Statement from Metallysee Booking Agency re. Deicide Cancellation - 09/06/04
Yesterday, Tuesday 8th June, DEICIDE abruptly walked out on the eve of their European tour. They were scheduled to play London last night but, instead, they were in Heathrow airport waiting for a flight to the U.S.
A statement has already been made by the band's label, Earache Records, so we felt it necessary to issue our own.
The problems began last week when Glen Benton contacted us demanding a very sizeable increase in the band's wage per show. If this was not forthcoming, the band would cancel. So, left with no choice, we had to give in to their ridiculous demand. The fees had already been agreed with regional agents and promoters so we at Metallysee were being forced to foot this extra expense ourselves. But it was this or no tour at all so we had very little choice.
However, yesterday 8th June, the band decided to demand even more money - effectively, they were looking for double the amount originally agreed. This simply was not possible for 2 reasons: 1) Financially 2) We cannot allow ourselves to be 'bullied' in this manner after already giving in once to their demands.
Coupled with the financial wrangles, the band decided the transportation was not good enough - the main problem being the air conditioning being faulty on the bus. This was something that could have been fixed and surely not a reason to pull a tour.
So, in the end, the band unloaded their gear and headed for home, leaving 3 support bands, agents, promoters and of course the fans truly cheated (and in the case of ourselves, the agents and promoters, seriously out of pocket).
We now feel that we can never work with this band again and would like to apologise to everyone affected by the unreasonable behaviour of Deicide.
Just a bit miffed....
