Radhi is the vocalist and frontman of Malaysian indie band OAG. Photo: Azhar Mahfof/The Star
Malaysian singer Radhi of the alternative rock band OAG revealed that his group borrowed RM50,000 from an ah long (loan shark) for its 30 Tahun Generasiku concert at Malawati Stadium, Shah Alam last December, TV3 reported.
Radhi, whose real name is Muhammad Radhi Razali, said that the group made the decision after experiencing a shortage in budget that disrupted the set up of the stage.
"On the day of the concert at 3pm, the stage wasn't ready because we didn't have the budget for it. That's when we decided to seek help from an ah long, even though we knew it wasn't a good idea.
"We wanted our show to go on so bad. On that day itself, the ah long came all the way from Penang (to Shah Alam) and brought along with them RM50,000," he said.
According to the 46-year-old, the money was used for setting up the stage and other preparations for the concert.
"If we didn't (borrow the money), there wouldn't be (a concert) that night," Radhi said, adding that most tickets for the concert were given to fans for free due to limited time and other financial factors.
The Generasiku hitmaker also revealed that OAG initially wanted to cancel the show, but the group eventually changed its mind as it didn't want to disappoint fans.
OAG is a Malaysian indie band comprising of vocalist Radhi and bassist Nazrin Zabidi.
On Jan 11, the pioneering drummer of the band, Qi Razali, announced his departure from the group after debuting with it in 1992.
Two weeks later on Jan 26, the band's guitarist, Ammal Bellamy – who joined in 2017 – shared in a statement on Instagram that he was leaving the group too.
Their final appearance with OAG was at the aforementioned concert.
The band is best known for the hit song 60's TV from its debut album Old Automatic Garbage in 1994.
