PETALING JAYA: The government’s decision to pull the plug on the Good Vibes Festival after a controversial performance by the frontman of an English band will have a ripple effect across the industry, says a major event and music festival organiser.
Livescape Group CEO Iqbal Ameer said shutting down the three-day event solely because of one act on Friday night will now make concerts in Malaysia significantly less attractive to international artistes.
“This has rattled the industry’s confidence. Why would anybody want to take a risk?” he told FMT.
“Event organisers will now have to think 10 times about whether to get a music festival up and running.
“It will be the same for artistes, sponsors, fans, tourists, food vendors, and the government, who will now think several times before granting approvals,” said Iqbal.
In the incident, The 1975 singer Matty Healy criticised the country’s stance on LGBT before going on to kiss a male bandmate.
The incident was met with widespread condemnation, and forced the band to announce the cancellation of performances in Jakarta on Sunday as well as in Taiwan later.
Ben Law, the founder and director of Future Sound Asia, organisers of the Good Vibes Festival, said the decade-long event now faces an “unprecedented threat” due to the actions of a single individual.
Calling it a “catastrophic financial blow” for FSA, Law said the repercussions of the incident would extend beyond their company.
Moving forward, Iqbal called on the country’s entertainment industry to support nearly 100 live events which Malaysia will host between now and December to prove that “this one individual won’t spoil it for the rest of us”.
“I think the industry has to unite and show that we can continue doing this,” he said.
Another industry insider, David Gurupatham, said the general consensus among industry players was that FSA should not have been penalised by being forced to shut down the concert.
Instead, Gurupatham said, the festival should have been allowed to carry on with assurances that such incidents would not happen again.
A lawyer, Gurupatham also suggested that The 1975 may have breached its contract by failing to abide by performance guidelines, including those which require the band to avoid touching on sensitive issues.
“Millions have been lost in ticket sales, food sales and hotel bookings because of this irresponsible behaviour by one artiste,” said Gurupatham, the co-founder of trade group coalition Industries Unite.
“If they (the band) acted responsibly, the organisers would not have been penalised. This cancellation affects industries like live events, hospitality, tourism, … and our place in the world map.” - FMT
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