Look, don't camp: JANNABI's Choi Jonghoon performs during the 2024 Incheon Pentaport Music Festival in Incheon, South Korea on August 4. (Photo by Justin Shin/Getty Images)
Malaysia
1975: Lawsuit over festival cancellation
Future Sound Asia, organisers of Malaysia's biggest international pop festival, Good Vibes, is suing British rock band The 1975 and each of its members separately over the cancellation of the festival in 2023.
Authorities shut down the festival after the first night's performance after lead singer Matty Healy allegedly criticized anti-LGBTQ policies on stage and then kissed bassist Ross MacDonald.
According to Variety and The Guardian, the company filed a $2.4 million lawsuit in the UK High Court, alleging that the group and its management were aware of various rules that applied to everyone performing at Good Vibes, including banning them from discussing politics or religion during performances.
Malaysian authorities have explicitly banned “kissing, kissing spectators or any such conduct between spectators.”
The lawsuit says the band performed in Malaysia under the same restrictions in 2016 and was “repeatedly warned about it on multiple occasions ahead of their July (2023) performance.”
Apparently, authorities initially rejected the band's application to perform due to Healy's publicized drug problems, but relented after the band promised to follow “all local guidelines and regulations.”
The lawsuit claims that the band deliberately changed their mind about playing and decided to “protest the ban,” and that Healy brought a wine bottle onto the stage and behaved in a deliberately provocative manner. After the performance was stopped, Healy allegedly became aggressive and asked his management to stop.
The next day, authorities revoked the festival's license and canceled the final two days of the event. Afterwards, according to The Guardian, Healy said publicly that Kiss had in fact been part of the show. “The idea that artists have an obligation to cater to the cultural sensitivities of the venues they're invited to perform sets a very dangerous precedent,” he was quoted as saying. The band had received $350,000 from the festival.
Despite the lawsuit, Malay Mail reports that local promoters say the concert business in Malaysia is operating “as usual.” Most promoters are positive about the lawsuit, as they believe Future Sound Asia should be compensated for losses incurred by the festival's cancellation, and there is no fear that it will scare international artists away from Malaysia anyway.
Japan
Dream Concert World goes into a frenzy
“Dream Concert World,” a new spinoff of the hugely successful K-pop concert series “Dream Concert,” was scheduled to take place at the Belluna Dome in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, from Aug. 11 to 19, but was canceled on July 31 due to “extreme heat” and a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
“We decided to postpone the concert as the Japanese government has issued a nationwide heatstroke warning and the environment is not conducive to large numbers of people gathering in one place,” one of the event organizers told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Japan has been experiencing scorching heat since mid-July, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of Saitama Prefecture, where the Belluna Dome is located.
The concert's lineup included New Jeans, Kiss of Life, NCT Wish and TWS. Yonhap News reported that organizers are in discussions to reschedule the concert, but added that a new date has yet to be announced.
South Korea
Pentaport cracks down on camping and waiting lists
The Incheon Pentaport Music Festival, one of South Korea's largest music events, was held over the weekend of August 2nd to 4th at Songdo Moonlight Festival Park in Incheon, a city on the outskirts of Seoul.
Organizers announced a policy over the weekend that would prohibit ticket holders from staying overnight or “creating their own waiting lists in an attempt to secure a better position to see their favorite artists up close,” according to The Korea Times.
Officials were understandably concerned about safety when they noticed early Saturday morning that some fans had created their own waiting lists for Sunday's show. The region was in the midst of a heatwave, and organizers were worried about the health of spectators and potential injuries from overcrowding.
Since the 2022 Halloween tragedy in Seoul's Itaewon neighborhood, in which 159 people were crushed to death, police have become extremely cautious about allowing large groups of people to gather in one place without supervision.
Adele's global flag frenzy
Adele has faced harsh criticism from Korean fans over the video that plays in the background during her current 10 performances on a special stage in Munich.
The singer performed in front of a 220-metre long LED screen, which is certified by the Guinness World Records. Various images were projected onto the screen during the performance, one of which particularly upset Korean fans.
The image shows the Rising Sun Flag, which was used during the Japanese military's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
In South Korea, the flag has provoked a similar reaction to the Nazi swastika in most Western countries, with various local media outlets reporting that Adele's fans were confused and angered by its use in a visual element of her show.
Some have responded that the inclusion only proves the “ignorance” of the creators, while others have questioned whether it was intentional, since “swastikas don't work in Germany.”
At time of writing, Adele and her management have not responded to the outrage, if they are aware of it.
