K-pop concert in Indonesia cut short after crowd crush
K-pop band NCT 127 had to cut short their first-ever concert in Indonesia after 30 attendees fainted during a crowd crush.
Around two hours into the Jakarta concert, the band handed out freebies causing fans to surge toward the stage until the barricade fences collapsed.
“Because of it, 30 people fainted. To prevent other incidents, we decided to stop the concert at 9.20pm,” said police spokesperson, Endra Zulpan, adding that the collapsed fans had recovered.
Police allowed a second NCT 127 concert to go ahead on Saturday (5 November), but banned the distribution of merchandise to fans and required stricter measures to separate fans and performers.
“To make amends [for the crush] and give the best experience, we will add more paramedics and security personnel for the day 2 show,” the concert organiser Dyandra Global Edutainment said on Instagram.
It is the third crowd control incident in Indonesia in just over a month, prompting concerns from the Association of Indonesian Music Promoters about whether the remainder of this year’s concerts and festivals would be able to secure the necessary permits.
Last weekend, police cancelled the third day of the Berdendang Bergoyang music festival in Jakarta after nearly 30 people fainted due to overcapacity.
While, last month, 131 people were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede as they attempted to leave the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, after a football match.
AMPI has claimed officials could have a tougher stance on concerts and festivals, which would effect forthcoming events such as Soundrenaline, Head in the Clouds and Djakarta Warehouse Party.
However, the music body has stressed that the incidents at the live music events should not be equated with the Kanjuruhan stadium disaster.
“To make amends and give the best experience, we will add more paramedics and security personnel for the day 2 show”
Overcrowding was also the cause of two massive tragedies the weekend before last, in South Korea and the Congo.
The former incident happened following the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon in Seoul on Saturday (29 October). It was reported that over 100,000 people gathered in the district, which witnessed the crowd crush that killed over 150 lives and injured more than 100 others.
On the same day, 11 people died following a crush at an overcrowded stadium concert in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. Two police officers were among the victims at singer-songwriter Fally Ipupa’s hometown headline show at the Stadium of Martyrs on Saturday.
The two disasters came just weeks after nine people died in a stampede at a rock music festival in Guatemala.
In other news, a foundation has been launched in memory of 23-year-old Madison Dubiski, who was killed during the deadly crowd surge at last year’s Astroworld Festival, in an effort to ensure concert safety.
The Pink Bows Foundation is aiming to promote stronger safety protocols at concerts and provide scholarships to students interested in pursuing a career in risk management.
“Pink Bows Foundation promotes stronger safety protocols to be consistently implemented at entertainment venues, while encouraging safe spaces and protecting attendees to prevent avoidable injuries or death,” reads the charity’s mission statement.
The organisation is also working to establish legislation, possibly named Maddie’s Law or Showstoppers, that would stop events that don’t adhere to necessary safety measures.
The first wrongful death lawsuit settlements over last year’s Astroworld festival tragedy were reached at the end of last month.
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Indonesian festival halted due to major overcrowding
Three-day Indonesian music festival Berdendang Bergoyang was cut short due to major overcrowding.
The Jakarta-based event was initially set to run from 28 to 30 October at Gelora Bung Karno stadium but local police shut it down on the second day, following multiple reports of fainting.
The authorities reportedly found that the organisers sold more tickets than the venue’s 10,000 capacity, ending up with a crowd of over 20,000 attendees each on the first and second days.
Initially, the event was only permitted to welcome up to 5,000 people per day, central Jakarta police chief commissioner Komarudin revealed. The police are currently investigating whether the organisers intended to sell passes that exceed what was granted in their permit.
Ticket holders will be refunded for the cancellations that occurred on the second and third days. Artists including Pamungkas, .Feast and Isyana Sarasvati were due to play the fourth edition of the festival.
“We will continue to evaluate and prepare maturely by following procedures and prioritising the safety of the audience”
“We deeply apologise for this incident,” reads a statement posted on Berdendang Bergoyang’s Instagram. “In the future we will continue to evaluate and prepare maturely by following procedures and prioritising the safety and security of the audience.”
Overcrowding was also the cause of two massive tragedies over the weekend, in South Korea and the Congo.
The former incident happened following the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon in Seoul on Saturday (29 October). It was reported that over 100,000 people gathered in the district, which witnessed the crowd crush that killed over 150 lives and injured more than 100 others. The country is currently in a period of mourning for its victims.
Meanwhile, in the Congo, 11 people died following a crush at an overcrowded stadium concert in the capital, Kinshasa. Two police officers were among the victims at singer-songwriter Fally Ipupa’s hometown headline show at the Stadium of Martyrs on Saturday.
The disaster comes just weeks after nine people died in a stampede at a rock music festival in Guatemala.
