After the cancellations of Opeth and Katatonia less than a month ago Turkey's Unirock Open Air Festival, set to take place on the coming weekend from 9th to 11th of September 2011 in Istanbul, has to suffer from two further high-profile cancellations. Sweden's power metal band HammerFall and Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie both report communication and logistic problems with the festival organizer which force both bands to pull out of the billing.


Hammerfall's statement:
"HammerFall's first performance in Turkey was supposed to happen this Friday, at Uni Rock Open Air. It's now Wednesday evening, and the band's representatives still haven't received flight tickets nor any deposit payments for the appearance. Therefore, and most unfortunately, HammerFall is forced to cancel the performance at Uni Rock Open Air 2011.

'We've been wanting to come to Turkey for a long, long time, and this is just so sad. But without flight tickets, it's not so easy to get to the gig', says basist Fredrik Larsson, "and these things are beyond our control this time". Guitarist Oscar Dronjak continues: 'The plan was to end the festival season on a high note, and then refocus on the upcoming European Outbreak tour beginning at the end of October. Instead, we end in the worst possible way: with a cancelled show. It sucks ass.'

'We're very sorry for any inconvenience this may have cause for you, the Turkish fans, we had longed to play for you! But we promise to be back sometime next year, that's for damn sure', punctuates singer Joacim, 'so keep your flame burning until we get there!' "


Eluveitie's statement:
"With regret we have to announce that we will not appear at Istanbul's Unirock Open Air this coming Sunday. The promoter has broken his contract with us (and, obviously, other bands, namely Opeth, Katatonia, and HammerFall) and is currently not replying to any of our attempts to contact him. He has also failed to book flights for the band. Therefore there's nothing we can do but to assure you that this news is as sad for us as it is for our turkish fans. We have been looking forward to this show for months and we'll do all we can to find a replacement for it next year and as soon as possible!"

Source:	eluveitie.ch
Event:	Unirock Open Air Festival