Linkin Park to Play Malaysia

When it comes to playing Malaysia, it looks like the biggest challenge facing Linkin Park is how to put on a good show.
Authorities in the conservative, mostly Muslim Southeast Asian nation have given approval for the American rap-rockers of the moment to play a massive concert on October 15 at a 50,000-seat stadium in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
"The government believes the performance will provide an alternative type of entertainment in Malaysia," the government's cultural ministry said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.
However, the powers that be cautioned the group to respect the government's strict set of rules governing "artist performance ethics" and not incite the masses with any Western-style rabble-rousing--i.e. crowd surfing, sexually provocative garb (read: no shorts) or speech, or any clothes or jewelry that government censors might find "obscene, linked to drugs or related to negative elements."
"Male artists must cover their bodies from the chest to knee level," said the culture minister after the government gave the go-ahead for Linkin Park to play. "The artist must not display rough, raunchy actions that conflict with pure values, such as leaping around, screaming or throwing something from the stage to the audience."
Where's the fun in that?
Such strict code of conduct is no surprise coming from Malaysian censors, who once banned Michael Jackson from performing there out of concern that his crotch-grabbing, hip-swiveling dance routine would sully the nation's otherwise innocent populace.
Now that the band has agreed to abide by Malaysia's mores and behave itself, Linkin Park will use the nation of 25 million as the launching pad for the group's Asian tour. Malaysia often gets shafted by Western artists who opt to avoid the country in favor of bigger markets like Hong Kong and Singapore.
After Malaysia, the SoCal rockers' trek will then take them to Japan and South Korea in support of their latest release, Meteora, which debuted at number one in April and has since sold north of 2 million copies.
With a two-pronged attack fronted by singer Chester Bennington's shrieks and rapper Mike Shinoda's rhymes, Linkin Park has managed to stand out among the legions of band that combine turntable beats with metal-fueled angst. The Grammy-winning quintet's 2000 debut, Hybrid Theory, was the bestselling album of 2001, moving nearly 5 million copies.
Linkin Park was forced to delay its European jaunt in June after Bennington was hospitalized with crippling pains in his back, chest, and stomach. But he's recovered and the band recently wrapped up a successful run alongside Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and the Deftones as part of the 19-city Summer Sanitarium tour.