Rotterdam deathfest zonder Suffocation
Muzieknieuws 28-04-2005 11:43
De legendarische death metalband Suffocation heeft zich teruggetrokken als headliner van het Rotterdamse Deathfest op 14 mei.
"Their booking agent Baz Barret of Blah Blah Blah Tours agreed on a show fee with us back in February, together with us taking care of internal transport, catering and hotel costs, which were terms we happily accepted. After a while we didn't get our contracts, which we were promised to have in numerous times, we kept asking for them and always got reassuring replies.
Kortom: op basis van alle overleg via e-mail, telefoon en MSN leek er geen enkele reden te twijfelen aan de goede bedoelingen van de boekingsagent. Tot de man begin april ineens verklaarde dat Suffocation de show niet wilde doen:
"It turned early April and Baz suddenly told us that the band didn't want to do the show, for the sole reason that the agreed and confirmed show fee was too little, all of a sudden. At the same time Guy Marchias of Suffocation mailed us a one-line e-mail saying: 'Our booker says we are not doing this show, please remove us.' Quite odd to see booker blame band and vice versa, isn’t it?"
Volgens de Deathfest-organisatie waren alle promotiemiddelen als posters en flyers al gedrukt. Ze wilden drummer Mike Smith (zie foto) en de overige bandleden daarom erg graag alsnog toevoegen, ondanks een hele serie nieuwe eisen:
"We offered more money on a few occasions totalling up to twice as much as the original agreed fee. To give you a hint, the amount of money was even 50% higher just for Suffocation than the hosting venue paid for the Suffocation, Disgorge, Insision and Dementor tour less than one year prior to this event. (...) We believe we are lead on by Baz Barret of Blah Blah Blah Tours from the beginning and therefore we will never work with him anymore. We suggest everybody else to do the same. We also would love to work with Suffocation again in the future, but not as long as they are represented by an amateur like Baz Barret."
Barret heeft nog niet gereageerd op alle beschuldigingen.
Deathfest zal dus zonder Suffocation plaatsvinden. Gorgasm is naar voren geschoven als nieuwe headliner en Aborted is toegevoegd als nieuwe band. Putrefied zal Nederland vertegenwoordigen tijdens het festival.
Overigens vindt op 13 mei een pre-party plaats. Hier spelen vier bands, waaronder Severe Torture.
Meer info over het festival, inclusief kaartverkoop, vind je hier.
