer in there.
Then again, if you find your way along to the Ra’anana Park Amphitheater this Wednesday (doors open 7:30 p.m., show starts 9 p.m.), you can get yourself a taste of what used to be pretty commonplace over here – a big name from abroad strutting their stuff to an enthused local audience.
The A-lister in question is 40-year-old American singer-songwriter Laura Pergolizzi – far better known as LP – who has been strutting her pop-rock stuff all over the globe for over two decades now. In the process she has put out half a dozen studio albums and a live release, the best known of which is 2016 multiplatinum-selling Lost on You, which charted at number five in the UK, and did well elsewhere around Europe and in the States.
The people behind the successful initiative come from leading local production and promotion outfit 2bVibes Music headed by Carmi Wurtman. The company has been around since 2008 and has brought over a string of top rock and pop acts, including the likes of Joe Cocker, Black Eyed Peas and Macy Gray.
So, how did they manage to make this happen? How did they pick their way through the constantly morphing morass of coronavirus guidelines and requirements, and get the official state thumbs up for LP to enter our beloved country unhindered?
Hillel Wachs, the rep at 2bVibes responsible for international shows, is as pleased as punch about the outcome of the back-and-forth negotiations with the powers that be, and hails the result as nothing short of a game changer for the local entertainment industry.
“We are very proud of the fact, in principal, that we have essentially reopened the international music business for Israel, which has been closed for the past few months,” he declares, noting the restrictive constraints that have been in place here for some time.
That has created nightmare conundrums for Israeli promoters and production professionals, making the business of bringing in offshore acts well-nigh impossible.
“There has, of course, been the issue of quarantine for 14 days, or 10 days or a week.”
All Wachs and his colleagues were looking for was a level playing field for the musicians.
“For some reason, in the past few months, foreign artists coming to Israel had to observe a stricter quarantine than Israelis themselves, when they all had the same exact vaccinations, and coming from the same orange and green and yellow [coronavirus color-coded] countries.”
That didn’t make sense, and it caused mayhem with show scheduling over here.
“That was a little weird,” he says, with more than a touch of understatement. “Several shows this past summer had to be canceled, to the great dismay of some promoters. That involved all different ramifications, including losing actual money that had been invested, losing goodwill abroad and losing credibility with the agencies in London and New York and Los Angeles.”
NONE OF THE above sat well with the consumers either, who after all are the ones for whose listening and viewing pleasure the acts were booked in the first place. “This just disappointed the Israeli public who so much enjoy going to hear live music,” Wachs adds.
Enough was enough, and the 2bVibes gang opted to act.
“We decided this makes no sense,” Wachs chuckles wryly. “We believed that if we can get to the right people and explain the situation they will understand that this is causing more damage than good.”
Wachs and his pals are clearly nothing if not unrepentant optimists.
“Carmi was able to get the people at the Foreign Ministry, the Health Ministry, and the Culture and Sport Ministry to the point that the meeting was set up. It was delayed once or twice, but it finally happened on Sunday night [last week] and they said, you know what? Why are we doing this? Why are we expecting more of foreigners than we do from Israelis, when there is no medical justification for it?”
The desired bottom line was duly attained.
“They sent us an email saying that the rules that are applicable to returning Israelis that have been vaccinated at least twice, or recovered [from COVID-19], in the last six months will now be applicable to foreign artists who want to play in Israel. That means, of course, they do a PCR test and, if it is negative, everything is fine.”
That means that promoters don’t have to fork out for seven to 14 days of extra hotel accommodations for the artists and support staffs, and the latter don’t have to put their lives on hold for that period of time.
THAT IS quite a eureka development for Wachs and his co-professionals and, naturally, for music fans around the country. All and sundry were over the moon.
“I was delighted, and my partner said ‘this is as exciting for me as the first show I did as an international promoter.’ That was back in 2006.”
Wachs has good reason to be optimistic about the turnout for the Ra’anana gig. “We actually brought LP to Israel in 2017 and we had two sold out shows at the Barby [club in Tel Aviv]. It was a wonderful experience. She is a wonderful charismatic down-to-earth person and a super entertainer with a great voice.”
There was also encouragement from the public to make the Herculean effort to bring LP back here following the unfortunate cancellation of her original Ra’anana date in June last year, due to lockdowns and the like.
“When we canceled that show I was surprised by how few people asked to return their tickets,” says Wachs. “Almost everyone hung on to see when the new date would be, and we didn’t even announce the new date when the cancellation was made.”
That must have been mightily encouraging.
“We’re almost there now,” says Wachs just a little warily. “Hopefully there’ll be no more surprises.”
Who knows, these days? Wachs, as always, chooses to walk the sunny side of the street.
“Hopefully, this small step forward will encourage other promoters to make other shows happen that they felt weren’t going to happen, and that there was no option to make them happen.”
With a new LP album in the offing – Churches is scheduled for release next month – the Ra’anana concert will, no doubt, showcase some cuts off the new record too. Here’s hoping.
For tickets and more information: 2207.kupat.co.il/show/lp