King Diamond Dethroned

However, there seems to be a dispute over which party actually “canceled” the appearance. On the festival’s home page, organizer Creativeman Productions stated that Diamond pulled out, but in a press release the singer said it was Creativeman who stopped the gig, which would have been his first ever in Japan.

King Diamond’s statement went in detail, saying that some of “our people” were already en route to Japan by air for the show when he received the email from the promoter saying it was canceled.

Diamond himself claims he was waiting for a cab to Dallas-Fort Worth airport, presumably for the flight to Tokyo, when he heard the news.

At issue was the group’s equipment, including instruments and “special effects” for the “theatrical production” considered vital to King Diamond’s show.

Diamond said it was all packed on a ship in Hamburg harbor in plenty of time to make the journey to Japan.

Initially, the cargo would go to Ningbo, China, and then “via Japanese ship to Tokyo.”

But somehow, the transfer in China was delayed by six days, with no reason given by the Chinese to the Danish shipping company, which then contacted another company in China “with connections to the Chinese government” to expedite delivery.

Diamond says Creativeman also “brought in connections in China.”

Apparently, the plan was to take all the equipment and ship it over land from Ningbo to Shanghai where it would be airlifted to Japan. Even the Danish and Japanese embassies became involved. As for the extra cost, Diamond said the band and promoter agreed to split it and “an amendment to the contract was negotiated.”

According to Diamond, difficulties arose when Creativeman alledgedly tried to extract a promise for future shows in which the promoter would pay expenses only in the event that the cargo didn’t make it to Loud Park in time.

Apparently, Diamond did not agree to this condition and, in any case, “we do not play without our theatrical production any more.”

Creativeman said in its own statement that it “negotiated with the band about using substitute equipment for the show, but because of their [King Diamond’s] resolute stance on not being able to perform with equipment other than their own has resulted in this cancellation.”

Diamond did say that Creativeman “generously offered to try and replicate [the production] in just days,” but that it would be impossible considering all the detailed aspects of the production, especially from a safety aspect.

In the end, the cancellation was obviously precipitated by the Chinese customs authorities, and which party actually made the call to cancel is almost moot if, in truth, the equipment wasn’t going to make it to Tokyo in time and King Diamond would not perform without it.

While the singer does seem put off by Creativeman’s statement, he insists “that the promoters are not to blame … Both parties tried to go above and beyond to make this happen.”