FEATURE:
"As Long As the Band Behaves Appropriately..."
IN THIS PHOTO: Muse/PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Lee/The Guardian
Why The 1975 and Muse Have Made Huge Errors Playing in Malaysia
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WHILST one….
PHOTO CREDIT: Thilipen Rave Kumar/Prexels
would never necessarily look to bands such as The 1975 and Muse as being moral guardians and those who fight for the rights of the oppressed around the world, you do expect better of them. Show some basic common sense, decency and dignity. I have seen two stories within as many weeks that shows both of these groups in a very bad light. It is not only really them that are at fault. This feature regards festivals in Malaysia, and the fact that this is a nation that oppresses homosexuals and those in the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community. Capital punishment is a possible consequence for homosexuals in the country. This barbaric system and code of morals is something that other nations follow. I have recently written a feature about The 1975 playing the Good Vibes festival in Malaysia. They apparently were not aware of the fact that the country considers the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community have no rights. I was going to leave it there. The 1975 played some of their set and, upon finding out about Malaysia’s lack of morals, they caused controversy. Matty Healy kissed the band’s bass player, so the rest of the festival was pulled. The London-based artist and performer bones tan jones (who is queer) wrote for The Guardian about why Matty Healy’s reaction and lash out against Malaysia’s anti-L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ practices and rights:
“In Malaysia, there are no LGBTQ+ rights, with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison for sodomy; Global Trans Rights Index ranks Malaysia as the second worst country in the world for transgender rights. And a privileged white man – the lead singer of British band the 1975 – has inadvertently made this situation worse.
Speaking on stage at Good Vibes festival in Kuala Lumpur, Matty Healy – a champagne bottle in his hand – told the Muslim majority crowd: “I do not see the point of inviting the 1975 to a country and then telling us who we can have sex with,” before kissing his male bandmate, Ross MacDonald. “I’m sorry if that offends you, and you’re religious … If you want to invite me here to do a show, you can fuck off. I’ll take your money, you can ban me, but I’ve done this before, and it doesn’t feel good.” The band were indeed banned within half an hour, and the next two days of the festival were cancelled.
Condemnation has been swift from Malaysia’s music scene – friends close to the scene tell me the cancellation has robbed local musicians of the chance to perform on a major stage, and festival vendors of cashflow – and also taken from the LGBTQ+ community, as the Guardian has reported.
IN THIS PHOTO: Matty Healy performing with The 1975/PHOTO CREDIT: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
Healy’s terrible misjudgment was to steam into this highly complex and historically fraught situation without due care, or seemingly enough research. The British LGBTQ+ rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has argued in these pages that Healy “succeeded in drawing global attention to Malaysia’s persecution of its queer citizens”, and “simply wanted to show solidarity … That strikes me as perfectly valid.” But one queer Malaysian producer and DJ has argued to me in recent days that “careless displays of ‘activism’, in the form of a conceited performance, damage the work of grassroots activists”. Another queer Malaysian has told me that Healy’s behaviour will make rightwing politicians “more paranoid”, and give them more ammo to further anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-music narratives. The fear is that queer artists will find it harder to secure spaces for their events.
To Healy and his fans: if you want to actually help LGBTQ+ people in Malaysia, please consider funding the aforementioned organisations. And to other western artists whose intentions come from a place of solidarity: if we want to stand with causes that affect cultures other than our own, we must think deeply about our position of privilege, utilising our voice in a meaningful, respectful way. Listen to the folks in the countries you want to stand with, the ones whose real experiences are affected by these issues, and think about the repercussions of your actions. No one person is a representative of a whole community, but if we can weave our voices together and put our egos aside – rockstar or otherwise – we can slowly make meaningful change”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Johnson/Pexels
Muse also made a big mistake by playing in Malaysia this weekend. As misguided as they were (even though The 1975 had the gall to sort of criticise Muse for playing), it alarms me that groups are not researching before playing in countries like Malaysia! It seems like they have little concern when it comes to L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ rights in various nations. So long as they get paid and can fulfil their responsibilities then they are not bothered either way. Is this the sort of message we want to send to people?!
“Muse are still set to perform in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this weekend despite the cancellation of the country’s Good Vibes Festival recently over controversies relating to The 1975.
Last Friday (July 21), while headlining day one of Good Vibes, The 1975’s Matty Healy had criticised the country’s government for anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Healy – who was drinking onstage – also smashed a festival-owned drone and kissed bassist Ross MacDonald onstage, before announcing just seven songs into their set that they had been banned from Malaysia and had to leave.
The following day (July 22), the country’s communications minister announced that he had ordered the rest of the festival cancelled.
Now, concert promoter Hello Universe has confirmed that Muse’s concert will go ahead as planned, sharing set times on social media, as well as queueing details. However, Adam Ashraf, one of Hello Universe’s three founders has revealed in an interview that Muse are altering their set list for the Kuala Lumpur show to better fit the country’s guidelines.
IN THIS PHOTO: Muse's Matt Bellamy/PHOTO CREDIT: Nina Westervelt/Getty Images
Speaking to Rojak Daily, Ashraf shared that following the cancellation of Good Vibes over controversies stemming from The 1975’s headlining performance on July 21, Muse have taken preventive measures to ensure a smooth-sailing show.
“They called us shortly after the incident went global. After discussions, they decided to pull one song out of the setlist due to the title of the song. It’s nice to know they’re eager to entertain while also respecting the guidelines,” he said. Ashraf did not reveal which song has been scrapped for the upcoming Malaysia concert.
When asked if Hello Universe was afraid that the show was going to be cancelled following Good Vibes, Ashraf said: “Of course we were worried. Who wouldn’t be? But thankfully, we got assurance from authorities that the show will go on and as long as the band behaves appropriately, everything should be smooth”.
Ashraf went on to say that he thought the Good Vibes team did they best they could have given the situation: “I personally believe the Good Vibes team has done their best, the authorities did too. No one’s happy that the festival got cancelled. It’s a risk they took and unfortunately, it backfired”.
This article from The Guardian also criticised Matty Healy of The 1975. Matt Bellamy’s Muse have made a mistake by playing in Malaysia without any protest or condemnation. These two experiences need to act as a warning to the rest of the music industry. Artists have no excuse when it comes to not researching. As I wrote previously, if you are going to a new country or city, then you need to know whether there are going to be moral conflicts and issues. Whether that is an anti-L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ stance or a lack of abortion rights, artist need to take a stand and avoid these places. Blame cannot be shifted to anyone else, as it is the artist’s duty to make sure they are not going to cause controversy and make things worse. We are living through a time when there is still massive oppression around the world. The fact that countries like Malaysia are so regressive and show no real compassion for gay rights is a big red flag. I am stunned that the country was even on the radar of bands like The 1975 and Muse! For a start, no artist should ever go and play in Malaysia or any nation that has similar prejudices and prehistoric attitudes. It is angering that something constructive could have happened but didn’t. The bands could have cancelled or not played, protested against the country’s laws, and raised awareness of charities and organisations that support the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ communities in Malaysia and are there to bring about change. Instead, there has been this anger and backlash. The 1975 and Muse have not set progress back or made it impossible for change to happen, but they have needlessly muddled into a situation and quicksand that could have been avoided. If artists do support L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ rights – which you hope Muse and the 1975 do -, then they have to absolutely make sure that they do it…
THE right way.