The Distortion Project needs your help… Fundraiser Show! Posted: 15/01/2016 by John O'Brien
The Distortion Project is is Belfast’s leading heavy metal concert promotions company, who have brought countless bands to our shores over the last 20 years. If you were a regular gig-goer anytime onwards of the late 90’s, you might have come across some of them in your part of the country – FIREBIRD, CROWNING GLORY, DESCECRATION, GENTLEMAN’S PISTOLS and IRON HEARSE, to name just a few of those.
And let’s not forget that The Distortion Project has also been an avid supporter of our very own homegrown talent, championing countless local acts by getting them their first taste of Belfast by playing at RockD – a regular Saturday show in Katy Daly’s. And of course their relationship with Dublin Metal Events, with whose combined resources have been able to attract and host many of the biggest and best touring bands to our little Island.
So in saying all that!
The Distortion Project now needs your help.
Just last week the Belfast based promoter issued an online plea via GoFundMe…, which you can read below and also in the following GoFundMe link where you can donate anything you can to assist the Belfast based promoter.
https://www.gofundme.com/knd2ek4k
A special fundraiser gig is also scheduled to help ease their burden. So head along and witness this amazing array of talent and help to raise much needed funds to ensure that we keep bringing the metal to Northern Ireland for many years to come, as well as supporting and promoting local rock and metal bands of all shades from this island! Thank you all in advance and thank you for the overwhelming support the DP has received so far!!! You can’t kill rock and roll!
Saturday 13th February
Limelight 2, Belfast
Doors 3pm
Admission: £7.00
OVEROTH – facebook / reverbnation / bandcamp
XEROSUN – facebook / reverbnation
TWO TALES OF WOE – facebook / soundcloud / bandcamp
ALTUS – facebook / reverbnation
BY ANY MEANS (with guests) – facebook / bandcamp
BALEFUL CREED – facebook
MOLARBEAR – facebook / bandcamp
There will be a raffle on the day too.
Plenty of cool prizes to be won!
www.thedistortionproject.n
Just last week the Belfast based promoter issued an online plea via GoFundMe… So if you can’t make the gig and would like to contribute, then please follow the GoFundMe link and donate anything you can to the Belfast based promoter…
https://www.gofundme.com/knd2ek4k
Dear friends
I’m writing here with a heavy heart but feel i must reach out to you and ask humbly for your help.
Firstly a little background:
As most of you reading this will know (and here’s a quick introduction if you don’t!) The Distortion Project is a concert/live music promotions organisation specialising in Heavy Metal of all shades as well as hardcore, punk and classic rock that has been running for the last 15 years. What started out as a simple club night to create a home for the music we all love and feel a part of – be it rock, metal, punk or hardcore – soon evolved into local gig promotion via a series of weekly Saturday gigs in Katy Dalys and then The Limelight, which I still run to this day. The idea was to give heavy music a home in Belfast and create a local metal community that both bands and punters could feel part of, and be proud of – irrespective of race colour or creed – a community in the truest sense of the word. A heavy metal congregation!Since those early days The Distortion Project has evolved and changed into a full-fledged concert promotions outfit, bringing the top names in rock, metal and hardcore right into our city. Acts such as Madball, Orange Goblin, Corrosion Of Conformity, WASP, Ministry, My Dying Bride, Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Paradise Lost, Vader and a whole host of others, while still supporting and championing local metal, both here and abroad. I’ve helped bands with shows in the UK and beyond, and toured with them and even run a record label too
Now to my plea…
Bringing over the top metal acts has taken a heavy toll on me personally in many ways during the last 12 months or so – physically, mentally and, currently, financially. It has come to the point where I feel I MUST reach out to you – the people who have supported the DP in the past with your attendance and hard-earned time and money, to once again look into your hearts and help me out in this time of need. I’ve ploughed thousands of pounds of my own money into this to keep it going, and have done so with a glad heart because I’m so incredibly proud of what was created 15 years ago, and proud of the fact that the Distortion Project played a part in entertaining so many people down the years. 2015 saw a series of terribly crippling losses on the shows I put on and every avenue of clawing back funds to move forward has been exhausted. I’ve given everything I have – both financially and emotionally to The Distortion Project and to the metal scene here in Northern Ireland, and I’ve tried my hardest and my best to bring good bands here and put on good shows, and treat the bands fairly and with respect!With shows from premier acts such as Cradle Of Filth, Overkill, Sabaton and many many more this year I am in dire financial need to bolster the DP. The cost of putting on these bands is incredible, with a lot of money going out in guarantees, venue hire, catering, hotels and accommodation etc etc before even a single penny comes back in i find myself with the lamentable decision to ask for your kindness, your charity and your hard-earned money to keep this going and to keep it active.
Any contribution you choose to make will go towards helping to secure the future of the Distortion Project and enable me to continue the work that was started all those years ago, and ensure it lasts for many years to come.
I love the Distortion Project, and I’ve been a dedicated servant of metal here for a decade and a half, but I’ve hit on hard times so I’m hoping the people of this island and beyond will lend a hand in steering the ship through these troubled waters. Let us, together, ensure the survival of our wonderful scene. To ensure the metal family both local and international, will turn their eyes to Belfast as a paean and shining light of how a community of individuals can ensure its own legacy for many many years.
With hope, humility and thanks
James Loveday.
