Promoter: DESTRUCTION Are To Blame For Ecuadorian Concert Disaster
April 17, 2006The organizer of the ill-fated DESTRUCTION concert in Ecuador is claiming that the band are responsible for the damages caused by unruly fans after it was announced that the group would not play the show due to insufficient lighting inside Quito's Miami Rock Concert venue.
According to a report published in Monday's (April 17) edition of the Quito-based daily newspaper El Comercio, trouble began Saturday night (April 15) after rumors spread following performances by opening acts NARCOSIS and DEMOLITION that DESTRUCTION would not be taking the stage. The reports were eventually confirmed when it was announced that DESTRUCTION's manager had told the promoter that the band would not be performing without a proper lighting system. The manager allegedly informed the promoter that the lighting inside the venue was inadequate and that the German group would not go ahead with the show unless the problem was rectified.
Upon hearing the news, about 60 of the 600 fans in attendance reportedly began destroying the venue. Concerned about the damage being caused to the equipment at Miami Rock Concert, the promoter allegedly offered to pay DESTRUCTION an additional $1,000 above their previously agreed-upon fee in order for them to reconsider and proceed with the concert. However, according to a source cited by El Comercio, DESTRUCTION frontman Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer refused the offer and the show did not go ahead. The organizer of the concert, Marco Oviedo of Hybrid Music, reportedly attempted to obtain a court order in order to prevent DESTRUCTION from leaving Ecuador until they accepted responsibility for the damage caused by the rioting fans and the costs incurred in arranging the show, which he estimated could run as high as $15,000.
According to El Comercio, this is not the first time that DESTRUCTION have caused problems at one of their gigs. At the Bogota, Colombia concert on Friday (April 14),a similar situation arose, and the band made their fans wait for nearly four hours, at one point threatening to pull out of the show before finally agreeing to play the gig.
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