Asia: Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia & More

Bruno Mars won’t be touring Asia until the spring but already he’s the hottest ticket in the region.

AP Photo / Francois Mori – Bruno Mars
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Grand Palais, Paris, France

Japanese promoter H.I.P. announced a few weeks ago that all four April shows at the Saitama Super Arena, one of Japan’s biggest venues located just north of Tokyo, were sold out even before general tickets were to go on sale, meaning they all went during the pre-sale reservation period.

Moreover, a second show was added at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in May and, like the first one, sold out immediately.

Tickets for the those shows range from S$248 ($180) to S$348 ($255).

The Japan shows range from 9,500 yen ($84) to 100,000 yen ($887).

In an unusual move for a Japanese record company, the label Plancha has dropped the American indie group Ducktails from its roster after reports surfaced in the American media that leader Matt Mondanile has been accused by a number of women of sexual harassment and abuse.

The group’s album, Jersey Devil, had already gone on sale in Japan, but the label released a statement to Spin magazine that said, “We have already stopped shipping Japanese version CDs and we have taken down the album from all the digital platforms in Japan.

“Also, we are preparing to accept CDs from stores who want to return goods.

“We are planning to thoroughly inform all the stores” by Oct. 20.

The label also told Spin that it would not be working with Mondanile, who used to be the guitarist for the New Jersey indie band Real Estate, in the future.

Though Plancha has informed Mondanile of its decision, it says it has not received any reply from him.

As it happens, Ducktails was also supposed to begin a tour of Japan on Oct.18 comprised of six shows in five cities. 

Some of the shows were joint concerts with other artists, but in any case, Ducktails’ participation has been canceled entirely.

It is assumed that the tour was canceled for the same reason that Plancha, who is not the promoter, dropped the band from its roster, but no clarification has been issued by the promoter.

Epic Rights, a Los Angeles-based global music branding and merchandising company,  announced a partnership with Pan Inc. of Japan Oct. 24 to “develop concert artists’ fashion brands, television commercials, sponsorship and endorsements, themed restaurants, cafes and other themed experiences.”

Some of Epic Rights’ clients include Madonna, Celine Dion, Kiss, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel and the estates of John Lennon, David Bowie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Epic Rights also works with music-related brands such as Woodstock, CBGB, Rock & Brews and Rock Paper Photo.

Pan Inc. will act as liaison with all major Japanese advertising agencies, technology companies, retailers and consumer brands, brining licensing and branding opportunities in Japan to Epic Rights’ artists and properties. In terms of specific tie-ups that were announced this week, Pan Inc. will manage Rock Paper Photo’s fine art rock photography business in Japan and open the first Rock & Brews concert-themed restaurant in 2018.

Fans of singer Jacky Cheung camped out for two days to get tickets to his upcoming Classic Tour, which comes to Kuala Lumpur for two nights in January the Malay Mail reported. Tickets went on sale Oct. 21.

Cheung hasn’t performed in the city for six years and the January 26-27 stand will take place at the Axiata Arena Bukit Jalil.

Tickets were expected to sell out quickly since each buyer could purchase up to six, which also means “after-market tickets are expected to skyrocket,” according to the newspaper.

Grant Pollard / Invision / AP – Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran is on the bill at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, England, June 25.

Following a bicycle accident, Ed Sheeran had to “postpone” a large chunk of his upcoming Asian tour, which was to commence Oct. 22 in Taipei, Taiwan and continue on to Osaka, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo and Hong Kong.

As far as when the concerts will eventually take place, there has been no word so far. Apparently, it depends on how quickly Sheeran’s arms, which were fractured in two places, will heal.

Kyodo Tokyo, the promoter in Japan, has asked ticketholders to wait until future dates are clarified.

However, subsequent shows in Manila, Philippines; Jakarta, Indonesia; Singapore; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bangkok; Mumbai, India; and Dubai were set to go ahead as scheduled at press time.

Entertainment Stalled For CPC

With the approach of the Communist Party Congress in Beijing, which started on Oct. 18, security in the capital was tightened considerably.

Among the measures implemented was a total closure of all nightclubs for a full week until the congress closes.

According to the New York Times, not only did the authorities ban clubbing and concertgoing, it also suspended patronage of Airbnb lodgings in order to “reduce the flow of outsiders to the capital.”

BBC reported “restaurants, gyms and karaoke bars” were also the subject of crackdowns.

The congress takes place once every five years. One Twitter user reported that a sign outside a popular Beijing nightclub said that it was closed “due to factors we cannot resist against.”

10 Arrested In Ticket Scam

In their investigation of a ticket scam involving the popular Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore, Singapore police have arrested 10 individuals between the ages of 16 and 18 for selling at least 120 fake tickets to the event, according to a report by Channel News Asia.

As early as August the police received complaints from people who bought discounted tickets to the Halloween party claiming that they had been cheated.

When they presented the tickets to the venue they were denied entry because the ducats were not genuine.

Among the suspects three have told police that they were coerced into selling the fake tickets, but the police determined that this information was false.

In Singapore, forgery for the purpose of cheating is an offense that is punishable with up to 10 years in prison.