Adelaide metal band released from Malaysia

Members of Adelaide metalcore band I Killed The Prom Queen have been released from a Malaysian detention centre after being held for performing without a permit.

Nov 17, 2015, updated Mar 17, 2025

Guitarist Jona Weinhofen tweeted on Sunday that the band had been detained late on Saturday by immigration officials.

Last night, after the band was released, Weinhofen tweeted: “Freedom”.

“Also huge thanks to Michelle at the Australian High Commission in KL [Kuala Lumpur] for coming to get us out,” he said.

According to Weinhofen, the band were treated poorly while in detention even after being told by immigration that the fault was with their promoter.

However, the guitarist said the band later received an apology from Immigration Department Director General Mustafa Ibrahim.

Weinhofen also clarified that the band weren’t deported, as had been widely reported; instead they were “released with no action against us”.

Even so, he said it might be a while before I Killed The Prom Queen toured Malaysia again.

“Sorry Malaysia but after this horrible experience I don’t think we will return in a hurry.”

The guitarist also sent a heartfelt message to his fellow detention centre inmates.

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“Shout out to our homies from Pakistan still in the slammer! Big up Usman, Fazil & the crew,” he tweeted.

Metalcore is a fusion of hardcore punk and heavy metal.

The group features prominently on the Australian live music scene and has toured the United States and Japan.

Foreign musical acts deemed to offend Islamic sensibilities regularly run into difficulties in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

In his original tweet, Weinhofen said he thought the band could be detained for up to 14 days.