Boy George Turns Glitches Into Comedy and Tribute at Second Tel Aviv Show

Sound failures, a silent guitar and an admission of forgotten lyrics marked Boy George's second Tel Aviv concert on Saturday night, but the 65-year-old Culture Club frontman turned the mishaps into comedy, and the nearly sold-out Menora Mivtachim Arena forgave him everything.

The show, which followed a Wednesday performance at the same venue, was dedicated to survivors of the Nova music festival massacre and to bereaved families, with 1,500 tickets donated to the community. Israeli DJ and producer Ofer Nissim joined George onstage in the second half of a set that mixed Culture Club classics, covers and newer material.

At a time when international stars have largely stayed away from Israel, George has become one of its most outspoken celebrity supporters, enduring considerable backlash within the music industry for refusing to stay silent about the October 7 Hamas attack. "Silence is not a f***ing option," he said, to thunderous applause.

When a guitar produced no sound, he told the crew, "You have to plug things in, you know," adding: "This is a weird moment, but this whole night has been a weird moment." Introducing his Bob Dylan cover, "It Ain't Me, Babe," he admitted he had forgotten the lyrics on Wednesday. "Luckily, this time I have autocue," he said.

Of his detractors abroad, he said: "I'm 65. It's too late to hate me, I don't give a s**t." The one opinion that mattered, he said, was his late mother's. Recalling an Irishman who suggested she would be ashamed of his support for Israel given Ireland's sympathy for the Palestinian cause, he replied: "I can tell you categorically my mother will be more proud of me than she's ever been."

He also dedicated his solo release "Clouds" to Philip Sallon, a longtime Jewish friend and influential figure in London's club scene who introduced him to Jewish traditions when he was young. The two have since fallen out. "He hates my guts right now," George said, asking that Sallon be told the song was sung for him in Israel as an act of forgiveness, "as a mitzvah."

The emotional peak was "We Will Dance Again," the song George released in July about the Nova attack, with lyrics referencing the October 7 atrocities, criticizing fellow musicians for their silence and challenging accusations of genocide against Israel. Survivors and bereaved relatives joined him onstage carrying Israeli flags, and George, in a colorful geometric-print suit and rhinestone-studded black hat, embraced them through the reggae-inflected song. "I'm going to cry," he said. When a bereaved woman declined to speak because she does not speak English, he joked, "I've never met a Jewish person who doesn't have anything to say."

George's eight-day visit included a meeting with President Isaac Herzog and a trip to the massacre site near Kibbutz Re'im, where Hamas terrorists murdered more than 360 festivalgoers on October 7, 2023. He told the audience this trip had affected him differently and appeared uneasy with the gratitude lavished on him. "It's awkward for me as an outsider to be in the midst of this amazing recovery and sadness," he said.

Kay, a Tel Aviv singer, stayed seated in tears during the Nova song. "I can't dance to that," she said. "It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be human, and that is what connects us." Lavie, a 24-year-old performer, said he studied George's music after seeing his name in Israeli headlines and admired how he handled the glitches "with grace and humor." Daniel, a Jaffa resident originally from Los Angeles, was unmoved, calling the show off-key and awful and decrying the crowd's "desperate need for approval."

He closed with "Karma Chameleon," the 1983 hit that made him a household name, ending a show of roughly two and a half hours with thousands still standing. Contrasting Israel with a London he called "full of anxiety and tension," he said: "It feels so relaxed here. I don't want to go home."