A World I Took for Granted

The newly released triple ISHAY RIBO album, BAMA KAHAL V’AHAVA (“Stage, Audience and Love”), takes his fans back to what today feels like another world: unforgettable live performances with audiences singing along at mega concerts. For the singer who views singing together with the crowd as a “mutual embrace,” it was a must-do project for a world he loves and hopes (along with his audiences) to soon return to.

“I sang for an audience of 3,000 one night, 7,000 another. I loved the energy of those big concerts, the feel of the crowd singing along,” Ribo says. “Today, if I could sing for 200 people, I would be thrilled beyond words. I really miss connecting through my songs, and I can’t stop saying thank you to the world I took for granted.”

When COVID first reached Israel, Ribo thought there would be a short period — “maybe two months” — of total closure, then life would return to normal. In March, concerts for audiences of 3,000 were cancelled, and then a world tour which was on the cards for the summer was nixed. But although there were short windows of opportunity and some “capsule concerts” in the summer lull, the country is still struggling under a crushing second wave of coronavirus eight months later.

“Slowly, I began to understand that this was no short interval,” he says. “We want to go back to what life was like, and we pray, but nothing is in our hands. We have no idea what will happen.”