Several performers have had to cope with near-death experiences due to cost-cutting by promoters.

Well-known singers such as Tuan Hung, My Dung or Ung Hoang Phuc can still recall the fear they felt when live performances went wrong.

Five years ago, at Thai Nguyen City Stadium, a show organised by Sao Dem Art Group went horribly wrong because the show’s beginning was delayed by over an hour and then the whole city suffered power outages. The audience lost their calm and rushed the stage, vandalised equipment and assaulted the artists.

"The screaming suddenly began and then the crowd ran onto the stage. I quaked with fear upon hearing 'kill them' and 'grab them'. My friend and I hid under the stage and heard co-workers screaming and shouting because of being assaulted." Singer My Dung told.

In a shocking incident, a 18 year-old female singer was dragged to the middle of stadium and stripped of her clothes.

Singer Phan Anh said he had seen many potentially deadly situations, including in Thai Nguyen. Most of the incidents involved greedy promoters falsely claiming that a star would be performing.

Phan Anh said over a year ago, he was almost beaten up by gangsters because he did not sing the song they wanted in a bar in Hai Phong.

"At that time I haven't known the audience would react that way. After finishing the songs I was contracted to do, a group of people asked me to sing another song. I tactfully refused because it wasn’t in my chosen genre and I did't remember the whole song. But when I was back at my car, I was stopped by a group of tattooed men. They threatened me and the bar owner run out, saying that I should sing the song they want or I'd be in real trouble and his bar would be screwed too." the singer said.

He said that singer M.Q had been beaten up because he refused a ‘request’ by an aggressive audience.

The short temper of fans also put Prince of V-Pop Hoang Hai and his assistant on the run in Ninh Binh because of a shortage of posters for fans.

Lucky singer Phan Anh also escaped another dreadful concert incident. He said that he felt something was wrong. The advertising banners had included several famous names while he didn't see any but himself and singer Khanh Phuong. Acting on instincts, he asked for payment right after the performance and quickly left.

The next day, the venue was filled with destroyed equipments. A worker said the promoters had run away with the crew's payments.
Many people come to the liveshow because they love the artists. However some provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Ninh Binh, Hai Phong have been blacklisted by many artists.

The major cause of the disputes generally involves untruthful promoters.

Well-known comedy artist such as Van Dung, Tu Long and Xuan Bac have seen their names used in uncountable shows that they had no intention of playing at. Artist Xuan Bac was once blamed by the audience when an organisation used his name for an animal circus performance.

Some organisers have even hired unknown singers that share the same names as a famous singer for their shows. The audience can only bite the bullet. However some can't keep the calm and violence is inevitable.

Due to a lack of law on show organising, the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism gathered opinions for the new instruction that will strictly deal with organisers that take advantages of famous names.

Vuong Duy Bien, Head of Performing Arts Department said it was not only the violators that would be fined VND15-25 million (USD717-1,196), they will also have their license suspended from 3-6 months. If they violate the law again, they could face a life ban from organising events.

Dtnews