The 1975 Caused Malaysia To Change Its Laws About Concerts

The 1975 caused quite a stir during their set at the Good Vibes Festival in Malaysian over the summer when singer Matty Healy kissed bassist Ross McDonald on stage to protest the country's anti-LGBTQ laws. The rest of the three-day festival got cancelled with organizers citing “non-compliance with local performance guidelines" as the reason, and the band was banned from performing in the country.

But that's not all: the Malaysian government actually changed laws because of the stunt. As New Strait Times reports, concerts must now have a "kill switch" to cut off performances that don't abide by the country's guidelines. They were also considering a ban against any international performers but decided against it.

“The 1975 flouted several guidelines and we are in the midst of strengthening the guidelines to avoid reoccurrence,” deputy communications and digital minister Teo Nie Ching told parliament. “Just because of one incident, how can we cancel the others? Out of 296 artistes only one happened. How is this fair?”

The 1975 is playing at iHeartRadio ALTer EGO 2024, which takes place on January 13th. Paramore, Sum 41, The Black Keys, Thirty Seconds to Mars, BUSH, Yellowcard, lovelytheband and The Last Dinner Party are also on the bill. Fans across the country will be able to listen to this year's iHeartRadio ALTer EGO live as the show will be broadcast across iHeartRadio alternative and rock stations across the country, and on the free iHeartRadio app.