Despite the shock cancellation of the Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 22 (Saturday), some delighted fans still managed to catch an unofficial hotel performance by Australian singer-songwriter The Kid Laroi.
The music festival, which was meant to be a three-day event from July 21 to 23, was called off by the organisers after The 1975's singer Matt Healy called the country's government a "bunch of f**king r*tards" and kissed his bandmate on stage on the first night of the festival.
Nevertheless, The Kid Laroi, one of the headline acts at the festival, didn't let his fans down. Instead, he had an impromptu performance for them at Sama Sama Hotel bar in Sepang, Kuala Lumpur.
Performed hit songs in hotel lobby, bar
Sitting at a piano in the hotel lobby, he performed his hit song "Stay".
A crowd of enthusiastic onlookers soon gathered around to watch, cheer and belt out the chorus of the song with him.
At some point, the singer paused to note how many people there were in the lobby, and admitted that he was "a little nervous".
To which one fan jokingly replied, "Drink more."
@mothershipsg the show must go on #tiktoksg #tiktokmalaysia #sgnews #malaysiaconcert #kidlaroi ♬ original sound - Mothership
The singer then entreated fans with a rendition of "Without You", while standing on a table that served as a makeshift stage.
He also sang another hit "Thousand Miles" with fans in the hotel bar.
Was an impromptu decision
Earlier, the singer had told fans that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to perform in the hotel.
“I’m with my friends today, and I just figured since everything got cancelled and I’m here anyway, I may as well come and do a couple songs,” he said to cheers. “Thanks to the hotel for letting me do this.”
#KidLaroi speaks about the canceled event #goodvibesfestival and decided to play a few songs for fans pic.twitter.com/62Yke7gj76
— misaki loves DPR 🌙💜 (@DPRBABY_) July 22, 2023
According to his Instagram story, the singer had just found out about the festival's cancellation after he had touched down.
He wrote, "I love you Malaysia, I'm sorry."
Image from the kidlaroi on Instagram.
Online users show appreciation
On TikTok, users showed overwhelming support for the singer's gesture of performing for the fans.
Some said that he had shown what it means to be a real artist.
And one particular user pointed out that, perhaps, these were the "good vibes" fans wanted all along.
Top image from oppacencei and tjmizell on TikTok.