SANDAKAN – Local bands that performed at the Borneo Rock Festival last month have been paid, the event’s subcontract organiser said in response to complaints by the musicians.
Rock the City (ROC), the concert’s sub-organiser, said that it had made payment to all 10 Sabah bands that performed at the concert, even though there was no budget for them earlier.
“We are done paying all fees to all local bands, but we are a little disappointed that our efforts to help local bands have this incredible experience was criticised, with many people making negative speculations as if they were the organisers,” ROC said on Facebook.
The main organiser for the rock festival last month was peninsula-based Imika Culture.
The event was held at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, on December 30, and featured nationally renowned bands, namely Search, Wings, Hujan, Butterfingers and A.C.A.B.
It also featured 10 bands from Sabah, including A.M.E.F., Mahkluk, Silversun, Suka Suki, Markaz79, Beyond My Rage, Dita Darcia, Gutaeters, Measmata and Melodychain.
The concert was touted a success, drawing around 20,000 people.
However, local bands posted on Facebook after the concert to share the problems they had faced, such as the lack of performance fees and the absence of written contracts.
Three bands, which did not want to be identified, told Scoop that ROC had only given them a verbal agreement of a RM2,000 token or fee per band for performing.
When the bands requested ROC provide a written contract to secure the agreement, they were ignored, band representatives claimed.
It is now learnt that each local band that performed was paid RM1,000 on Tuesday, more than a week after the concert.
ROC on its Facebook page said it did not issue contracts to the bands because it was not the main organiser Imika Culture’s initial plan to have them perform. As such there was no budget allocated to pay them.
ROC said it was the one that pushed Imika Culture to let the Sabah bands perform, but did not specify to the bands any fees, nor provide any contract because of the lack of budget.
“We did not specify the amount (of fees) to be paid, and we also stated that bands could pull out (if they disagreed) to give a chance to other bands to perform,” ROC said.
As such, the sub-organiser questioned why the bands were upset as they were not told of any fees and could have pulled out from performing.
“If they disagreed with there being no fees, why did they take the risk and perform unpaid?”
Other complaints against the concert organiser included poor arrangements, such as a small space under two canopies where bands had to wait for hours under the sun, with no seats nor food or drink provided.
ROC said although it regretted the complaints, it still thanked all local bands for performing.
The three bands whose representatives spoke to Scoop said they were ready to forgive and forget.
They were concerned earlier as the bands needed funds to cover their travel and accommodation costs, as several of them were not from Kota Kinabalu.
They also hoped the next concert would be better managed, with schedules set ahead of time, as they had been informed at the last minute about the time for soundchecks and had to travel about seven hours to reach the Sabah capital. – January 13, 2024