Klaxons, Gorillaz cancel TA shows

Placebo arrive in Israel, scheduled to perform as planned.

By YIFA YAAKOV
klaxons 311 (photo credit: PR)
klaxons 311
(photo credit: PR)
UK-based indie rock band Klaxons and popular audio-visual innovators Gorillaz Sound System have canceled their performance at the PicNic festival in Tel Aviv on Saturday, possibly in reaction to Monday's flotilla fiasco, it was announced Friday.
Both bands were scheduled to perform alongside pop-rock megastars Placebo and up-'n-coming New Yorkers Hank 'n Cupcakes.
While Placebo have already landed in Israel and are scheduled to perform as planned, the cancellation will do doubt come as a hard blow to concertgoers who paid a high price for an evening of performances by international acts who will headline Europe's top festivals this summer.
 Shocked fans expressed their disappointment Friday as others spoke out in outrage over the unchanged entrance fee. The production team, however, announced that fans wishing to be reimbursed for their tickets would be able to do so at the venue on Saturday afternoon.
Fanswill no doubt enjoy Placebo's show, but will be forced to miss out onthe festival experience which brings together for an evening bandswhich couldn't be more different from each other. Unlike Placebo, whohave mostly stuck through the years to their winning musical formula,the London-based Klaxons have dedicated themselvessince 2007 to reinventing dance music by stretching the limits of rock’n’ roll. Their debut album, Myths of the NearFuture, was awarded a Mercury Prize. Gorillaz Sound System, meanwhile, combine sound with animation to create a uniquely visual live party-like experience.
According to producer Shuki Weiss, the Klaxons and Gorillaz will be replaced by Israeli electro-rock band J.Viewz and popular artist Rami Fortis, who will perform with the Talmudi brothers, of Balkan Beat Box fame.
This latest cancellation follows Elvis Costello's earlier announcement that fears that performing in Israel would be interpreted as a political act on his behalf had caused him to reconsider and cancel two scheduled shows in Israel.