Fans slam Perth Fridayz Live headliners for lacklustre performances

Fans who flocked to the Perth Fridayz Live festival earlier this month have slammed the event for featuring lacklustre international artists. 

Earlier this month, the Perth Fridayz Live festival returned after being on hiatus for two years (owing to the pandemic), much to the delight of R&B lovers. Fans flocked to the event to watch the likes of Ashanti, Macklemore, Jay Sean, and more. 

Except, they were left disappointed when they found out that they had paid upwards of hundreds of dollars to watch some artists put no effort into their performances and instead rely on backing tracks and the audience.  

In particular, fans on social media expressed outrage about Ashanti and Jay Sean’s sets, whom they claimed could not even get through their songs and kept pointing the mic at the crowd to get people to sing along. 

Posting clips from the festival on Tiktok, one user said: “Pay $200 for a ticket just to hear the audience sing and not the artist. This went on the entire night …” Another Tiktok user posted a clip of Ashanti’s concert, simply saying: “Disappointing was an understatement.” 

Jay Sean and his performance were also subject to similar criticism. Calling his set a ‘proper let down’, one fan said: “I would’ve been so mad if I paid for any of this… you go to hear them sing not the crowd.” Another fan added: “All of them had their music playing in the background and just signing whenever they want.” 

The artists’ ‘Go girl give us nothing’ energy became a running joke among the fans, who claimed the artists should have paid them instead – since they were the ones singing through most of the songs. 

“Once is fine but babe what’s going on after the TENTH time,” one comment read. 

For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine