SLAYER Is Suing Organizers Of Iceland's SECRET SOLSTICE Festival
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According to RÚV (the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service), SLAYER is suing the organizers of Iceland's Secret Solstice music festival, claiming it hasn't been fully paid for appearing at last year's event.
The legendary thrash metal band, which is in the middle of its farewell world tour, says it is still owed around $134,000 (16 million Icelandic krуna).
Local media has reported that a significant number of people and companies have not been paid for their work at Solstice Productions, which has handled Secret Solstice's operations.
Earlier this year, feminist rap collective REYKJAVÍKURDÆTUR said that it also hadn't been paid for its performance at the 2018 Secret Solstice, according to Iceland Review.
Víkingur Heiðar Arnórsson, the new manager of the festival, later said that while the festival has struggled financially, it has plans to pay the remaining artists they owe money in due time.
A new company, Live Events, has been founded to run Secret Solstice. The company is registered to Guðmundur Hreiðarsson Viborg, an economist who resides in the Canary Islands. Guрmundur initially explained to Vнsir that paying old debts was the job of the old managers.
SLAYER's lawyer, Jón Gunnar Ásbjörnsson, reportedly wrote a letter to the City of Reykjavik about the matter, stating, among other things, that in addition to not having paid the aforementioned claim, the organizers of the festival retained 20 percent of the band's income to pay withholding tax to the tax authorities.
According to Bjarni Brynjólfsson, information officer of the City of Reykjavik, the matter is under review and will be discussed in the City Council next week.
For last year's event, Secret Solstice offered an ultra-luxurious $1 million ticket, which included transportation in a private jet, daily access to a glam squad, a VIP yacht party, a helicopter tour over the glaciers and volcanoes of South Iceland.
Last November, it was reported that the 2019 edition of Secret Solstice would be smaller than in previous years. This was decided by a majority of the city council at a council meeting after the number of public complaints had risen due to the fact that the festival takes place in a quiet residential area. The length of the festival will be shortened to three days, the price of tickets will be reduced, and each day's events will wrap up by 11:30 p.m.
