Melodicrock.com guru, MelodicRockFest organizer Andrew McNeice has issued the following update:

"It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I must announce that HAREM SCAREM will not be able to play at MelodicRockFest in South Bend October 6. Even in typing these words, I can't believe this is happening and understand the great sense of excitement there was in the community coming to this event for Harem Scarem's appearance live in the USA. Sadly it has come down to the fact that after updated advice on the band's travel status that proper work visa's could not be obtained in time and the members within the band are unwilling to jeopardize future travel into the USA by traveling to the USA as "tourists". There is no way to put a positive spin on this so I won't even try. Time and again I have voiced concern at other festivals making last minute changes to line-ups, but the reality of organizing a huge show like this and having everything fall into place as envisioned is beyond what could be described in a few words here. I have put my heart and soul into this show for the best part of the last 4 months, working day and night. No one was looking forward to Harem Scarem playing more than me - that's why I invited them in the first place. The last 36 hours have been among the very worst of my time running this website and right now I feel completely and utterly shattered by this."

Singer Harry Hess has this statement about the cancellation:

"Hello everyone, I feel it's only right to let everyone know as soon as possible that we (Harem Scarem) are not going to be able to attend the Melodic Rock festival in Chicago October 6th. We currently do not have the proper work visas to enter the country. We were under the impression that we could cross the boarder to play a promo show but as it turns out if tickets are being sold and people are attending the proper work visas need to be in place and unfortunately we would need at least 21 days to rectify this problem at this point. The repercussions of getting caught could be a lifetime ban from entering the U.S and trouble when traveling internationally for life. I originally tried to leave our agent out of this arrangement because it was basically a benefit concert to help Melodic Rock.com, but this is where we should have had him handling the immigration details because we would have been told from the start that this is not doable under these circumstances. Andrew has been extremely supportive of the band over the years and we don't want this incident to reflect badly on him and his efforts to help our scene. Please accept our sincerest apologizes to the fans and everyone involved with the festival. To take some responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in we have decided to record a 4 song acoustic EP and donate the entire proceeds to MelodicRock.com to help the site financially (which was the whole reason we agreed to do this in the first place). Again, we apologize for this major oversight on our part."

McNeice continues: "I appreciate Harry's comments, but I also appreciate that there were some people planning on attending this show solely to see Harem Scarem. I understand some are going to be very unhappy about this. MelodicRockFest will still be a monster event. There will still be 8 bands and 10 hours of killer melodic rock music. I am hoping that everyone will continue to embrace the event as a whole, as SCRAP METAL begin rehearsals in Nashville and JEFF SCOTT SOTO hits the road in the USA - just to name two artists. Right now I am working on finding a replacement act for the much loved Harem Scarem. I have been on the phone all night and this morning working on options. Obviously for Harem fans no replacement is going to fix this problem, but I am doing everything in my power to bring in a new artist that will not only do justice to the original festival as a whole, but also to perhaps enhance the value for money aspect of the entire day's show. Once again, my deepest apologies for this heartbreaking news."

Martin Popoff's feature on the upcoming MelodicRockFest can be read here.