Leonard Cohen Cambodia Show - delayed - postponed - thinking twice
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Well there were a couple of skeptics from the beginning...
Organisers today announced that the Nov. 27 Leonard Cohen concert at the Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh has been postponed.
Robert Kory Management, AEG Live and the Mekong Sessions stated that the postponement was due to "logistical issues insurmountable in the given time prior to the performance".
The organisers confirmed that all ticket holders would receive full refunds.Those who purchased by cash from the Mekong Sessions should visit the Mekong Sessions office in Phnom Penh from Wednesday Nov. 10 for their full refund. The organisers thanked all ticket holders and sponsors for their support, apologising for any inconvenience caused.
"Leonard Cohen remains committed to performing in Cambodia and Mr. 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," Chris Minko said for the Mekong Sessions. "Leonard Cohen will be making a significant humanitarian donation reflecting his immense goodwill to the nation of Cambodia."
No details were provided as to when the concert is likely to be rearranged.
Source: Mekong Sessions
and those who paid by credit card, will automatically receive the refund to their credit card, or must they make a request for it? (Just checking... never assume!)
Logistical challenges ?
For fuck sake.
Pack your equipment and get on a fucking plane. How hard is that ?
Or could he not get a G4 in the right colour ?
That's too bad.
I did wonder what would happen if they didn't sell enough tickets and if people would get their money back.
I know that every single major international music event in Cambodia so far including Ronan Keating, Stacie Oricco, Pitbull, Sean Kingston, Michael Learns to Rock etc have all had to be subsidized by big local companies in order to be feasible - we are talking about $250,000 loss for each concert.
I did hope that the Leonard Cohen was going to go ahead and was thinking about getting a ticket this week...
As far as the local promoters go at least they had the balls to try, they may have made some mistakes but hopefully they can continue and get another concert up and running.
Honestly I really don't think that many people care about the show not happening as many were skeptical in the 1st place that it was actually going to happen. It was pie in the sky to begin with.
People will lose money from tickets for sure.
I've received an email saying my credit card will be refunded. I don't see why anyone should lose money from the tickets bought.
They did a pretty good job of promoting it in the media and getting newspapers and magazines and major Khmer TV station to back them up so from an outside perspective it looked like they had their act together.
The scathing press release about expat questioning the ticket price structure was a bit of a public relations disaster though and I saw in their weekly ads in the Post that their pricing and discounts eventually got noticeably lower...
Now it sounds like the problem was they did not have enough financing in place and were relying on ticket sales, or at least that is the current rumour that has yet to be confirmed.
I hope that they can sort it out and reschedule as I would have liked to go.
Has any one heard if the Mekong Sessions Bob Dylan gig is still on?
I wonder who funded the video that the sessions made... someone is out of pocket
Promoters full of excuses in the paper this morning,they should pull the other one.Its got bells on.
Ticket prices were ridiculous,one would of thought that any promoter with half brain would know this.
Talk about people with things missing...
Why dont they hold a miss landmine pageant at the stadium instead?
I am sure that the khmer elite would love to help landmine victims gain some self esteem.
I will give that promoter guy a call-whats his name again?
Who could possiblly be against this?
MALCOLM JAMES McINNES
Thailand Mobile : +66 6 843 3445
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E-mail : mjmcinnes [at] iyarra [dot] com
www.asiaeventproduction.com
Hello "Anthony",
It's just as well I decided to check the various forums to see what was being said in the aftermath of this week's announcement, so that I can now happily correct a couple of misapprehensions for you...
Firstly I was the freelance production manager employed to produce the technical and production aspect of the event and not the concert promoter, which was The Mekong Sessions. My previous clientele and 30 year track record in this industry speak for themselves for anyone bored enough to check out my website; link kindly provided by "Anthony".
While I suspect that you maybe already well aware of this, "Anthony", the promoter is actually called Chris Minko and his details are as follows :
Christopher Minko
CEO: the mekong sessions
No 27 - street 294 - Phnom Penh
PO Box 184
Cambodia
www.themekongsessions.com
www.standupcambodia.net
www.tobedeter-mined.org
Mobile: 855-(0)12932642
Email : cminko [at] themekongsessions [dot] com
I would be very interested to know where you got my name and details, which you have chosen to share with everyone here, and which to my knowledge were only known to Chris Minko and his staff at the Mekong Sessions.
The reasons for cancellation have nothing to do with Leonard Cohen or his management who have behaved honourably throughout and were as gutted as the rest of the production team when it became evident that this show was not viable. For reasons of professional discretion I won't go into the reasons for the cancellation, however the contributor known as 'Rigger' is closest to the mark with his comment below :
" Now it sounds like the problem was they did not have enough financing in place and were relying on ticket sales, or at least that is the current rumour that has yet to be confirmed..."
I was going to stay silent on this, however this attempt to place the responsibility elsewhere is consistent with my experience of Mr Minko's dishonesty and slipperiness over the past few months and his deliberate lack of candour is inevitably causing undeserved criticism and damage to Mr Cohen's reputation. I hope that this will help clarify things and set the record straight....
Chris Minko dishonest & slippery? There's news. This is the same Minko who had the Miss Landmine pageant stopped because it is "degrading" to landmine victims. The same guy who wholeheartedly backs the handicapped volleyball team and the Cambodian paralympic crew. Obviously he doesn't like anything that isn't his idea. Moreover, would anyone really give the time of day to someone who has received the Prime Minister Hun Sen Gold Medal for Services to Cambodia? It's akin to being awarded Humanitarian of the year by Idi Amin. While I am sad that Leonard Cohen will not be coming (not that I am a fan. Bob Dylan is a different story though!), I am not surprised that the self-righteousness of Minko would lead to the demise of the gig. He is a resentful man with none but himself in mind.
My dyslexia kicked in when I read the above post and read that promoter's name as Malcolm McLaren
I am wondering of the cost in terms of media how much this has cost some people?
interviews
research
ad space
salaries
time
the wasted costs and resources spent on this must be huge.
I wonder if Asia Life will still be running the advert in the next issue? They may have gone to print already...
It will certainly make for some interesting follow up articles anyway, nice bit of excitement, intrigue and quintessential Cambodian f****d-up-ness.
asia life goes to pres on the 20th of each month. I have heard that there are two pages on Cohen in this issue
i have two tickets to the Oz concert next Friday (for the price of $70 on top of what I paid for one ticket in Cambodia). They have done me a HUGE favour by "postponing" the Cambodia concert date.
AEG live has officially pulled it from the tour dates
http://www.aeglive.com/tourdates.php?id=29496&detail_type=event
had to share this one...
yeah, but i bet the boat driver pays his bills.
Eric clapton in bangkok soon-ticket prices from 1000 baht.
Cambodian so called promoters take note.