Asia News: Oasis Tour; NewJeans Vs. Ador; Sheeran Comes To Bhutan; New Tokyo ‘Live House’; DJ Charges Harrassment At Clockenflap

Oasis To Visit Japan, Korea

In late November the Gallagher Brothers confirmed that the Oasis reunion tour will stop off
in Tokyo and Seoul next fall. The Seoul date will be Oct. 21 at Goyang Stadium, while
Tokyo will be honored with two shows, Oct. 25-26, at the Tokyo Dome.

The band made the announcement on social media with the message, “Korea. Our new best friends. Wait just a little while. Oasis coming soon. Everyone in Japan. We haven’t forgotten about you boys.”

The last time Oasis performed in Japan and South Korea was 2009, when their Japan tour
also took in Osaka and Nagoya. So far, Tokyo and Seoul are the only Asian stops on the reunion tour.

KOREA

NewJeans Dumps Label, Claims Harassment

K-pop girl group NewJeans announced Nov. 28 it is leaving its label and agency, Ador, days after South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor dismissed claims of workplace harassment brought to it by 20-year-old Hanni, a member of the internationally renowned group.

Hanni, who is Vietnamese-Australian, and her four colleagues originally brought up the harassment claim during a YouTube livestream in September that has since been deleted.

In the video, Hanni stated she intended to testify in a government hearing about bullying in the music industry, specifically her record label Ador, which has been embroiled for months in a dispute with parent company HYBE, one of Korea’s biggest entertainment concerns and the management company of BTS.

During the subsequent hearing, Hanni told lawmakers that HYBE had essentially ostracized NewJeans and alleged employees of the company ritually insulted them in internal communications. As a result of the hearing, a group of NewJeans fans filed a petition with the government claiming workplace harassment.

These claims were rejected on Nov. 20, with the labor ministry saying that Hanni and her colleagues cannot be regarded as “workers” under South Korea’s Labor Standards Act due to the “content and nature” of the contract they signed.

The outcome of the ruling was met with outrage, and not just from NewJeans’ fans. One expert said the ruling was “utterly unfair and yet unsurprising.” Korea has no laws that protect the working rights of artists unless they are full-time, regular employees.

BHUTAN

Sheeran First Global Artist To Play Bhutan

In January, Ed Sheeran is to become the first international music artist to ever play a concert in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The concert will take place at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, on Jan. 24, as part of Sheeran’s “Mathematics” tour.

In line with Sheeran’s pledge to make his concerts accessible to all his fans, tickets for the concert will start at the equivalent of $10. The most expensive ticket price is $101.
Fans who travel to the concert from outside the country, however, will also have to pay Bhutan’s Sustainable Development Fee, which is $100 a day, in order to help preserve the country’s “environment and culture,” according to the South China Morning Post.

The “Mathematics” tour will also take Sheeran to six cities in India starting Jan. 30: Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Shillong and Delhi. The organizers are AEG Presents Asia and BookMyShow Live.

JAPAN

LD&K To Open ‘Live House’ In Tokyo

A new “live house” is set to open in Tokyo in February called Shibuya Ongakudo.
Operated by LD&K, the new venue is the company’s 12th live house, with a capacity of 430 people.

LD&K, despite its extensive experience operating music and dining establishments, as was the case with many Japanese entertainment-related ventures, almost did not survive the pandemic, from which it emerged deeply in debt.

Since then, however, it has pushed ahead by opening new music venues including Yokohama’s 1000 Club, Shimokitazawa’s Shangri-La, and Kinmirai Kaikan and the Dogenzaka Church in Shibuya, Tokyo’s trendiest youth mecca.

HONG KONG

DJ Alleges Harassment At Clockenflap

The Scottish DJ SimOne said that she was sexually harassed by a group of men during her set on Nov. 30 at Clockenflap festival.

According to the DJ, seven or eight men near the front of the stage were making “obscene hand gestures” while she performed, according to a report in the South China Morning Post. All appeared to be “under 20 years old.”

In a video posted on social media, Murphy said, “It was really distracting … they were holding super sexually explicit messages on their phones and waving them at me.”