What was supposed to be a 12-day regional concert tour turned into a 3.5-month ordeal for local singer Joel Tan, also known as Gentle Bones, and 13 others.
Just after he and American singer-songwriter Kina Grannis finished their Sept 16 show in Jakarta - the first stop of the tour - their passports were impounded and they were barred from leaving the country because of a problem with their performance permit.
They were allowed to leave Indonesia only on Tuesday (Dec 22). Their other performances - in Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila, where the tour was to end on Sept 27 - had to be cancelled, leaving fans in the dark.
"We were advised not to go public about what was happening," said 21-year-old Tan, who performs under the name Gentle Bones, explaining that lawyers were worried this could delay their legal fight to leave Indonesia. "I'm bummed out that we didn't get to play in all those countries, because it was such an exciting opportunity."
It was supposed to have been Tan's first overseas tour - he was the opening act for Grannis, who shot to fame after posting her music videos on YouTube. But he ended up having to cancel his Dec 10 show as well, his first ticketed concert, at Esplanade Concert Hall, which had been sold out a month after tickets went on sale.
Singers Gentle Bones, Kina Grannis finally return home after being stuck in Indonesia for 3.5 months, Entertainment News & Top Stories - The Straits Times
