Billie Eilish or Ikan Bilis? Disappointed Fans Lash Out at Concert Organisers

Sadly, we weren’t personally in attendance at the concert because we didn’t receive an invite to the event, but it seems that we didn’t miss out on much as fans who forked out hundreds of ringgit for the event were left sorely disappointed.

Tickets were priced from RM308 to RM598 for seats, but only a handful of fans managed to see the singer of ‘Ocean Eyes’ due to what were apparently bad seating arrangements. Many fans queued for hours to be as close as possible to the stage, with one fan even posting that she woke up at 4.00 a.m. and arrived before 5.00 a.m., making her 10th in line.

@constipatedvegetable little update on the waiting line for standing zone #billieeillish#happierthanevertour#billieeillishmalaysia ♬ original sound - Nadia

However, when the concert started, fans were not happy with the underutilised space at the stadium, which left those with tickets in the seating area ‘looking at the scaffolding’ for the sound system instead of Billie herself. Pictures from the concert show a ridiculous amount of green field space that was left empty last night.

plan concert paling bodoh aku pernah rasa, seat mahal tengok tiang. Stage kau letak jauh macam kokdiang. Billie tak nampak tapi tiang nampak @GoLiveAsia @livenationmy #HappierThanEverMy #BillieEilishTourMalaysia pic.twitter.com/q16d0q3dYc— akifridhwan ◑ (@Akif_Ridhwan) August 18, 2022

A Twitter user showed pictures from an outdoor BTS concert as an example of how the space could have been properly set up instead. Another joked that they should have brought along telescopes and other equipment for a better view:

Attending Billie Eilish concert be like pic.twitter.com/feQoBXCt2g— Arin Muhammad (@arinmuhammad) August 18, 2022

One Twitter user posted a long rant of problems with the concert, saying that it was not the fault of Billie Eilish and her brother FINNEAS, but of the organisers. The problems he listed included a bad sound system, a huge discrepancy between the seating according to categories, and rude security personnel.

you didn’t place any proper barricade etc. and then appear at 3pm and start asking people to move behind etc. if ya placed things earlier, people would have literally followed

- some of the security can be condescending. I know it can be tiring working with a huge crowd of— Nimelesh (@HausofHilton) August 18, 2022

There is a lot to improve. One way is perhaps to learn how they handled Britney’s concert back in Singapore. That was well done.

— Nimelesh (@HausofHilton) August 18, 2022

Another mentioned they are now afraid if the seating arrangements will be similar for the upcoming Justin Bieber and BLACKPINK concerts:

@helloasy oh well damage has been done, but if they do the same to jb blackpink etc imma start a riot #billieeilish #billieeilishinmalaysia #billieeilishinkl #billieeilishinkualalumpur #happierthanevermy ♬ emma uncomfortable laugh - cuppy?

TikTok users have also taken to voicing their disappointments with the concert organisers. This user mentioned that there was a huge distance between the standing zone which was nearer to the stage and the CAT 2 zone which was a seating zone despite the difference in price only being RM90.

She mentioned that instead of being able to see Billie, it was more like seeing ‘ikan bilis’, which was how small the singer appeared from afar. According to her, the sound system at a typical karaoke would also be better than the sound system that they had in place for the concert. She ended by saying that she hoped Live Nation, the organisers would come up with a proper explanation for the concert.

@emilyalims Dah tidur bangun balik pun aku masih sakit hati lagi, jadi ini lah hasil video pagi2 ? #happierthanever #happierthaneverworldtour #billieeilish #billieeilishmalaysia #fyp ♬ original sound - Emilya Lim

Were you at the concert last night? Here’s hoping other concerts from international performers are organised properly in the future!