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Live Nation, 88rising add to Asia festival boom
Live Nation and 88rising are the latest promoters to announce new events in Asia, buoying a festival boom on the continent.
The news comes shortly after Rolling Loud announced plans to expand its hip-hop franchise to Thailand in 2023, and Lollapalooza revealed intentions to launch in Mumbai early next year.
Live Nation’s contribution to the uptick is a one-day urban festival in Tokyo, Japan, in collaboration with the country’s leading promoter Creativeman.
Tonal Tokyo will take place at the Ariake Arena (cap. 15,000) on 29 October this year, featuring a mix of domestic and international acts.
Charli XCX, Jamie xx, Years & Years and Lany are among the artists slated to perform across the main arena and the sub arena.
“We aim to create a new-generational music festival that brings together the diverse sounds and colours of Tokyo”
“This autumn, a new urban festival will be born in our Tokyo. Tonal means ‘timbre’ or ‘colour’. We aim to create a new-generational music festival that brings together the diverse sounds and colours of Tokyo and sends them out from Tokyo to the world,” says the event’s organisers.
Tickets for Tonal Tokyo go on sale on 3 September, with general admission billed at ¥16,500 (€123) and VIP tickets going for ¥30,000 (€224).
Elsewhere, Asian-American music powerhouse 88rising is preparing to bring its US-festival Head in the Clouds to Jakarta, Indonesia, this winter.
The festival will take place at Community Park PIK2 on 3 and 4 December, featuring performances from “artists around the world” – though the line-up is yet to be announced.
Head in the Clouds Jakarta will follow the California edition on 10 and 11 August, which is co-produced with AEG Presents.
Jackson Wang, Jay Park, Rich Brian, MILLI, Chung Ha, eaJ and Bibi are among the artists slated to perform in Los Angeles.
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Keeping afloat: Livescape on why the live experience is “irreplaceable”
Asia was the first continent to bear the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak, but not all suffered the peak at the same time.
Speaking to promoters in China and South Korea at the end of March, IQ found that some more stringent restrictions were beginning to be lifted and a “cautious sense of optimism” was settling in, even if the return to touring as we know it is still a long way off.
Now, the situation in countries in southeast Asia, which had staved off sharp spikes in cases until relatively recently, is worsening. Cases in Singapore have begun to rise again, the Indonesian capital of Jakarta has entered lockdown and the Malaysian government has extended its social distancing measure for a second time, until 28 April.
IQ catches up with Iqbal Ameer, CEO of Livescape Group, which operates in all three markets, to discuss government reactions, consumer confidence and the live industry post Covid-19.
IQ: What have you learned so far from the Covid-19 outbreak?
IA: The most important thing? That supporting each other brings out the best in people. We’re no stranger to being dealt with shit cards in the deck, and as a company have had crazy challenges over the past ten years. But now this is a global scale, and we’ve really seen the importance of community and how it is a driving force in achieving anything.
We’ve also learnt that adaptability is key in situations like this. We are hard at work in extending our festival brands and our business model to be more digitally focused. We are proud of our festivals that we have built and carry those badges on our chest. The challenge here is to ensure that we continue to deliver the same Livescape experience to our fans during trying times.
When do you think the recovery might start in Asia Pacific and how is the Livescape Group preparing for this?
At this point in time, we are all uncertain about when the actual recovery period is. Although there has been significant advances in Asian countries compared to Europe and America, we are still remaining vigilant – anything can happen.
Asia-Pacific alone has over 51 million people affected in the music industry, and this is no small number
The Livescape Group is based in three countries: Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. We are anticipating post-Covid-19 to be vital in economic stimulation, and we are working with the respective government bodies to ensure that events can continue by implementing precautionary measures with a focus on the health and wellbeing of music fans.
We are also pivoting some of our assets to be more lifestyle orientated.
How do you feel about the government response to the situation across the markets you operate in?
We have seen most governments around the region offering stimulus packages to help with the nation’s economy during this unprecedented time. Unfortunately for some of us based in Malaysia, most of it does not benefit us directly. As a member of Alife (Association of the Arts, Live Festivals and Events), Livescape is having continuous open discussions with the Malaysian government about the issues of postponement or cancellations, and are demanding that we are considered as well. Asia-Pacific alone has over 51 million people affected in the music industry, and this is no small number.
However, countries such as South Korea and Singapore have set ideal global practices for other countries to follow suit; which would contribute to the speed of the recovery. With our festival It’s the Ship being based in Singapore, we are thankful for the swift and fast action of the Singaporean government. We support their initiatives to get the arts and live sector up and running as soon as possible. (The Singaporean government has provided a $55 million arts and culture resilience package, including $20,000 grants for digital projects).
What changes might we see long term across the industry, and the festival business in particular?
