DETROIT (WXYZ) — Harpos Concert Theatre has been hosting concerts on Detroit’s east side for decades, however, a show this past weekend was met with so much scrutiny that Detroit police responded to threats made against the event.
The owners say they were duped by the event promoter and had no idea some of the bands involved were allegedly associated with neo-Nazis.
Kevin Weathers is one of the many metro Detroit music fans outraged after seeing Facebook posts this weekend where they learned about the concert.
“I've been going to rock and metal shows for 20 years, 25 years even,” Weathers said. "There's no where for Nazis at any concert venue — you’re not welcome anywhere. There’s no place for your hate anywhere.”
The owners of Harpos shared a lengthy statement online apologizing for hosting the show. They spoke to me over the phone saying they only learned about the alleged Nazi ties after getting phone calls during the event.
“Nothing really seemed any different than a normal metal concert," said one of the owners of Harpos, Krystle Dzajkovska. "There wasn't like symbols everywhere, there wasn't people doing anything and I was the one bartending and obviously, I am Black and no one was treating or acting any different towards me.”
Harpos owner Ruzvelt Stevanovski says he feels manipulated by the promoter who booked the seven bands on the lineup and asked Stevanovski not to promote the show online. They only gave out the show's location to those who bought tickets.
“It was kind of a red flag to me, but I didn't think too much of it,” Stevanovski said.
As soon as he learned the allegations, Stevanovski says he shut down the show during the second band. The Detroit Police Department also told 7 News Detroit that they ordered Harpos to close over licensing violations.
As for the event’s content, Harpos is taking the blame head-on.
“Our name is at stake," Dzajkovska said. "It makes more sense for us to, even though it's not our event, to check and see exactly what we're booking at the venue. And that’s something we didn't do.”
“We kind of take the blame because we didn't do due diligence to do more research on this show," Stevanovski said. "I trusted the promoter, and this will never happen again. This is not us.”
Although music fans like Weathers felt outraged, he said Harpos' apology seems sincere.
“He probably just didn't do his due diligence and didn't take two minutes to look into some of these bands and their history, and that's probably all it would've took is two minutes," Weathers said. "However, he apologized, seemed sincere about it, has a past owning venues. I guarantee you it’s a mistake he’ll probably never make again.”
The Detroit Fire Department says on top of having no current business license, numerous violations also led to the cease and desist issued to Harpos.
DFD Fire Marshall Don Thomas said in a statement:
"Upon arrival at the business in question, the fire marshal division noted multiple egregious life and fire safety violations, including padlocked doors, blocked exits, and no emergency lighting. This is unacceptable. A total of 24 violations were written by the Detroit Fire Department.”
Stevanovski claims he did have all the proper licenses to operate the business but didn't have them handy or on display when officials arrived.
DFD says those violations must be corrected before Harpos can obtain a valid business license and reopen.
