Gaga No Go

May 17th, 2012, in Featured, News, by

Lady Gaga banned from Jakarta, unlike similar “controversial” performers.

Jakarta police have recommended Lady Gaga be refused a permit to perform, after threats by Islamist groups to disrupt her concert and protest her arrival in Jakarta.

Lady Gaga could be the first performer banned since the “Reformasi” in 1998, when previous bans/limits on freedom of speech and artistic expression (including e.g. Tempo magazine and overseas music acts) were lifted.

Muslim thugs advocacy groups e.g. the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) have based their opposition on two arguments:

1. Lady Gaga Spreads Pornography And Promotes Homosexuality

Lady Gaga

Many female singers with similar music styles, opinions on gay rights and/or fashion sense have performed in Jakarta in recent years, without incident:

Kylie Minogue Katy Perry Gwen Stefani Beyonce
Left to Right: Kylie Minogue – Vocal supporter of gay rights and regular performer at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras;
Katy Perry – Her first hit single was “I Kissed A Girl”, another is “Ur So Gay”;
Gwen Stefani – Told in Malaysia to dress more politely and cover up between her shoulders and knees;
Beyoncé – Banned in Malaysia, arrived on a charter flight at Jakarta’s old Halim Airport, possibly to avoid protestors at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

2. Lady Gaga Worships Satan, Says She Is “Satan’s Daughter”, etc

Lady Gaga Satan

The following groups have also toured Indonesia in recent years without incident, despite similar accusations levelled against them (and many of their peers) in the past:

Iron Maiden Indonesian Tour Anthrax Tour Indonesia Napalm Death Tour Indonesia
Left to Right: Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Napalm Death

If metal fan Joko Widodo wins the Jakarta Governor’s election in July, it will be interesting to see whether he is willing to challenge the Islamist groups and encourage the police to be more tolerant.


52 Comments on “Gaga No Go”

  1. Patrick says:

    I am not a big fan of Lady Gaga but Indonesia is supposed to be a free democracy that respects freedom of speach. Terminating her concert because the police cannot insure her safety from Islamic hardline groups in tantamount to waving the white flag. SBY has again emboldened those who threaten the democratic principles of the nation and as the saying goes “if you give them an inch they willwant to take a yard”

  2. David says:

    Never heard of her, some sort of singer it seems.

    Typical sort of caving into the loudmouths and wanting to avoid ‘trouble’.

    And what Patrick said.

    Here’s some Nadila instead

  3. David says:

    In fact cancel Nadila, how about some Opick (Aunur Rofiq Lil Firdaus), who says the Gaga person is

    coming to Indonesia because there’ll be 100,000 people in the audience who she’ll baptise into the satanic faith

  4. Oigal says:

    Yup, Always rely on the Arab clones to deliver insanity in a towel 🙂

  5. timdog says:

    Nah, you don’t want Gaga, Nadila or Opick; you want some NOFX:



    They’ve played in Indonesia a few times, and no one tried to ban them. They might not get a slot in Aceh though, I don’t suppose.

    Me and my brother are going to see them for like, the hundredth time next month (not in Indonesia though). Very excited.

  6. Yaser Antone says:

    A wrong place to see satan.

  7. madrotter says:

    Yo Tim Dog, GBH was playing in Jakarta a few weeks back, couldn’t make it but I hear it was a GREAT concert, none of this 1.5jt for a ticket nonsense, plus you get some REAL music instead, none of these playbacking fake-ass dance-routine acts….

    But for now I’ll keep it local, my good buddy Morgue Vanguard’s old band Homicide and the song that got them on the FPI’s wishlist for a while….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWDMLWYs2h8

    fascist yang baik adalah fascist yang mati:)

    how do you embed video’s here?

  8. madrotter says:

    Bloody hell, I’m in a mood now, wouldn’t mind seeing this guy live here in Indonesia, the greatest rock artist alive (watch the docu about him it’ll blow you away, even if it’s just, well, just the fact that the guy is still among the living)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwC2QljLn4

    yeah!

  9. Chris says:

    Hi Madrotter,

    how do you embed video’s here?

    You copy/paste the embed code from the Youtube video site. Open the site above, then under the video screen, click “Share”, then “Embed”. That gives you html code which you then copy/paste into a comment.

    I won’t do it for you, so you can learn it through practice (the old teacher in me shining through). If you’re not sure, it’s the one with “iframe” at the start.

  10. madrotter says:

    Ah Thanks Chris, the same way I do it on my music blog, should be easy, lemme try:

  11. madrotter says:

    Nope, doesn’t work. Also tried putting the embedded code into link doesn’t work either….

    Too bad I was going to embed Bing Slamet’s beautiful song Gendjer Gendjer, forbidden, banned during the Suharto years, having this album could land you in jail for a very long time or worse. Beautiful music by the Lenso Orchestra with Indonesian jazz legend Jack Lemmers aka Jack Lesmana. This song was always played at gatherings from Gerwani, the female wing of the Indonesian Communist Party but it’s got nothing to do with politicsm it’s just about a poor woman in the kampung, eating kang kung and selling it on the market….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt23kMYyrzo

    beautiful….

