All we needed was love

Israel had the honor of hosting a professional musical performance, focusing on a wonderful man, a great artist, and a top-class musician, but the Paul McCartney concert ended with a strong feeling of a missed opportunity

A historic performance in Tel Aviv. Sir Paul McCartney's historic visit to Israel will be recorded in the pages of the history of the changing and formulated Zionism. It should also be noted that the distinguished sir performed before an audience of tens of thousands of people.

 

The arrival of a "mega artist" and cultural icon of such high level – who looks at the globe as we look at our backyard – should not be taken for granted.

 

Israel in general, Tel Aviv in particular, and we, the people sitting in Zion, should be proud to finally belong to the commonwealth of nations and cities where Paul McCartney performed in his lifetime.

 

This concert will also have a place of honor in the pages of my own personal history. I am very happy to have in my possession a story I will be able to tell my grandchildren. And even when I stand alone in the shower, facing the mirror, I can look myself in the eyes proudly, considering my own private history and knowing that I did not let Sir Paul perform in the Holy Land without me.

 

So from an historic point of view, something did happen here on Thursday night.

 

However, I do have the feeling that the tens of thousands of people who came to the park that night expected a few more things from this concert apart from a lesson in history. A musical experience, a feeling of spiritual elevation, a love story between them and the stage. Instead, throughout the performance, they got the feeling that "it might begin in a little while."

 

The attempt to create feelings of affection between Sir Paul and the audience did not mature into a love story. And in the end, there was a strong feeling of a missed opportunity in the air. I believe this was felt from both sides of the would-be love affair.

A professional and impressive musical performance(Photo: Yaron Brener)

 

The resources and technology available for this gig were overwhelming. Thus, I find it hard to understand why the most basic element of a musical event – the quality and intensity of the sound – was lacking. From the beginning of the performance and throughout a significant part of it, the amplification of Sir Paul's vocal channel was weak in terms of the mix, very cold, somewhat blocked and unflattering.

 

In such a situation, the artist must exert greater efforts to overcome the amplification, and this is something we would not want as the hosts of such a historic gig. We came to listen to Paul and enjoy a concert by one of the most remarkable musicians in the world. Instead, what we mostly received was a sing-along by a great and warm Israeli audience, who came to sing and enjoy itself, and show each other – very loudly – who has better knowledge in the lyrics written by the British sir and his roots, The Beatles.

 

A taste of the real thing

And what about the other musicians on the stage, whose names I'm not even familiar with, as Paul never took the time to introduce them to the crowd as one would expect in any performance? Why would an artist want to invest extra energy on the stage, when the minimal credit of mentioning his or her name is not provided? Such an artist comes to this performance to work, not to play.

Other musicians not introduced (Photo: Yaron Brener)

 

The intensity and quality of the amplification has an important role in forming the musical experience. Although the general volume was clean and of high standard, it was somewhat too weak and cold to penetrate the masses of people in the audience and meet their expectations, and did not reach a level of excitement, and that's just too bad.

 

When the stage did overcome this problem, as in the impressive performance of "Live and Let Die", the audience did get a taste of "the real thing" – a professional, intense and exciting musical and audiovisual performance. This is what the tens of thousands of people came to the park for.

 

Israel of the 21st century came to Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park on Thursday night to heal the wounds of that historic performance from the 1960s which never took place, to mend the trauma of the province. Israel looked for love as a remedy, that thing which Sir Paul and the Beatles recommended as an ultimate cure in so many songs and opportunities.

 

Instead, Israel had the honor of hosting a professional and impressive musical performance, focusing on a wonderful man, a great artist, a top-class musician, whose place in history is guaranteed even without it.