March 10, 2009 15:35

Iron Maiden condemn Bogota riot fans

The band's manager chastises the rioters

Photo Gallery: Iron Maiden
Photo: Pa Photos

Iron Maiden's manager has slammed fans who rioted at the band's Bogota gig at the weekend (March 7).

111 arrests were made as fans rioted outside the Simon Bolivar Park venue, shortly before Iron Maiden took to the stage. As a result of the incident, authorities are set to debate whether other metal acts should be allowed to tour Bogota in the future.

In a posting on Ironmaiden.com, manager Rod Smallwood said that he and the band "abhor" the behaviour of those responsible, although he also said he thought reports of the riots had been embellished.

"The news from Bogota is wildly exaggerated," the statement began. "The 'riots' were basically a lot of kids trying to break into the Simon Bolivar Park to see the show and the park has a big perimeter to protect.

"There is a large military presence for all concerts in Bogota as can be seen in our forthcoming movie 'Flight 666'. However in the last 13 months we have played two fantastic concerts there to over 75,000 passionate fans at this same venue, Simon Bolivar Park."

Smallwood then went on to lambast the arrested fans for possibly forcing Columbian authorities to ban metal concerts in the city for good.

He stated: "We abhor the inane behaviour of a small minority of people outside. They do Iron Maiden, metal and the real Colombian fans a disservice and sadly just provide a reason for the military to feel they need to be there.

"Our fans are there for the music. We definitely intend to return to Colombia, and trust the authorities will not be swayed to banning Maiden and metal because of a minority of trouble makers spoiling it for the huge majority of true Iron Maiden fans."