  12. Chris says:

    HI Madrotter,

    Maybe it’s an access thing.

    I remember I managed to do it e.g. here.

  13. madrotter says:

    Well, I’m sure David will come up with something:)

    By the way, back to the subject (in a way)

    Koes Bersaudara, they played the opening chords of I Saw You Standing There from The Beatles at a party in 1964. Only the opening chords. The party of a bunch of generals, Dara Puspita, Orkes Quarta Nada and Salanti Bersaudara were also playing. They were arrested and thrown in jail for three months without being charged. This is from their first album after that experience, came out in 1966, it’s lovely, angry 60’s garage, punk-rock really and in this song they direct their anger to by then ex-president Sukarno….


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q2VOHMkhEE

    These guys, Orkes Kelana Ria had songs banned in the Sukarno time, Sukarno was fighting his (pretty weird) war against rock n roll, the beatles etc., if these guys were playing somewhere there would be cops watching if they weren’t playing songs like Boneka India, deemed too India, Arab and Western orientated….

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVaK6vCOZ5Q

    And Lilis Suryani’s version of Gendjer Gendjer also banned (under Suharto)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-5Re8JB6bU&feature=related

    The banning of that Lady Gaga concert doesn’t surprise me at all, had to happen to a concert sooner or later, they have a long tradition of banning arts (and specially music) in Indonesia, just look at what they tried to do to Jaipong a few years back and the performers really suffered because of that, look what they did to Ariel….

    In the 60’s vigelante groups would roam bandung aided by the police, looking for youngsters who had “Beatles hair” and “Beatles boots”, people that got caught, well, they would put them in alun-alun, for everybody to see them and shave them, the boots would be cut up, not all that different to what I see happening now….

  14. madrotter says:

    These guys were banned too under Suharto, one of their song writers, Soebronto K. Atmodjo, was on the prison island Buru for years….. He wrote songs like NASAKOM BERSATU and RE-SO-PIM….

  15. Chris says:

    Come to think of it, Kylie Minogue did a concert at the opening of The Atlantis Palm Jumeirah resort in Dubai a few years ago, and wore a less revealing costume:

    Kylie Minogue in Dubai

    However, Jakarta is a bit less conservative than Dubai…

  16. tik tok says:

    why he was not allowed..why ‘dangdut koplo still free in here

  17. madrotter says:

    Dangdut Koplo is pretty hardcore compared to Lady gaga:)

  18. Riki Purnomoz says:

    “why he was not allowed..why ‘dangdut koplo still free in here”

    “Dangdut Koplo is pretty hardcore compared to Lady gaga ”

    WE SHOULD LOVE LOCAL BOOBS!!!!

  19. ET says:

    Dicari orkes gambus, grup musik, penyanyi dll yang bernuansa I***m penganti konser Lady Gaga….
    Agar moral bangsa Indonesia tidak rusak, bebas dari kekerasan, anarkisme, menjelekkan umat lain, bebas pornografi dan bebas KORUPSI…
    wuakakakakaka…

  20. JakartaJaap says:

    Madrotter, good stuff! Memories of Western ‘musik ngak ngik ngok’ and the insidious influence it had on ID youth. Those were indeed the days

  21. Arie Brand says:

    See a good article about it from the Sydney Morning Herald’s Indonesia correspondent here:

    http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/indonesias-radical-shift-20120521-1z17o.html

    The mainstreaming of bigotry means that minority groups – from Shiite Muslims (the vast majority of Indonesians are Sunni) to Christians and members of the Islamic offshoot Ahmadiyah sect – are increasingly under threat of violence and exclusion.
    Human rights groups say the attacks have increased markedly in recent years and the authorities in most cases fail to come to the aid of minorities, despite the protection offered under Indonesia’s constitution for both freedom of religion and freedom of speech

    For her reception in the Philippines look here:

    http://entertainment.inquirer.net/42021/2nd-night-of-lady-gaga-concert-on—pasay-city-gov’t

  22. bonni says:

    I don’t get it, she’s just a singer trying to build an image… But I think now lady gaga should consider wearing a mummy costume. It won’t be hard, she is used to wearing hillarious clothes. Then it should be ok lah 🙂

  23. Chris says:

    Hi Bonni,

    Maybe she could emulate Christina Aguilera’s costume at the 2003 MTV EMAs:

    Christina Aguilera Nun Costume

  24. madrotter says:

    Holy Shit! Damn that picture should come with a warning!

  25. Chris says:

    Hi Madrotter,

    I was hoping to upload the Youtube video where CA comes out in the habit, then strips it off – alas, I couldn’t find it.

    EDIT

    Sorry, I lied. I found it:

  26. madrotter says:

    Personally, I much more like these lady singers/performers:

  27. ET says:

    Lady Gaga refuses to tone down her show.

  28. ET says:

    * Hit the submit button too early

  29. Oigal says:

    It’s about right tho ET, the FPI and their sexually insecure clones have successfully made an international joke of Islam and Indonesia yet again. Then again does the world care, nope not bit.

  30. tik tok says:

    more needs to be more blocked than lagy gaga, for example ‘dangdutkoplo’

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