Ye Makes Indonesia Concert Debut as Jakarta Draws Thousands of Overseas Fans

King opens a landmark night at GBK

Ye, the American rapper formerly known as Kanye West, opened his first concert in Indonesia with "King" at Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium on Saturday, October 24, 2026, performing about 30 songs on a giant dome displaying a rotating Earth.

The show brought tens of thousands of fans to Senayan in Central Jakarta, with "Runaway" and "Carnival" among the songs performed. Its reach extended far beyond Indonesia: promoter Raw Vision Collective said more than 20,000 international visitors were confirmed to attend, alongside 30,000 domestic visitors.

Jakarta was the only Southeast Asian stop on the Ye Live Concert Tour 2026. That position helped attract fans from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere, turning the performance into a weekend of travel, hotel stays and spending across the capital.

Indonesia's Ministry of Creative Economy listed the concert in its official event listing, naming RAW VISION COLLECTIVE and PT GLOBAL LOKET SEJAHTERA as organisers. The listing scheduled the event from 4 p.m. to midnight and described a Dome/Globe Stage with visuals designed to surround the audience.

The concert arrived after months of negotiations, an international ticket campaign and public support from Jakarta's government. It also went ahead amid controversy over Ye's antisemitic remarks and Nazi imagery, which had drawn condemnation and opposition to performances elsewhere.

For Jakarta, the night connected two ambitions: hosting a major international artist and persuading travelling audiences that the city can deliver the transport, accommodation and production needed for a stadium event.

A globe at the centre of the performance

GBK's most distinctive feature was the Giant World Globe Stage, a dome with a 360 degree design and images of a rotating Earth. Instead of placing every spectator in front of a conventional stage at one end of the stadium, the format arranged audiences around the performance space.

Karen Tjahja, Raw Vision Collective's marketing and communications lead, said the stage was brought into Indonesia from overseas. Before the concert, she said Ye's team would ship the major production equipment and deliver the same central elements used elsewhere on the tour.

Tjahja described that production commitment in these words:

"What you see in all the other countries – the 360-degree stage, the pyrotechnics, the laser lights, all the fire – everything is going to be the same," she said.

Preparations also included extra LED screens for Festival A and CAT 1A. The promoter said GBK's wider layout, compared with SoFi Stadium in California, required adjustments so spectators in those areas could see the performance more easily.

Joaquin, a fan who travelled from Perth, Australia, praised the songs, fireworks and large stage after attending. His journey illustrated how a production available at only one regional destination could draw an audience across national borders.

How Jakarta secured the booking

Raw Vision's discussions about bringing Ye to Indonesia began around February. A company representative travelled to the United States in April and spent about a month with the artist and his team during the early negotiations.

The approach combined practical arguments with Indonesian culture. The representative introduced traditional instruments, including gamelan and angklung, while spending time with Ye's musicians and collaborators and attending filming for the music video for his 2026 song "Father".

Jakarta's pitch included a stadium with 77,000 seats, public transport, hotels and an international airport. The promoter also pointed to Indonesia's large audience for Ye's music and its underground hip-hop community.

Tjahja described the ambition behind that effort:

If our neighbouring countries can do it, why can't we?

Six Raw Vision team members later travelled to Ye's August concert in Almaty, Kazakhstan, meeting his team as preparations for Jakarta advanced. Before the Indonesian show, the organisers said they were communicating with the artist's team at least once a week.

From negotiations to concert night

The booking developed over several months, with ticket sales and travel arrangements following the initial discussions. The public milestones show how far preparations extended beyond the performance itself.

• February 2026: Discussions began about bringing Ye to Indonesia.
• April: A Raw Vision representative travelled to the United States for about a month of early talks.
• July 29: Tickets were scheduled to go on sale at 10 a.m. Western Indonesia Time, using Loket as the ticketing platform.
• August: Six promoter representatives attended Ye's Almaty concert and met his team.
• September 15: Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung pledged city support, including transport arrangements.
• October 22: The promoter announced that 20,500 ticket buyers were from overseas.
• October 24: Ye performed his first Indonesian concert at GBK.

Entry tickets were advertised from Rp1,875,000, with other options including VIP, Super Fans Festival, Royal Suite and Sky Box. Hotel packages included one night's accommodation and were advertised as available until August 29, subject to availability.

Raw Vision initially said the concert could draw up to 77,000 fans. A final reconciled attendance total and a financial result for the event have not been announced.

International demand grew beyond early forecasts

Foreign buyers accounted for 52.8% of ticket purchases during the first 24 hours, with purchases recorded across 73 countries, according to the promoter. That meant international customers represented slightly more than half of the opening day's purchases.

Raw Vision initially expected more than 15,000 international visitors. By an October 22 press conference, Tjahja said 20,500 ticket buyers were from abroad, with Australia leading, followed by Malaysia and Singapore. The promoter also arranged additional charter flights in response to demand.

On concert night, the promoter described more than 20,000 international visitors and 30,000 domestic visitors as confirmed attendees. Governor Pramono, meanwhile, said 50% of the audience came from overseas. The promoter's stated counts put the overseas share at roughly two fifths, compared with the governor's half.

