Venue ‘immediately’ ends Michigan concert when it learns neo-Nazi bands are playing

A Michigan concert venue has apologized for hosting a concert featuring bands associated with neo-Nazis and white supremacists, saying it was not aware of their ties.

Owners of Harpos Concert Theatre in Detroit say the Jan. 25 event — called A Night of Black Metal and Carnage — was “immediately” shut down when they learned of some of the bands’ associations.

“We are truly sorry and are holding ourselves and others involved accountable,” they said.

According to a poster of the lineup, the concert featured the acts Blue Hummingbird on the Left, Crucifier, Genocidal Rites, Grand Belial’s Key, Lurid, Nexul and Perversion. The venue said the event promoter withheld information about the acts.

“If I were made aware of this ahead of time, this event would have never happened,” Harpos owners Ruzvelt Stevanovski and Krystle Dzajkovska said in a Jan. 27 post on Facebook. “This was the first time this event organizer has done an event at our venue. In the process of the event organizer booking this event with Harpos, this information was never given.”

The owners said the event organizers — who are not affiliated with Harpos — did all of the promotion for the concert. Because of this, Harpos did not see the red markings resembling a Nazi symbol displayed on the poster for the concert.

The event’s location was kept cryptic, with only ticket holders having access to where the bands would be playing. A website for the event lists only the “Detroit area” as the address for the show.

The concert already started when the owners learned of some of the bands’ ties to Nazis and white supremacists, they said in a Facebook post.

“Once we were made aware of the situation, the event was shut down immediately,” Stevanovski and Dzajkovska said. “At this time the second band was performing and there were 5 remaining. The event did not continue.”

The concert led to a police presence because threats were made to the venue, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Harpos was also met with condemnation on social media from people who said the venue should have done its homework before allowing the acts to perform. Many said they would be boycotting the business.

Stevanovski and Dzajkovska said in their post that it understands the “hate and outrage” they have received. They are taking “full responsibility and accountability for not doing” their due diligence.

“Hate and racism is not something that I or Harpos stand for, encourage, or promote and I would never knowingly or intentionally hold this type of event at my venue with the risk of losing the support of my community and my venue,” the owners said. “This is not who we are, this is not what we represent.”

This story was originally published January 28, 2025 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Venue ‘immediately’ ends Michigan concert when it learns neo-Nazi bands are playing."