KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — The Justin Bieber concert set to arrive in Malaysia on October 22 is a welcome sign after ‘live’ music events here ground to a halt two years ago, according to several industry leaders.
Speaking to Malay Mail, the heads of various event producers said that the Canadian singer’s concert will not only kickstart the return of such events, but would also serve as a litmus test to prove to authorities that ‘live’ events can be done safely despite Covid-19.
Bieber added Bukit Jalil National Stadium to his list of stops for his Justice World Tour just two weeks after the federal government announced that international borders would fully reopen, in a move to start treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease.
“It definitely is a big statement to say ‘live is back’,” said Rahul Kukreja, director of local gig venue The Bee.
“But more importantly, the show is being produced locally by PR Worldwide who are extremely credible and are one of, if not the biggest promoters in the country.
“So if they are able to produce this safely and without any issues, which I am confident they will, I don't see any reason why the government would have any concerns for shows of various other sizes to happen in the country.
“There are lots of international tours in the pipeline, artists want to come out — especially to Asia — so yes, I do think this announcement has gotten the ball rolling and gives the confidence for a ton of other shows to happen,” he added.
The Bee is a venue located at the Publika Shopping Gallery here, which serves as a bar, restaurant and a site for ‘live’ music that before the pandemic saw a number of performances by international acts such as US rock band Fever 333 and Mongolia’s The HU.
Ben Law, director of Future Sound Asia (FSA) — producers of the Good Vibes Festival — also expressed enthusiasm that the Justin Bieber concert would kickstart the industry.
When asked if FSA would be using this opportunity to bring back its ‘live’ gigs, Law said: “We have never stopped planning for the past two years and Good Vibes will definitely be back. Hope to announce something real soon!”
Yet, it seems that there are still a number of issues that need to be ironed out before some of these businesses are ready to schedule ‘live’ entertainment events again.
Since the first movement control order (MCO) that began on March 8, 2020, restrictions to public travel, business and gatherings have been in place to varying degrees.
These restrictions gradually eased up for most businesses — especially those deemed “essential” by the government, such as food and manufacturing — but tentpole events still seemed to take a back seat.
Not to mention a ban on incoming international travel for most reasons, including leisure, was in effect.
Chief executive officer of Livescape Group, Iqbal Ameer, in December 2020 took to night markets to protest the difference in treatment.
He highlighted how these markets were allowed to reopen despite being similar to ‘live’ events, while entertainment-based performances were still not allowed to have spectators.
Since then, ‘live’ events have been gradually re-allowed since October last year in accordance with states moving into Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
Iqbal told Malay Mail that although he welcomes the Bieber concert, the government was yet to show commitment to helping the ‘live’ event industry to recover.
He cited as an example reports that the Selangor government had imposed a 15 per cent duty on all arts and stage performances by local artists, and 25 per cent entertainment duty for performances by international artists, since January 2021.
“Livescape has been active in the space for over 12 years, and the sentiment from most people in the industry is that the pandemic has changed how events run. We have our own plans but none of them are in Malaysia for now due to lack of support.
“The entertainment tax is a big issue at the moment. Waiving this entirely is a good start.
“Secondly, the Malaysian Tourism Board needs to be active in giving grants back for events that bring high economic impact. Thirdly, private institutions need to be incentivised to by giving them tax rebates when holding live events,” he said.
Rahul shared a similar sentiment, saying that local municipal councils do not seem to get the most up-to-date information when the government makes announcements.
“For example, for the longest time after the [federal] government announced ‘live’ shows were allowed to happen as part of Phase 4 and having it up on the Health Ministry website, but the team at Kuala Lumpur City Hall as well as the police from Segambut branch that oversees Publika kept telling us we couldn't do anything, not even busking.
“So there seems to be a clear issue of information not being passed down. I'm hoping once these issues get resolved and when we get the green light without any obstacles or reservations from anyone, we will start a full calendar of ‘live’ events — starting with local acts after Raya, so end May, June 2022 onwards,” he said.
