Detroit venue owners condemned for platforming extremist music

The Harpos Performance Theater, a long-standing venue in Detroit, is the subject of this unpleasant tale. Grand Belial’s Key, a Nazi black metal band, was scheduled to play at the performance this past Saturday. However, after residents expressed their indignation that bands with neo-Nazi affiliations would be allowed to play there, the evening’s activities were eventually ended. The proprietors of the facility, Krystle Dzajkovska and Ruzvelt Stevanovski, are attempting to minimize the harm and save face in the immediate aftermath by claiming in a statement that they were not informed about the performance or the performers before Saturday night.

The promoter of the show reportedly told WXYZ Detroit, a local ABC affiliate, that they would advertise the event themselves and begged Stevanovski not to post about it online. The promoter then declared that only those who purchased tickets would be able to see the show’s location when they started handing out flyers for the event. At best, this seems suspect. Even though Stevanovski has owned and operated several nightclubs and venues in Detroit since 1981, it appears that the promoter’s suspicious inquiries and the lack of any information raised no red flags for him. He told WXYZ Detroit that it was “kind of a red flag to me, but I didn’t think too much of it,” which made him suspect something was wrong.

Bands started to perform as the event progressed. However, Dzajkovska and Stevanovski said in their statement that they didn’t realise something was wrong with the event until angry people started calling the venue and posting on the internet. During the second band’s performance, Harpos and Detroit’s fire marshal were called in by police who were receiving threats over the concert. Fox 2 Detroit reports that it was only at that point that Stevanovski entered the stage and ordered about 250 concertgoers to disperse from the premises. Furthermore, the venue had 24 safety violations from the Detroit Fire Department.

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.

Although he didn’t have them on hand to provide to the authorities, Stevanovski asserts that he has all the necessary licenses to run the venue. Prior to obtaining a legitimate business license and reopening, Harpos will need to resolve the Detroit Fire Department’s violations. However, the owners maintain that this was an error and that it did not align with their values or those of the venue. Following all of this, Harpos has shut down all of its social media accounts, including the comment areas of all of their postings.