What appalling organisation

Sir,
I feel I must write and air my strong views about the appallingly badly organised recent concert by Cesaria Evora.
On arrival at the venue, a first glance at the large and compact crowd at the small gate, pushing and shoving to get through, gave one a sense of utter chaos and a foresight of what was worse to come; once inside the amphitheatre, the ushers and usherettes proved to be totally hopeless and helpless at the seating arrangement, one of them telling us holders of £15 tickets “sit wherever you want on the last step row where there are no cushions”. However, this turned out not to be the case, as holders of those tickets were to stand up throughout the concert, despite the assurance of the salesman at All Records shop that our tickets were for seats. What’s more, some people with £35 and £40 tickets had to sit on the last row, with no cushions, as heir seats were occupied by others with the same number tickets! Unbelievable! And to add insult to injury, Evora, the “grande dame de la chanson” was made to wait nearly one whole hour on a hot and sticky, while people were still desperately trying and scrambling to their seats. Complete pandemonium! Shame on the organisers, whoever they are, unable to put their act together and organise a concert in a civilized manner: processing and co-ordinating tickets sales, seating arrangements, punctuality, etc. I fear Cyprus is getting a bad name on the international art and concert scene. One wonders if artists of the calibre of Pavarotti and Evora will ever agree to come to this island and entertain us again? Very sad indeed.

Jacqueline Davies,
Nicosia