Barcelona Rock Fest cancels north-American MANOWAR show and announces Avantasia’s performance

The Barcelona Rock Fest music festival announced on Saturday that the north-American heavy metal group, MANOWAR, will not participate in this year’s event, as scheduled. The group was the headliner, already advertised, for June 30.

"Due to circumstances out of Barcelona Rock Fest’s control, Manowar won’t be appearing at the festival," the organizers tweeted. "We have tried each and every way to find a reasonable understanding but, sadly, it hasn’t been possible," they added. 

The festival organizers say they cannot "accept the demands and last-minute impositions that jeopardized the normal development of the festival," they said. However, "due to confidentiality" these reasons cannot be revealed. 

MANOWAR NOT PLAYING BARCELONA ROCK FEST
We are sorry to inform you that, due to circumstances out of Barcelona Rock Fest’s control, MANOWAR won’t be appearing at the festival. We have tried each and every way to find a reasonable understanding but, sadly, it hasn’t been possible.

— Barcelona Rock Fest (@bcnrockfest) June 25, 2022

Earlier in the week, MANOWAR released a statement claiming the group and the festival promoter had reached "an agreement in June 2020 regarding MANOWAR’s performance at Barcelona Rock Fest," the text reads.

However, organizers "are now trying to unilaterally modify the terms," the music group shared and their "greatest wish" is to reunite with their Spanish fans. But this "will only be possible if the agreed-upon terms will be fulfilled by the promoters," they conclude.  

"The only party that is refusing to comply with their side of the deal are the promoters of Barcelona Rock Fest by demanding to change significant terms at the last minute," the group shared.  

Avantasia

After announcing the cancellation of MANOWAR, Barcelona Rock Fest welcomed the "mighty AVANTASIA, led by the tireless Tobias Sammet," a tweet reads. 

The group will perform on June 30, and are now the headliner for the day, replacing MANOWAR.

The band "has manifested their eagerness to be back at the festival five years after their last appearance," the festival organizers said before announcing that day tickets are still on sale. 

Some social media users welcomed the "great" news, and thanked promoters for "bringing them back."  

Others, however, "feel cheated" as "Avantasia does not have the same level as MANOWAR and you should open a way to return tickets," Gustach said on Twitter.

Or Jambo who thanked not having bought the tickets yet, as he is "disappointed and cannot understand this situation," he tweeted.