bangalore open air 2013

In a sudden twist of events that has left many an Indian thrash metal fan completely gutted, German thrash metal band Sodom have pulled out of Bangalore Open Air, scheduled to take place later today. This is especially saddening considering how close a time to the festival’s events this took place at:

Due to solid problems we are forced to cancel the upcoming show in Bangalore/India. We already had our suitcases packed and were ready to go. We are awfully sorry to take these steps and we are deeply disappointed by this situation, but in the end there’s the awareness that not everything is done to our entire satisfaction. We are “only” the musicians, who would have loved to rock India and we owe this to our fans, even more because we never performed over there, of course through no fault of our own. The one who botched this up will have to be confronted with the fans and the local scene for his faults. We concluded a contract, which has strictly abided by our booking agency ourselves. In the end, this set of problems redounds upon us, because we’re in the front line and have to be answerable to our fans. I hope we didn’t lose too many fans due to this mess, but all people who know us are aware of the fact, that we would do anything for our fans. We hope for your understanding and keep you informed about the latest facts.

Sodom

This is the 2nd blow that BOA has had to face, after Millennium pulling out earlier on due to Rohit Chaturvedi’s duties with main band Kryptos having to be fulfilled on their ongoing German tour. Interestingly enough, Sodom used exactly the same words in 2010 to cancel their US tour.

The rest of the bands will play as scheduled to play. At Headbangers India, we extend our sympathies (and empathy) to all those who waited so many years to see Sodom live, only to be met by this news.