COMMENT | Concerts boost economy - it's not rocket science

COMMENT | Last week, this writer was part of a 12,000-strong audience screaming at Sheffield-born Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner as he pranced from one end of the Singapore Indoor Stadium stage to the other.

As part of their world tour, Turner and friends trained their sights on Southeast Asia for the very first time.

Of course, as you might already know, they stopped at Singapore and Hong Kong thus far, with dates set for Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and some cities in Japan.

It is no surprise that Malaysia is often picked last in the touring circuit of international acts - aside from a recent announcement that rock bands Muse and The Strokes will be brought in for some shows this July.

It is for this reason that, between hiked-up ticket prices and Malaysia’s inability to bring in acts without some brouhaha over religious impropriety, I grew up not going to concerts, unlike some peers who enjoyed more mainstream kid-friendly acts such as Bieber, Swift, and most recently, Eilish (above)...