There was a case a few years ago, of a foreigner being detained for giving a presentation / sales pitch at a hotel seminar.
https://geoexpat.com/forum/54/thread194045.html
It's also political: any venues were youth can gather, and there is a very high pro-dem slant is bound to receive such selective crackdowns post-Occupy.
Sorry to say but this will continue if they keep getting shit bands to play in HA. Most of the bands that are willing to play in HA are desperate... Try getting a decent band from a decent record label, I'm sure they'll have competent staff in management who'll sort out the visas and such.
Well no that's not the reason at all! The reason is not the visas perse but the fact that Hidden Agenda had its license as an entertainment venue revoked and now has one as a food vendor. Hence visas to perform in the venue are now deemed not applicable. Also newsflash: HA doesn't have "shit bands" but it is a smaller venue, bands like Metallica or the like are not going to play there. Do you call band that are not huge "shit bands"? Bands don't get huge by just sitting on their asses in their hometown.
Hidden Agend is/was the only venue of it's kind. Bands now will just skip HK altogeter if they're not mega acts that can fill airport expo or the KITEC hall. Another nail in the coffin.
Just because they are less popular genres doesn't make them shit bands; they are just not mainstream. Everyone has their own style.
And anyway, saying that when your username is Avenged Sevenfold is a bit rich...but you are entitled to your own preference.
Okay... Would it make you guys feel better if I just said "not as good" as other bands? I've been to many shows in HA and it seems the bands they have been inviting deteriorated over the years not to mention the prices went up. Back in the day, it costs around 200 to watch a show (decent band even). Now they just take on whatever band that's willing to play and charge 400+.
I really appreciate what they're doing, I do but they need to do more than just inviting bands to play in HK. As an organizer, it's your responsibility to sort things out before the event. The bands just comes here to play, that's it.
Just my opinion here, you don't have to agree.
But it's not an opinion: HA gets shortchanged by the government: First they suddenly are denied their normal license they have used for years. Then they need to get around by applying for a food factory license, which would allow them to still book bands. SO they continue booking and programming visiting bands. Then Immigration department changes the rules (obviously targeting them specifically) which makes the visa thing very ambigious. Then the raids followed (with immigration department handily ignoring far worse violations by mainland scammers, fake monks and the like.
As a result HK loses one of its prime non-mainstream concert venues, in what was already a very barren place for concerts in general. World City???
I still think they've had a lot of good bands this year, but I would agree that the price-hike is not fun. I am used to not paying that much for non-mainstream bands. I would still go to shows but can't go to as many if they are around $400.
It is also a sticky situation. I can see why they were trying to continue bringing people in on tourist visas, since that is also the "normal" way that most small venues bring in artists. I doubt that they ever imagined it would come to this.
But it is true that the bands are caught in the middle, and that sucks.