Ticket holders to be updated on refund

KUALA LUMPUR: The organiser of the Good Vibes Festival (GVF) 2023 says that ticket-holders of the cancelled event will be updated on the refund mechanism as soon as possible.

This follows a request by Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil for it to refund ticket-holders after he ordered the cancellation of the three-day event initially scheduled to end today.

Founder of organiser Future Sound Asia (FSA) Ben Law said The actions of Matty Healy, The 1975’s frontman, took all by surprise, and FSA was forced to halt the show.

He said The 1975’s management team had earlier assured them that the band would adhere to local performance guidelines.

“Regrettably, Healy did not honour those assurances. His unprofessional behaviour and defiance of the customs and regulations [here] are disturbing.

“He used his performance as a platform to express his personal views rather than deliver the quality show that his fans were anticipating,” Law was reported to have told a local daily.

The incident here was not the first time the 34-year-old singer-songwriter became entangled in anti-LGBT controversy.

In 2019, he went into the crowd and kissed a male member of the audience during a show in Dubai.

Formed in 2002, The 1975 consists of vocalist Healy, bassist Ross MacDonald, lead guitarist Adam Hann, and drummer George Daniel.

It began to build momentum following the debut of its self-titled album, which made it to the top of the UK album charts in 2013, while its second album, I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, hit the top spot of American, Canadian and Australian music charts.

The band has, among others, won the British Album of the Year award and its song Give Yourself a Try was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 62nd Grammy Awards in the United States. It also won the Band of the Decade title at UK’s NME Awards.