“The Worst Fest Ever”, Rock The World Slammed by Unsatisfied Attendees Due to Bad Management
Rock The World (RTW) was once a household name in the music scene.
At the peak of alt- and indie-rock back in the late-90’s to early 2000’s, many considered the festival a yearly affair that they had to catch. It was mass event that showed as much love to the relatively-unknown underground scene as it did to breakthrough-modern rock acts, featuring several bands that flew under the mainstream’s radar.
However, as RTW made their comeback after a 5-year hiatus last Saturday (3 Dec), many attendees were left unsatisfied due to alleged management mishaps.
According to Malay Mail, the festival which was held at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, was plagued by time management and sound issues. In fact, many took to social media to share their complaints about the full-day event, which involved 30 performances.
Twitter user @dnlabrr posted a long list of negative comments about the event and even reported that by 5.30pm, the festival was two and a half hours behind the official set times due to poor time management.
“Due to poor time [management], almost all bands from 5 pm onwards were forced to cut their set… It’s very sad. I pity them because they gave their all to perform,” he concluded.
Negatives (gonna be a long one):
-starting from the top, ticket redemption was inefficient & insufficient, leading to long queues taking around 20+ mins to get in
-when we got in, we expected to have missed the first 3 bands, but we managed to catch the 1st band’s last song
— Dabs ⁕ (@dnlabrr) December 4, 2022
Allegedly, several early bands were allowed to play past their allotted time, causing set times to be overrun despite the use of two stages.
Another Twitter user, @omawrozduan claimed that the event was in the hands of a “wrong organiser” and labelled it as “the worst fest ever”.
RTW has since responded to criticisms in an official statement that reads: “We hope you enjoyed the show. All shortcomings are due to us, the organisers. We will try to improve in the future.”
This short apology backfired as it attracted more complaints from unhappy concert-goers who shared their unpleasant experience. A simple search regarding RTW on Twitter showed many attendees listing out the cons of the music event.
Take a look:
Siapa pergi Rock The World??
pic.twitter.com/4gJ0khrN35— HighCastleMY (@HighCastleStdio) December 5, 2022
RTW
1. Buka gate lambat dalam rundown jam 10Am tapi sidai crowd dekat luar gate lama
2. Band start show jam lambat sebab masih soundcheck lagi
3. Sound barai kadang-kadang and masa dorang setup terbuka speaker bukan monitor then ter clash dengan stage sebelah— E J (@EJsafari) December 4, 2022
Listening & reading first hand abt the mass f up on RTW from one of the performing artists.
this is legit giving me the same vibes as another shit-show of a management *cough NMF* or might be even worse. Yang “otai” curi set time orang lain tu kenapa. Hang dah tak relevant 🤦🏻♂️
— アイマンアズハル 🏴 (@aimanazhr) December 4, 2022
@rtwfestivalasia good luck esok
RTW Rundown vs The Comments pic.twitter.com/ZvRzxGjfB7
— E J (@EJsafari) December 2, 2022