Normally, when Pollstar’s international correspondents talk to these folks, they’re discussing deals and money matters. In the days following the terrorist attacks, however, their thoughts were far more personal.

In Europe, no one was considering how many American acts will cancel their tours or how the cost of touring could escalate. The ramifications for the Continent reach far deeper than that.

Thomas Johansson of Sweden’s EMA Telstar, chairman and head promoter of Clear Channel in Scandinavia, probably captured the feeling best when he said, “It’s a gigantic catastrophe, and it’s a bigger disaster than Pearl Harbor because it strikes at our very heart. It doesn’t matter if you live in Stockholm, London, Lisbon, Paris or Prague – New York is the Rome of the Western world.”

For Neil Warnock of London-based The Agency Group (which represents 3 Doors Down, Slipknot, Creed, Disturbed, and many, many others in the States and abroad), it was akin to a fantastic H.G. Wells plot.

He was in the company’s New York office on the corner of Broadway and West 57th Street, about four kilometres from the World Trade Center, when fellow agent Steve Martin told him to switch on the television immediately.

“As it unfolded, it became more horrific. I can’t articulate it any better than that,” Warnock said.

“I suspect the majority of shows will go ahead outside of the New York area, but nothing will be happening here. I got up at 4 a.m. [September 12], looked out of the apartment window and saw the smoke, and thought not just of the thousands that had been killed but also the hundreds of thousands who will be directly affected by their deaths.”

Israeli companies work in a region where they have to contemplate some act of terrorism on a daily basis. They’re also closer to where the attacks and the subsequent carnage are suspected to have originated.

Concert promoter Zev Eizik of The Eizik Corporation in Tel Aviv said, “How it will affect us is not important because this makes the entire industry totally insignificant on a global historical landscape.

“The third building in New York that went down, the 47-story building near the two towers, would be bigger than any building in Israel.

“Last night, I was the organiser for a benefit for autistic children that was planned by black people from Chicago who have settled here. There were 900 pre-paid tickets but the place was empty.

“It’s impossible to see any good coming out of it, but it may finally show that terrorism is not the way to solve anything. It may just teach people that they have to sit down together and talk.”

When asked how much America’s support for Israel in Middle East disputes could have led to these strikes, he said, “I have no idea. God only knows who did this.”

As the terrorist acts of September 11th unfolded on television, Canadian promoters, agents and managers thought little of business. The country’s proximity to America made the horrific events in New York and Washington hit close to home. Many have friends, family and colleagues in Manhattan.

“Although many in this industry seem to feel at times, myself included, that what is being worked on is of the utmost importance, yesterday put everything back in perspective,” said Jeff Craib, VP of S.L. Feldman & Associates (whose extensive list of clients includes Cowboy Junkies, Jann Arden, The Matthew Good Band, and Our Lady Peace), likely speaking for the majority of Canadians.

“To sum up how this has affected us, the only business that took place in this entire industry was the discussion of the tragedy in New York, the Pentagon, etcetera,” he said.

“For the few calls that actually came into the office early in the morning, they were all composed of reviewing what had taken place and its affect on our future. There was no business and shouldn’t have been.”