Foreign ticket purchases, expected visitors and attendance measure different stages of the event. Opening sales describe who bought early; travel projections estimate who will come; attendance concerns who actually reaches the venue. Those stages help explain how demand developed over the months before the concert.

Jakarta's sole Southeast Asian booking concentrated that demand in one city. The promoter highlighted direct flight connections from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Sydney when marketing the event to travelling fans.

Australian fans made the journey

Adam and Jenny, two fans from Sydney, arrived in Jakarta on Thursday, October 22, specifically for the concert. Their trip began two days before the performance, illustrating how an evening at GBK could translate into a longer visit to the capital.

Adam named "Runaway", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Ghost Town" among his favourite Ye songs. Jenny preferred older material, including "Stronger" and the album "The College Dropout". Joaquin's journey from Perth added another example of the Australian audience identified in the promoter's ticket figures.

Ye's draw spans more than two decades of music, from "The College Dropout" in 2004 to "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" in 2010 and the 2026 album "Bully". The latest album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

His Jakarta performance mixed the current tour's visual production with songs that fans had followed for years. "Runaway", one of Adam's favourites, was among the numbers performed during the roughly 30 song set.

Hotels shared demand with a running festival

Jakarta's concert weekend also coincided with the MyBCA Jakarta Running Festival on October 24 and 25. Pramono said hotels in several parts of the capital were heavily booked as visitors arrived for both events.

Raw Vision projected more than 30,000 visitors from outside Jakarta over the concert weekend, including more than 20,000 from overseas. Their spending could reach hotels, restaurants, cafes, transport services, shops and tourism businesses, while event production created work for vendors and creative workers.

The Tourism Ministry identified accommodation, food, transport, vendors and creative employment among the sectors that could benefit from an international concert. For a small food business or a driver, the opportunity comes through additional customers moving around the city before and after the stadium performance.

Pramono estimated that the running festival could generate more than Rp150 billion in economic activity. He also cited up to Rp250 billion in revenue associated with recent events including The Weeknd's concert and Pestapora, and Rp12 billion in tax from The Weeknd's concert.

Jakarta's hotels are already seeing demand from other music events. Artotel's property in the GBK area was fully booked for the scheduled December BTS dates, following an early concert booking rush. Ye's October audience added another major event to that accommodation calendar.

A regional circuit, rather than one winner

Singapore remains a major benchmark for international concert tourism. Taylor Swift's six stadium shows there in March 2024 attracted more than 300,000 fans. Concerts by Swift, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Mayday brought about 840,000 visitors to the Singapore Sports Hub during the first three months of that year.

Jakarta's appeal rests partly on a different strength: a large domestic market alongside an audience willing to travel from neighbouring countries. Samer Elhajjar, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore Business School, described the growth as a regional opportunity.

Elhajjar said:

What we are seeing is the emergence of a regional concert circuit," he said. "Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur can reinforce one another rather than simply compete against one another.

Elhajjar said Singapore retained advantages in connectivity, reliability and tourism infrastructure, while Jakarta offered scale. Lawrence Loh, professor and director of the NUS Centre for Governance and Sustainability, also viewed Jakarta's rise as complementary to established concert destinations.

Guns N' Roses' 2026 itinerary includes both Singapore and Jakarta in November. In Jakarta, preparations for the November guitar showcase include nine Indonesian guitarists performing before the visiting band, showing another way promoters are connecting international tours with local music.

Controversy accompanied the booking

Ye's performance also brought scrutiny of his repeated antisemitic statements, expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler and use of Nazi imagery. In 2025, he sold shirts bearing swastikas and released a song titled "Heil Hitler", adding to controversies that had already cost him major commercial partnerships.

In January 2026, Ye published a full page newspaper advertisement apologising for his behaviour and expressing regret over his admiration for Hitler and use of the swastika. Opposition to his performances continued in several countries.

Two planned St Petersburg concerts, scheduled for October 10 and 11, were cancelled on September 30. The venue had said it had no agreement to host them, while Russia's Foreign Ministry criticised Ye's past glorification of Hitler. Planned appearances in Britain, Poland and Switzerland also fell through.

In Indonesia, public discussion included both fans who wanted to separate the music from the artist's conduct and critics who questioned giving him a major platform. International fans also discussed cancellation concerns while arranging their Jakarta journeys.

Jakarta's concert ultimately went ahead with city support. For the capital, the immediate result was a major stadium performance and substantial international interest. Its wider commercial value will depend on the spending generated and the city's ability to keep attracting and managing events of this scale.

Key Points

• Ye made his Indonesian concert debut at GBK in Jakarta on October 24, 2026, opening with "King" and performing about 30 songs.
• The show used an imported globe shaped stage with a 360 degree design and rotating Earth visuals.
• Jakarta was the tour's only Southeast Asian stop, drawing travelling fans from Australia and across the region.
• The promoter recorded 20,500 foreign ticket buyers before the show and said more than 20,000 international visitors were confirmed to attend.
• Hotels faced demand from both the concert and the Jakarta Running Festival during the same weekend.
• The performance went ahead amid criticism of Ye's antisemitic remarks and Nazi imagery, following cancellations elsewhere.