Destruction have released the following statement after the recent tour of the UK:

"All three bands really want to thank all of the fans who turned out to support us on our recent Tour of the UK., but we also wish with hindsight, to apologise to some of you that you had to see us in circumstances that were not ideal, at some venues which sometimes should not have even been included on the schedule. This is solely down to the work undertaken by the booking agent we opted to use, Jon Knight of HAGP Music and we would like to draw the attention of all other bands and the fans to this person because we are most disappointed that charlatans like this continue to be in positions of power in the industry we all love – that of Metal!"

Destruction frontman Schmier adds:

"After 24 years of playing Metal on a professional level, working with this Concert agency was the worst and most unprofessional experience we’ve ever had in Europe! I wanna thank all the faithful fans that made this tour a success. Our loyal crew & our brothers in Onslaught and Amenti who suffered the same circumstances as well, (Sorry mates!!) but, we all really deserve better than this HAGP Music guy, surely?! No catering on most of the gigs, no posters & advertisement for the shows and the technical rider, which we did send to the UK several months ago, all just seemed to have evaporated or been ignored!

Some of this tour was an insult to METAL! A bloody fuckin´ shame, but because the fans had waited so fuckin´ long, we did not want to disappoint any of you. I really hope that the of the lack of professional equipment at some of the venues will not harm any of the bands in the future or take away from the fact that we know many of you supported us to the hilt on this tour. WE found solutions to go on and did not lose a single show on this chaotic horror trip! The replacement gig (Nottingham, Old Angel) for the cancelled show (in Liverpool) came with local assistance and from within the touring family, not from HAGP Music, who then decided also to stop talking to our management and ignoring our email requests for assistance?

Realistically, several shows on this tour should never have been booked in the first place. HAGP Music didn’t care about contracts, venues, the fans, the bands, not even his local guys who were making the best of it sometimes. To have shows announced as being cancelled without our knowledge, to not have the right equipment or have even researched the venues at all etc., caused dreadful tumult to everyone on the tour and required us ourselves to go on to Metal Forums telling people that the gigs would go ahead. How unprofessional is that? Without the long held experience of our combined band and crew and the great support shown by the Onslaught and Amenti blokes, this tour wouldn’t have survived! I publicly thank every single one!

It's scary how losers like this guy, Jon Knight, can be in charge of representing us to the fans. I’m posting this, to WARN OTHER BANDS, DO NOT work with this liar! He calls himself a concert agent, but he is no more than a shady amateur!

Thanks again to the fantastic UK & Irish FANS; Onslaught, Amenti and the locals that made the gigs possible! METAL doesn’t need this guy, and I can only discourage everybody to not work with him if you don’t wanna lose your ass! Be warned!!!"

Destruction’s European Booking Agent, Dragon Productions add:

"In the beginning, Jon Knight (HAGP Music) left a great and professional impression on us. His offer was good so we decided to commit to this tour. Then, when time came to fix the contracts etc., the original offer broke down to only 50%. And this left the band without income, only payments for crew, flights etc. covered.

The band decided to do the tour anyway; they didn't want to let their fans down, but our feelings got worse and worse. The closer the tour became, the more questions we had, and the less Jon responded. He brought in a Tour Manager who tried to save the chaos, but of course, this guy was fighting a losing battle as the tour progressed because this was a disaster just waiting to happen caused by the lack of professionalism at its base. That tour manager left during the tour and Destruction’s sound engineer took this job on as well. If band and crew hadn’t been such a brilliant team, this tour could never have been finished. No one should work with dreamers like HAGP Music, simply look for the professionals.

We will not make this mistake again as I’m sure won’t others who we are told have also worked with HAGP Music. We’re hopefully the last who will suffer this?"

Signed: J..Dusedau (Dragon Productions), Schmier (on behalf of Destruction), Mike Exley (UK Press Representative to AFM)