Sepang Council Says No International Artists For Now After Matty Healy Incident

For the time being, the Sepang Municipal Council will only allow local talents to perform.

(Credit: Sepang Circuit, M4ntap Festival / Facebook)

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The Sepang Municipal Council (MPSepang) said that for future events, organisers should not include international artistes after the outrageous act done by British band The 1975 last week during the Good Vibes Festival (GVF) at Sepang International Circuit.

As reported by The Star, the matter was discussed at a board meeting on Wednesday (26 July) as the councillors were discussing how to proceed with M4ntap festival, a festival happening this 5 and 6 August at the Sepang International Circuit.

M4ntap Festival is an auto show festival that also hosts an International Music Festival featuring 6 international EDM DJs such as Dash Berlin, Ferry Corsten, Dubvision and many more. The music festival also has our homegrown talents performing such as SonaOne, Kidd Santhe and many more.

Council President Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain said that international artistes must go through the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal) to obtain any permit.

Once the permit is approved by Puspal, the council will decide to approve the performing location. He also added that event organisers need to adhere to additional requirements such as ensuring that artistes’ conduct and behaviour comply with the applicable laws at all times.

“Any violation of this will see the council taking necessary action, including the immediate cancellation of the event and any violations during the event would result in legal action too,” he explained.

The council retains the discretion to blacklist individuals, companies, events or any related entities.

We have made a decision to only allow local artistes to perform for the time being.
Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain, Sepang Council President

Following this August’s M4ntap Festival, he concluded that the auto show event is still a go, but the music festival should just be on the sidelines, performed only by local artistes.

That means the international DJs are not yet approved. However, he also said that if they want to continue to invite the international artistes, the organisers need to submit an appeal first.

For the auto show event (M4ntap festival), cars can use the track and we can utilise the sidelines for performances by local artistes.

However, this decision can be overridden if the event organisers submit an appeal to the higher authorities and it is approved.
Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain, Sepang Council President

Good Vibes Festival, which was supposed to run for three days from 21 to 23 July last week was cut short to only one day (Friday, 21 July) due to a disrespectful act done by Matty Healy, the lead singer in the 1975 band.

He appeared drunk on stage, destroyed the organiser’s drone, spat on stage, cursed the government and ranted about the lack of LGBTQ rights in Malaysia. He also kissed his male bandmate during the show, to further escalate his point.

This led to the festival organizers cutting their performance short and banning them from future events. Subsequently, the band was also banned from ever performing in Malaysia again.

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