Malaysia threatens to stop Coldplay gig hours before showtime

Malaysia’s governement has warned that a Coldplay gig taking place today (22 November) will be shut down if the band “misbehaves”, although it rejected calls from conservative Muslims to cancel the show.

Protests led by the country’s opposition bloc have objected to Coldplay’s Kuala Lumpur show over the band’s support for the LGBT+ community.

Frontman Chris Martin is known for waving Pride flags during his performances, while his band’s concerts are frequently decorated in rainbow colours.

Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil said he does not foresee any problems with Coldplay’s first concert in Malaysia, although security has been beefed up for the show that is expected to bring some 75,000 people to a stadium outside the capital.

When asked if a “kill switch” to cut off power supply to the stadium would be used, Fahmi said: “Yes, it’s one of the things we have discussed with the organiser.

“The prime minister has also said the band, you know, is very supportive of Palestine. So, we are upbeat about the concert today.”

Malaysia introduced a “kill switch” measure following the uproar sparked by British rock band The 1975, where frontman Matty Healy criticised the country’s anti-LGBT+ laws and kissed a male bandmate on stage.

The Kuala Lumpur festival was later suspended and The 1975 have reportedly been banned from performing in the country ever again. Last month, Healy defended his actions in a 10-minute speech delivered during a gig in Dallas, Texas.

He argued that The 1975 didn’t “waltz into Malaysia” but were booked by festival organisers who were aware of the band’s political views and stage show. He said that kissing his bandmate Ross McDonald “was not a stunt simply meant to provoke the government” but an “ongoing part of The 1975 stage show which had been performed many times prior”.

Had the band omitted any “routine part” of the show to “appease the Malaysian authorities’ bigoted views of LGBTQ people”, Healy claimed, it would have been “a passive endorsement of those politics”.

“As liberals are so fond of saying, ‘silence causes violence, use your platform’ – so we did that. And that is where things got complicated,” he said.

Coldplay’s concert in Indonesia last week was marred by violent clashes between riot police and conservative Muslims protesting the band’s record of support for the LGBT+ community.

More than 200 conservative Muslims demonstrated outside the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, where the band were performing on Wednesday (16 November), and demanded the event be cancelled.

The demonstrators reportedly held a large banner that said: “Reject, cancel and disband Coldplay concerts”. Protesters said the band’s pro-LGBT+ stance was in conflict with the country’s “faith and morals”.

The same protest group had also organised demonstrations last week at multiple sites in Jakarta, including outside the British Embassy, the Associated Press reported.

Once again citing the band’s support for LGBT+ rights, which they said clashed with their beliefs, various Islamic groups called for the cancellation of the band’s inaugural concert in predominantly Muslim Indonesia.

At least 4,000 security officials were deployed in and around the Coldplay venue. Local police said the demonstrators calling for the cancellation of the concert did not have permission to stage a rally.

Additional reporting by agencies