A 'thrash metal' concert has been called off after Kuala Lumpur City Hall raided the venue based on a tip-off that the concert had not received approval. However, the organiser claims the concert was well-planned and all documents were ready.
By Michael Murty
KUALA LUMPUR, April 24:
A concert by Kreator, a “thrash metal” band from Essen, Germany, was cancelled during their sound check at the Scandals Club here after it was raided by officials.
The initial rumour that spread was that the concert was raided by the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim). However, a spokesperson from the department told The Rakyat Post: “Jakim had nothing to do with the raid.”
Later, a statement issued by the organiser, stated that the concert, dubbed “Kreator the 30th Anniversary Tour”, was scheduled to go on until the sound check at 4pm, when they got a verbal warning through a phone call from DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) asking to cancel the show.
“This was due to the fact that it (DBKL) had received complaints from people calling it a ‘Black Metal Show’.
“They threatened us that if we proceeded, it was ready to raid the place with IPD (district police headquarters) Dang Wangi.
“They gave us three options: continue the show and get ready for a terrible certainty, change the venue at the last minute, or cancel the show,” the online statement read.
Meanwhile, DBKL Licensing and Petty Traders Management Department director Rolan Rahman said they acted based on a tip-off that the concert had not received approval.
“Every entertainment event needs to seek approval from DBKL before they can proceed. This concert did not get any approval from us,” he told The Rakyat Post.
He wasn’t sure of any other details like how many officers carried out the raid.
While Rolan said DBKL would monitor the nature of concerts held. In this particular case, it acted based on information that there was no approval given.
This negates the earlier claims made by the organiser that the raid took place because complaints were made with people referring to Kreator as a black metal band.
The band, however, was not “black metal”, but a “thrash metal” band.
Famous “thrash metal” bands include Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus and Kreator, in which Kreator and Metallica had performed on our soil before.
The organiser, Demigod Records, said the concert was well-planned and all documents were ready.
“If we didn’t get everything sorted out, we wouldn’t publish the show’s information in Metro Ahad on Sunday, 20 April.
“At 5.30pm, two DBKL officers came to the venue with a hand-written short notice to the club’s manager to cancel the show and close their business for the night.”
The organiser also stated that there would be no refunds for the tickets.
“The cancellation of the show was not our fault. According to Puspal, ticket fees should be refunded if the show is cancelled by organisers/Puspal, but in this case it’s beyond our control,” Demigod said, referring to the Central Agency for the Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.
Fans had begun to show their frustration online over the fact that they could not get refunds for a concert that never took place.
Upreshpal Singh said: “In my opinion it is the organiser’s fault. You should have been ready for all eventualities that might happen.
“It’s unfair to say to fans that what happened yesterday was out of your control even if that is what it seems.
“If you are to organise a metal show, absolutely everything has to be done prior to the show to ensure nothing will stop the show. It may be easier said than done, but you should leave no room for doubt.”
Cheah Jie Juan said: “I’d like to suggest no more Metal gigs in KL (Kuala Lumpur) any more. You should already know the risks before all of this happened. We would still want our refund.
“This goes beyond giving my personal ’5 cents’ because I’m utterly disappointed with the whole situation. This I feel does not qualify your statement about not refunding us. You should know better as an organiser. This is not a ‘Celine Dion’ concert.”
Those were only two out of many more disgruntled comments made by netizens who were upset about the cancellation of the show, apart from not getting refunds.
The four members of Kreator — Mille Petrozza (guitar/vocals), Sami Yli-Sirnio (guitar), Christian Giesler (bass) and Jurgen “Ventor” Reil (drums) — and another four crew members arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 9.30am on April 22.
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