Paul en Israel : Now It's official

The former lead singer of the Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney, has announced his plans to come to Israel to perform next month.

The celebrated rock star will arrive in Israel as part of a world tour, and will give a single concert at Tel Aviv's Park Hayarkon on September 25.

McCartney was scheduled to perform in Israel some 43 years ago with the Beatles, the legendary band of which he was a founding member.

But government officials bannedthem from appearing in Israel in 1965.

They refused to grant the necessary permits, citing concerns that the tousled-haired British band and its strident, amplified music could corrupt the morals of Israeli youth.

McCartney's manager Barry Marshall reportedly confirmed his arrival a few days ago, and approved the venue even though it does not include 250,000 seats, which is the singer's standard requirement.

The Israeli audience might be deterred by the ticket prices, which have yet to be determined but are likely to add up to several hundreds of shekels. This has been the case with other international rock stars, like Bjork and Leonard Cohen, who were scheduled to perform in Israel this summer but had to cancel due to poor ticket sales.

c’est le 25 Septembre prochain que se tiendra au Park Ayarkon, à Tel-Aviv (Israël), un mega-concert de Paul McCartney.


On apprend que c’est ce soir, à minuit (heure locale) que sera lancée en Israël : "L’opération McCartney", qui aura pour but de vendre un maximum de places en un minimum de temps.

Le prix des places sont vendues au prix de 490 shekels (1 euro = 5,197 shekels), faisant entrer Paul McCartney dans le prix des artistes les plus chers s’étant produit au Park Ayarkon (à titre d’exemple les places pour le concert de Roger Waters avaient été commercialisées au prix de 400 shekels).

Il est à noter que les 200 premières places vendues (vente par internet, téléphone, ou guichet) bénéficieront d’une remise de 90 shekels.

Concernant le prix des places, on notera la mise à disposition par les organisateurs de 5000 places assises devant la scène, qui seront commercialisées pour 1500 shekels !

Paul McCartney Puts ‘Friendship First’ In Israel

Music Icon Set To Rock Israel 43 Years After Ban Historic ‘Friendship First’ Concert Announced
Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel, 25th September 2008

43 years after being banned by the Israeli government, Paul McCartney today announces his ‘Friendship First’ concert in Israel. Following months of feverish speculation the wait is finally over as music’s most revered star announces that he will be playing in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday 25th September 2008, for the first time ever. This is in keeping with a series of special one-off unique shows that Paul has performed this year in places he has never visited before. Israel will finally get the chance to experience a night of music and history Macca-style; the night they have been waiting decades for.

Paul McCartney holds true the key principals of friendship – loyalty and respect – and the ‘Friendship First’ concert is an opportunity for people to celebrate these values whilst having a memorable night of fun and rock n’ roll.

Looking ahead to his first trip to Tel Aviv, Paul Said, “I’ve heard so many great things about Tel Aviv and Israel, but hearing is one thing and experiencing it for yourself is another. We are planning to have a great time and a great evening. We can’t wait to get out there and rock.”

Paul McCartney has nearly visited Israel on two previous occasions. The first was with The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania in the mid 60s, however at the time because Israel was short of foreign currency the promoter was unable to raise sufficient funds. After applying to a government committee for help the promoter’s appeal was declined as it was thought The Beatles might corrupt their youth. Some even believed that artistically The Beatles were not of a high enough standard! The second miss was with Wings in the late 70s, when the shows were cancelled after problems with the venue.

Earlier this year, Israel’s ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, apologised to The Beatles during a trip to Liverpool for the ‘misunderstanding’. In a letter he wrote: “There is no doubt that it was a great missed opportunity to prevent people like you, who shaped the minds of the generation, to come to Israel and perform.”

2008 has already seen Paul McCartney play a number of special one off concerts, whilst making international headlines and taking him to places he’s never been before. In June he received a hero’s welcome as he rocked the city of Liverpool when he played at Anfield Stadium as part of the city’s celebrations for the European Capital Of Culture. A couple of weeks later and Paul performed a spectacular free show, the ‘Independence Concert’, to over 350,000 people in Kiev’s Independence Square which was the largest outdoor music event in the history of the Ukraine. July then took Paul to the city of Quebec for yet another huge headline-making event as he performed to 300,000 people in the city’s national park, The Plains Of Abraham, to help celebrate Quebec’s 400th anniversary. Paul also found the time (only just though!) to join Billy Joel on stage for the ‘Last Play At Shea’ show in July, marking the last show ever at New York’s famous Shea Stadium. The Beatles were the first band to perform at Shea Stadium in 1965, which went down in history as the first ever stadium rock show. Speaking after his appearance at Shea, Paul commented, “It was great to complete the circle, starting there with The Beatles and then finishing this time round with ‘Let It Be’.”

If you add the attendance figures of the last 3 special shows together, Paul has performed to well over 650,000 people which is the equivalent of filling London’s O2 Arena over 36 times.