Last weekend Arkady Duchin performed at the Culture Hall in Tel Aviv. It was a festive performance as part of the hall’s fifth winter festival, and accordingly the stage was decorated in a particularly rich and elaborate manner. Arkady was accompanied by an impressive battery of musicians, and he hosted quite a few beloved and well-known musicians. The audience, which filled the large hall, looked – in rough generalization – like members of the middle class aged 40 and over (just like the Ham). They enjoyed in the foyer, before the show, the sounds of a jazz band, sipped good wine that was poured there like water, and in general – looks ready for a classic bourgeois experience.
The opening of the show signaled that the expectations were going to be fully fulfilled. Arkady went on stage alone, sat down at the piano and broke into singing “The Ballad of the Man Who Changed the Moon”, which released collective sighs of pleasure, and expectations for a continuation of the piano performance based on the popular (and wonderful) ballads that Arkady is so good at producing. As for myself, I shrunk a little in the comfortable seat, because in the personal experience My Arkady Duchin is almost the opposite of bourgeois decency. His cry in “Zakuk Lech”, from the first album of Natasha’s friends, was for me in real time like a wake-up call. A decent and necessary kick in the heavenly butt of Israeli music at that time. And from that moment on, he did not stop searching and experimenting Musically, even when he became a local dinosaur. On the other hand, he has this phenomenal talent to produce captivating romantic piano ballads, which meets the needs of most of the Israeli audience. I want to say: make me comfortable, don’t shout. I have enough trouble everyday.
In short, no wonder the opening seemed threatening to me. But then Arkady did something he usually doesn’t do: talk between songs. And talk, and talk. Maybe even too much, in objective terms of polished show construction. The thing is, it seemed so authentic, so gut-wrenching, that gradually the walls of propriety fell in favor of intimacy. Something almost impossible in such a large hall. Then the guests started arriving. And above all – the Jews. From the moment Tom Petrover and Orit Shaf stepped on stage, a palpable vibration of electricity shook the Uniqlo jackets of the spectators. The seagull of the day with a scorching performance of “Everything has already been said”, and then came the surprise: Duchin gave way in favor of a performance by the two of “Looking for an Answer”, without him. A very rare act, almost strange, in terms of hospitality, which drew from Petrover the sentence: “Arkady insisted that we do it. I think it’s a mistake, but…”
Three minutes later, the show was already moving into a higher gear, significantly, thanks to the Jewish distortion attack. Shrek rose to the occasion by performing the style of “The Wall” to “Need You”, with Arkady, who returned to the stage. Now everything was ready for the next big thrill: the arrival of Natasha’s friends. She promised and fulfilled in a big way. Mainly because it is evident in Micah Sheetrit and Arkady that they are doing well at the moment, and their mutual support Looks completely genuine. When the band performed “Break the TV”, which broke my heart for the hundredth time, I wondered what else was left in Arkady’s cartridge. And I speculated that he would move on to an epilogue of some moving anthems, one that would send the audience home calm and satisfied.
But then, suddenly, a strange instrumental video was projected on the stage, with the flickering image of Shai Avivi, after which it turned into a huge disco starring Arkady, who became a DJ, with matching headphones and a stand. The entire audience was on their feet, as part of the convention of “Now has come this moment in the concert, of the dancing”, but the rapper Haim Two – who Duchin has been cultivating for years – burst onto the stage and the two burst into a mini-string of songs from the African part of “Radio Bla Bla” (“Kook At noon”, “doesn’t dance when sad” etc.) are combined with rap in English. It was spectacular, it was surprising, and it really didn’t give the audience the desired catharsis. The slightly confused looks around me made me dance, even when not sad. Because I felt that Arkady remained the true artist, hungry for trials and experiences, even just before his 60th birthday. Much hungrier and braver than most contemporary mainstream stars, in their 20s.
on the knife
- Following the calls for a referendum on legal reform, I would first recommend a different procedure: a popular test. What do you know about the reform, and the justice system in general. In “Wonderful Land” they did it beautifully, in the corner of Asher Ben Hurin, the taxi driver. The result was clear: the details of the proposal, which is currently causing such great polarization in the country, are not at all clear to most of its citizens.
- Itamar Ben Gabir announces a new “protective wall” at the scene of an attack. Shlomo Karai announces a press conference regarding the broadcasting corporation and immediately cancels it; Miki Zohar announces the cancellation of cultural projects on Shabbat, and repeats it the next day; Shas promotes a law according to which immodest clothing At the Western Wall, he is sentenced to half a year in prison. more and more. Netanyahu presents himself as a responsible adult, but his coalition currently looks like an idiot.
- The successful docu-film about Pamela Anderson (Netflix) returns to a moment that in real time seems like an almost amusing cult – the theft of her and Tommy Lee’s home sex tape, and its distribution all over the world. In retrospect, especially when you see Anderson’s pain, it’s almost unfathomable to find that this insane invasion of privacy was so forgiving. If anyone still needs a reminder of the necessity of Mi-To.