Exactly two years after their last visit to Israel, Faith No More are coming back to perform two shows. The band will be in the country on August 19 and 20 and will perform in the Haifa City Hall and the Cinerama in Tel-Aviv (dates respectively).
Just a week ago I went to a Rage Against the Machine show held in the same Israeli music hall as FNM are scheduled to perform in Tel-Aviv, and produced by the same Israeli producer. At that show I was shocked by the brutal security measures taken, and would like to protest against them here.
To come to any conclusion from what I've seen at the RATM show (which was excellent, btw) you ought to know that security men at the Cinerama are expected to confiscate any personal belongings of yours which might be used as weapons by hooligans. Sounds reasonable, but in actuality this includes things like decorative chains and even belts with big buckles. And don't expect to get any of these back. They're just thrown to the audience after the show and chances of finding what was taken from you is nil.
Apart from that, security men at the Cinerama are extremely hostile and violent. Apart from mocking the audience when they requested for water (several people fainted during the RATM show), I was a witness to at least one case when a security man attacked a boy and broke his front teeth without provocation (this incident was brought to the attention of the police).
In short, if FNM visits to Israel were'nt so scarce, I would have encouraged all of you Israeli fans out there not to go. Since this is not the case, don't miss it and go - but be careful. Take what I've told you about into consideration before and during the show, and don't let the security spoil your enjoyment.
And if by any chance Bill, Mike, Puffy, Roddy or Jon are reading this, better have a word with those security dudes before the show - just to let'em know the audience is not the enemy.
uri@forum2.org