Owners of Harpos, the longstanding rock club on Detroit’s east side, are apologizing for hosting a concert Saturday night featuring metal bands with neo-Nazi affiliations.
Venue owner Krystle Dzajkovska said Monday she did not know the nature of the event ahead of time and would have canceled it had she known.
“I would like to issue our deepest apologies to the community on behalf of myself, Ruzvelt Stevanovski and Harpos Concert Theatre,” Dzajkovska said in a lengthy message posted to Instagram. “While the events on January 25th do not reflect our values, or that of our community, we are truly sorry and are holding ourselves and others involved accountable.”
Saturday’s concert featured seven bands and was advertised as “A Night of Black Metal and Carnage.” The lineup, which included the bands Crucifer and Genocidal Rites, was announced a week in advance, but the venue was not announced until the day of the show.
Dzajkovska said it was the promoter’s decision to withhold the venue particulars until the day of the concert. She said she was also told not to promote the event on any of the venue’s social media channels, and the promoter would handle event promotions on his own.
“We were not made aware ahead of time that some of the bands were in any association with Nazi/Neo Nazi, white supremacy and/or National Socialist black metal. If I were made aware of this ahead of time, this event would have never happened,” Dzajkovska wrote.
As the event started, Dzajkovska said she received calls and saw internet postings about the event and called it off midway through the show, during the evening’s second performance, she said. Police were called to the event not by Dzajkovska but due to threats made online, she said.
“Once we were made aware of the situation, the event was shut down immediately,” she wrote.
Comments on the Instagram post were turned off, but some social media posts were encouraging people to stop attending Harpos because of the incident. The venue’s upcoming events include industrial rockers Psyclon Nine on Feb. 7, a Super Bowl watch party on Feb. 9 and “A Grown & Sexy Valentine’s Night” on Feb. 14.
“I take full responsibility and accountability for not doing my due diligence,” said Dzajkovska, who, along with Stevanovski, has owned Harpos since 2017. “This is not who we are or what we represent. As a Black venue owner, I fully understand that hate and racism comes in all forms and skin tones. However, my race/ethnicity is no defense or excuse for my ignorance of not knowing.”
