It would have been Tan’s first performance since her mother’s untimely passing earlier this year, and the artiste had planned to dedicate her set to her.

Unfortunately, Tan’s plans were dashed after the festival was prematurely cancelled owing to the actions of one of its performers, Matty Healy of UK band The 1975.

Healy had caused a stir by criticising Malaysia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual laws before kissing his male bandmate during his set on the first day of the planned three-day concert at the Sepang International Circuit over the weekend.

Healy’s actions, and the subsequent cancellation of the concert, have been met by frustration and disappointment from many of the artistes who had been scheduled to perform, most of whom had invested substantial time and resources in preparing for the festival.

Tan said she had known of Healy’s reputation for being problematic, but didn’t think he would have been so “ignorant and inconsiderate of his actions”.

“Do I think the whole of GVF should be cancelled just because of some icon’s irresponsible use of influence? Not really. But I don’t know anymore,” she told FMT Lifestyle.

While Tan is naturally disappointed she could not perform on the final day of the festival as planned, she also expressed concern for other parties who have been affected.

“I feel for all our talented local artistes and vendors. I really, really want to help those who didn’t get to perform, and especially the local vendors who lost so much because of the cancellation as well,” she said.

It was reported that 22 food vendors had spent at least RM10,000 in preparation for the festival.

Tan’s sentiments were echoed by other homegrown GVF performers, who were similarly disappointed by the turn of events.

“We are definitely sad about the cancellation as we had prepared extensively, and were excited to perform for the first time at Good Vibes Festival to a new audience,” local rap collective forceparkbois said in a statement to FMT Lifestyle.

The group from Johor Bahru, thanked their fans for their support, and hoped there would be similar opportunities in the near future for them to showcase their music.

Local singer-songwriter Leaism was one of the lucky acts who had been able to perform before the festival was cancelled. She also voiced her unhappiness over the events that unfolded, stressing that music should be used as a medium to unite, not provoke.

“I hope this shows how much we should champion our local bands. I’m bitter for my friends who couldn’t make it to the stage – they deserve to share what they had prepared, because we have worked for years to earn a slot at GVF.”

Leaism also hopes this incident will not make things more difficult for those in the Malaysian music scene, who already find it hard enough to navigate the complicated regulations for performances here.

Similarly, local jungle/drum-and-bass artiste Alfie Rrari expressed his dismay over all the problems the cancellation had created.

“I feel devastated by the loss of opportunity to showcase my work to a larger audience. Even more for the small businesses and others who invested significant time and money into the festival,” he said.

Some of the scheduled acts ended up performing in other ways, in an effort to make it up to fans for a show that couldn’t happen.

For instance, Australian rapper The Kid LAROI, who only discovered the festival had been scrapped upon arrival, was reported to have performed for guests at the hotel where he was staying.

Meanwhile, Tan joined the lineup of the Tiba-Tiba Riuh Festival event in Petaling Jaya the day after the festival was cancelled, while Alfie and other Malaysian acts, including Naufal and I-sky, teamed up with local collective Emo Night KL to perform a gig.

“It went great, good turnout. It seemed like almost all of KL’s art and music scene was there that night,” Alfie shared.

“Its main driving force was the community’s desire to come together and express their feelings about GVF. We’re all still very bummed over the fact that it was cancelled, but we’re staying positive.”

Indeed, Tan and Leaism concurred that this was not the time to feel defeated.

“More than anything, now is when we need to support one another,” Tan said.

“I believe we will overcome this, together,” Leaism concluded.