Music News

Six Die at Malaysian Music Festival

It’s been a bad week for music festivals.  First, two people were killed and 22 injured when a drunk driver tore through a crowded street at SXSW in Austin.  Now we hear of six deaths at Future Music Asia, a festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  As if Malaysia didn’t have enough to worry about, right?

The final day of the event–day three, featuring Rudimental, Eric Prydz and Pharell–has been cancelled.  From the festival’s Facebook page:

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL ASIA – MEDIA STATEMENT – 16 MARCH 2014KUALA LUMPUR: With regard to the recent Future Music Festival Asia event that took place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium showgrounds on Friday, 14th March, Livescape Asia and Future Music would like to make the following statement.

The organizers of the festival are deeply saddened by the reported loss of lives on Friday 14th March. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those affected. The health and safety of our patrons is of upmost importance to us and we are extremely devastated that circumstances such as these occurred despite the significant planning and resources in place.

You can read more of the statement here.  The cause of these deaths–the youngest was 19 and the oldest was 28–are all apparently drug related.

This does not bode well for concert-goers in Malaysia where authorities impose extremely strict rules on performers dress, behavior and performance.  Hardliners in the government are going to push for these kinds of events to be banned.

Meanwhile back in Austin, one of the people injured in that horrible crash was treated to a private concert in her hospital bed.  Jared & The Mill is one of Mason Endres’ favourite bands.  If she couldn’t go to them, then the band decided to come to her.  Watch video of the performance at Mashable.

 

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37893 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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