WORSHIP: CANCELS OUT OF RITES OF DARKNESS FEST 12/9, 10, 11, 2011 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, BACKSTAGE LIVE : "48 hs before the flight. Still no tickets"

German doom warriors WORSHIP (as many other bands as compared to acts originally confirmed) have announced the cancellation of what was supposed to be the bands very first appearance on U.S. soil THE RITES OF DARKNESS FEST set for this weekend 12/9, 10th 11th, 2011, San Antonio, Texas @ BACKSTAGE LIVE USA.

FROM WORSHIP: Well, not a total surprise I guess, but we also have no plane tickets yet. We gave Danny an ultimatum which just ended, 48 hs before the flight. Still no tickets. We did what we could, be quiet about it for some time, but we dont think his story that he had our tickets and needed to switch the tickets was the whole truth. At least, he would blame the carrier now if that was true. He doesnt.
We are totally sorry, without tickets we can't come. And as you might have seen at the @rites of darkness page, one band drops off after another. We also Fear for hotels and so on. Also we made sacrifices for this, my drummer is expecting the birth of twins right at that time damn it. And he would 100% go, but no tickets yet and a very surprise package of a festival is too much to ask. My guitar player loses a well paying job if he leaves now. He totally would go, but hope left him and he just accepted the job after our ultimatum ended. No turning back.

We have played venues that were a nightmare, we had promoters that lie, we had festivals and contracts that were a hoax.... I don't think Danny is a bad guy, but there is a point as a band where you say enough! There must be, we are a band some people like, not unemployed people on some kind of waiting list.

But fear not, we will come to the USA, we also want to tour there. Flights are relatively cheap. We are open for any offers or pointers to cool promoters, maybe less last minute this time. See you in Denmark!

RITES OF DARKNESS 2011 CANCELATION LIST (and many more bands):
Plutocracy just posted that they are canceling.

"We regret to announce that despite weeks of trying to works things out, Plutocracy will not be playing the year's Rites of Darkness or the Prefest on Dec. 8. Unfortunately, we are just not in a financial position to take the trip to San Antonio without return flights in hand. We apologize to everyone who was coming out to see us; we held out as long as we could, but things just didn't work out."
At the moment, due to gracious contributions from fans, we are close to securing ZEMIAL to come to the US but we are not there yet. Anyone willing to provide $100 or anything to their flights, will be compensated immediately after the show. Please email us at:

info@ritesofdarknessfest.com

For further details as soon as possible.'
Unfortunately, Mortuary Drape canceled their entire US tour including ROD. We are working on a replacement and should have full announcement later today. These matters are out of our hands and apologize to everyone. We are working hard to making this run as smooth as possible.
FROM EVOKEN:
Apologies for those looking forward to seeing Evoken as well as our brothers Disma and Funebrarum. We promise to make it up to those who paid their hard earned money to see us. This wasn't a decision taken light.

We're not here to slam anyone, but being one of the first bands announced for the festival, it should not take up until one week before a performance to receive any information.
This is definitely a letdown for us, but the promoter could have simply been up front and honest. To prepare for this fest we even cut into our recording sessions. So, this really creates an issue for us.
We will not re-consider, we will not compromise.
In Misery
EVOKEN

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM DISMA, EVOKEN AND FUNEBRARUM -

We have all decided to cancel our appearances at "The Rites of Darkness Festival" in San Antonio, Texas on December 10-11th due to the fact that the promoter has still not followed through with his promises and obligations to us (tickets, transportation, hotels etc). We apologize to our fans who have already purchased tickets but the situation is beyond our control. We have reached the end of our patience with Daniel Serna and foresee only more problems. Again we are sorry to have to make this decision but this treatment and unprofessional behavior is unacceptable!!

FROM RITES OF DARKNESS PROMOTERS 2011 LINEUP RUNNING ORDER:
This was the order I was sent. TBA bands should be some pre-fest bands that are also performing during the fest.
UPDATED STAURDAY RITES OF DARKNESS RUNNING ORDER:
PLF 3:45 - 4:10
Blaspherian 4:25 - 5:05
Grave Ritual 5:20 - 5:55
Midnight 6:10 - 6:40
Adversarial 6:55 - 7:40
Black Witchery 8:00 - 8:40
Cianide 9:00 - 9:45
Ignivomous - 10:00 - 10:50
Antaeus 11:10 - 12:00
Zemial 12:30

Friday, December 9th
Doors at 4 pm

Warmaster - 4:40 - 5:10
Infernal Stronghold - 5:25 - 5:50
Ritual Necromancy - 6:05 - 6:35
Grave Upheaval - 6:50 - 7:25
Dispirit - 7:40 - 8:20
Adorior - 8:35 - 9:25
Weapon - 9:45 - 10:35
Demigod - 10:55 - 11:55
Inquisition - 12:15 - 1:15

Saturday, December 10th
Doors at ? pm

PLF -
Blaspherian -
Grave Ritual -
Midnight
Adversarial -
Black Witchery -
Cianide -
Ignivomous -
Antaeus -
Zemial -

Sunday, December 11th
Doors at ? pm

Anhedonist -
Aldebaran -
Vasaeleth -
Pallbearer -
Cruciamentum -
Mitochondrion -
Anatomia -
Ares Kingdom -
Impetuous Ritual -
Mournful Congregation -

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-