KUALA LUMPUR – A large number of gig-goers were lamenting the dismal experience they allegedly had at the Rock The World 2022 (RTW22) event on Saturday despite the highly anticipated return of the supposedly premier music festival.
Taking to social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, concert revellers shared a litany of complaints related to the event, especially the alleged improper time management of the more than 30 acts involved.
Full steam ahead! ? Event rundown dah settle. Macam kitorang cakap, tahun ni ada 2 main stage & location dia sebelah-sebelah je. So korang takyah exercise menapak pergi stage lain ?
— Rock The World 20th Anniversary (@rtwfestivalasia) December 1, 2022
Simpan siap-siap dalam phone korang. Sabtu ni, 10:00AM sampai 11:40PM, kita full blast geng! pic.twitter.com/FeoLTyyoB4
In an uncharacteristically large wave of frustration, the festival attendees mostly stated their disappointment that many of their favourite acts had about only 15 minutes to perform, or roughly three songs each.
They also noted that the initial starting time of the festival was delayed by at least an hour, forcing bands to remove songs from their set lists.
Other attendees criticised the quality of sound, and the “crammed” layout and standing area of the event, which only partially occupied the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
“Your team has to improve many things. Please learn from mistakes made during this RTW22. Respect people’s time, respect people’s money,” Twitter user @EJsafari said.
“People bought tickets with money and not leaves. Everything was not right with this RTW. I hope you will improve and not be in a comfort zone. Everything was unsatisfactory.”
Team korang kena improve banyak gila benda.Please belajar dari kesilapan RTW22 ni.Hormat masa orang, hormat duit orang.Crowd datang beli tiket dengan duit bukan dengan daun.Segala segi tak kena utk RTW yang ni.Harap korang improve dan jgn berada di zon selesa.Semua tak puas hati
— E J (@EJsafari) December 4, 2022
@omawrozduan claimed that the Rock The World brand was in the hands of a “wrong organiser”.
“The worst fest ever!” the social media user said.
Brand Rock The World terlepas pada penganjur yang salah. The worst fest ever! https://t.co/A7JRKPzuOQ
— omaw rozduan (@omawrozduan) December 4, 2022
Another Twitter user Mr. Jim said the time management of the event was “teruk nak mampos” (fatally bad).
“The standing crowd (area) was so tight, it could have come close to the Korean case,” the user said, referring to the tragic Halloween stampede which killed over 100 in South Korea recently.
“I swear I was disappointed.”
Arif Kamarudin, the frontman of Midnight Fusic, a featured act at the festival, did not spare expletives in his description of the festival.
Arif, who carries the Twitter handle AK-16, appeared frustrated that his band had to shorten its performance.
“(We were) left to wait five hours for soundcheck and during the show, you asked to cut our set short,” he said, adding that Midnight Fusic played only three songs.
Arif said this to a retweet of a post by the organisers thanking those who attended the event and expressing some contrition over the shortfalls involved.
“All the weaknesses came from us the organisers,” they said in a post with an image of the thousands of revellers who attended the show.
“We will try to fix this in the future.”
At press time, the post by the organisers received at least 500 retweets, many of which contained negative responses.
The Vibes has reached out to the organisers for comment on the matter and is awaiting a response.
‘Organisers did their best’
Garage punk band No Good, one of the headliners of the event, apologised to their fans who came from far-flung places only to see the group's set cut short.
“Sorry again, in 2023 we will do better,” it said in a brief note posted on Instagram stories.
“The fest has been going on for 20 years but it’s a total shamble.”
While many slammed the organising of the event, others defended the festival.
“They (organisers) did their work. Don’t blame them,” @Megat_Yaesree said.
“I’m not backing them up but they did their best to keep everything/everyone on time.”
Dorang buat kerja.
— Megat Yaesree (@Megat_Yaesree) December 4, 2022
Jangan salah kan dorang.
Antara sorang stage/floor manager tu kawan aku.
Bukan nak backup TAPI dorang did their best to keep everything/everyone on time.
Dorang buat kerja bagus tapi ada masalah technical paling tak masuk akal je ganggu event ni.#YTJT
Krusty, a hardcore band that performed at the festival, shared memorable moments captured on camera.
“We are honoured to play on this big stage,” the band said on Twitter.
“We would like to thank all crew and friends who helped us a lot and give full commitments (sic).”
The festival – which had its inaugural run in 2000 – returned for its 20th anniversary this year after going on a hiatus in 2017. – The Vibes, December 5, 2022
