Aerosmith received nearly $400,000 in insurance money after it canceled a sold-out concert on Maui in 2007, according to court papers filed this week against the popular Boston-based rock group.

Tuesday's legal filing also quoted from a 2007 e-mail by the concert's co-promoter, Shep Gordon, that compared Hawai'i to "a third world country" where disappointed Aerosmith fans would end up suing over the band's no-show.

"At the very least a group of Aerosmith fans will be greatly disappointed, inconvenienced and possibly put at a financial loss," the filing quoted Gordon's Sept. 17, 2007, e-mail as saying.

"We have very eager attorneys here who would get involved. Remember in some ways this is a third world country."

Jay Handlin, attorney for Aerosmith, said the insurance allegation along with other claims raised in the lawsuit are "completely meritless."

Handlin added that statements about Hawai'i being a third world country do not reflect the views of Aerosmith. Gordon, who was not named in the suit, could not be reached for immediate comment.

Local attorneys Brandee Faria and James Bickerton filed a class-action suit against Aerosmith on behalf of jilted concertgoers in October 2007. Tuesday's filing is in relation to that lawsuit.

The attorneys allege that the group pulled out of a Sept. 29, 2007, Maui concert in favor of a larger concert in Chicago and a more lucrative private performance for Toyota car dealers at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Les Murakami Stadium.

The suit, scheduled for trial in May, also claimed that the cancellation cost Maui ticket buyers as a group between $500,000 and $3 million in travel costs, handling fees and other nonrefunded costs.

Handlin is asking Maui Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Aerosmith had always intended to perform on Maui and made no misrepresentations to ticket buyers.

The Maui concert was supposed to have been the final stop on Aerosmith's 11-city North America tour, but the event was shelved after the band had to reschedule a larger Chicago concert to Sept. 24, after lead singer Steven Tyler complained of eye pain.

Aerosmith has said the new Chicago date made it logistically impossible to go on with the Maui concert five days later.

Because the Maui concert was canceled, Aerosmith was able to collect on insurance it takes out for such unforeseen events.

In her Tuesday court filing, Faria said Aerosmith wound up making more money by not showing up for the Maui concert.

Faria said Aerosmith's insurance company paid $393,511.97 in connection with cancellation. That amount was greater than a $250,000 guarantee provided by the concert's promoters, she said.