It is naive to say that this pandemic will not change the core nature of the festival business. Already, we are seeing festivals and artists venturing into the digital space with livestreaming performances along with an increase of creative content being shared out in hopes to connect during this void of live events with their fans and community. Although it is a short-term solution to fill the void of live events, we do not consider this to be a road to recovery, as we believe that the live event experiences are irreplaceable.
We also expect a stronger focus on local talents, due to the nature of the interaction of communities during this period of time, and local gigs would be quicker to pick up post Covid-19.
The global pandemic has impacted the events industry in an unprecedented manner but we are optimistic about the long-term demand for live, experiential experiences
Post Covid-19, people will also be more wary in terms of how they experience live events in large gathering situations. It is then our responsibility as event organisers to ensure that we have procedures in place to address concerns relating to the health and safety measures such as temperature checks and sanitisation booths.
In some ways, people will also come to realise what our company has been preaching for the past ten years: experience comes first. We definitely see a desire for people to connect in person and we will not discount the renaissance of the roaring 20s, an era that was sparked after a period of difficult times.
Being a floating festival, do you foresee any particular challenges with the future of It’s the Ship?
We feel the challenges are across the board for all festivals. I’d be lying if I said no, but we are optimistic and never risk the safety and wellbeing of our shipmates. That has always been a top priority of ours, unfortunately the term “the show must go on” does not apply to us in this situation.
We’ve been transparent with that in our community and in our communications, with a campaign revolving around #StayHomeToComeHome, where we continuously share relevant news and information through our social platforms.
Being a floating festival, It’s the Ship provides a unique experience in terms of venue, as it takes place onboard a ship. The advantage is the fact that the venue puts us in a controlled environment that allows us to manage and plan prior to the event itself. We are also working very closely with the cruise company, which has recently put in place comprehensive health and safety preventive measures for the ease and comfort of our attendees.
At Livescape, we’re thankful to the partners we work with, especially cruise lines that we work with who have offered extremely affordable rates to ensure that It’s the Ship continues its multiple voyages in the years to come.
In Asia in particular, the main challenge would be rebuilding people’s confidence in attending large-scale events
What more general challenges do you think the industry face getting back up to speed?
In Asia in particular, the main challenge would be rebuilding people’s confidence in attending large-scale events. Putting in health and safety preventive measures will be key in reassuring our community.
The global pandemic has impacted the events industry in an unprecedented manner but we are optimistic about the long-term demand for live, experiential experiences! With social distancing being practised globally, audiences will be craving live, interactive experiences more, which will create the opportunity for experiential events to bounce back at a greater scale.
At Livescape, what have you been doing to adapt to life in the wake of coronavirus?
With a strong team in a resilient industry, our team has been taking this time working from home to diversify our business models and digitising our assets and communities. Our core philosophy has remained the same, but our execution will differ, moving towards more digitalisation – something extremely adaptable. This will be more evident once all this is over.
Until then, we will embrace the changes, continue to evolve to adapt to the situation and to be there for our industry, as well as the local communities, to the best of our ability.
Livescape has continued to build relationships and trust with our clients and partners who have approached us with the same vision of diversifying in mind. We work hand-in-hand in developing some very successful campaigns for big and small SMEs alike and we highly recommend that other companies do the same and look into opportunities available.
Remember always: We write the future!
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Islamic fundamentalists disrupt Indonesian feminist punk gig
Indonesian feminist group Kolektif Betina (‘Female Collective’) was forced to call off the second of its two ‘Lady Fast’ concerts in the city of Yogyakarta after the first, on Saturday (2 April), was disrupted by an “unidentified group” shouting Islamic slogans.
The Lady Fast events, at the Survive! Garage venue, were to have featured live music, workshops, art exhibitions, a market and film screenings, including Ini Scene Kami Juga! (or This is Our Scene Too!), about the involvement of women in Indonesia’s punk scene, which “is still quite minor, because the hardcore/punk scene is considered a man’s world”.
However, at around 10pm, as the final performers took to the stage, a group of men stormed the venue, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) and accusing organisers of “corupting morals, dressing inappropriately [and] being communists,” Kolektif Betina writes on its Facebook page.
“Our other female friends were also verbally assaulted with insults such as ‘Dirty!’, ‘Damaged women!’, ‘You are morally corrupt!'”
“One of our female friends who tried to get out of the crowd was assaulted physically by members of the unidentified group,” continues Kolektif Betina. “She was grabbed and yelled at: ‘Are you drunk?’ Our other female friends were also verbally assaulted with insults such as ‘Dirty!’, ‘Damaged women!’, ‘You are morally corrupt!'”
A warning shot was reportedly fired into the air by a police officer as members of Kolektif Betina were evacuated.
The punk subculture in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Islamic nation, is one of the world’s largest and most vibrant but frequently finds itself in conflict with conservative religious forces, especially in devoutly Muslim provinces such as Aceh, where Sharia law is in force.