You can buy a shirt of that weird, non-existent metal band and help a good cause
There's only one Threatin shirt in the UK, and whoever buys it will be helping the Sophie Lancaster Foundation
The other week, the LA band Threatin became notorious for all the wrong reasons, as their headline tour turned out to be a bit of a con. Rather than a big successful international touring band, they turned out to be a vanity project with a baffling network of fakery around it. Lead vocalist, slash, only actual member Jered Threatin has been dubbed “the Tommy Wiseau of rock”.
One of the few people to have seen them play in the UK is now auctioning off a genuine Threatin t-shirt, and giving the proceeds to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.
You are guaranteed not to run into anyone else wearing the same shirt
Tim and Mel from symphonic metal band Aonia went to the show – Aonia had been asked to support, but couldn’t commit to the time due to using up all their annual leave playing festivals, but Threatin’s (fake) booking agent seemed like a good person to talk to, and was comping them tickets – and bought a shirt due to feeling bad.
“They actually put on quite a good show and I really enjoyed them,” says soprano vocalist Mel. “At the end, I approached their tour manager to buy a t-shirt because I felt bad that they’d come all the way from LA to play to an almost empty room, and also I felt guilty that we hadn’t paid to get in. We put a few purchases over the bar though! They had a shedload of merch. Like, at least two suitcases full.”
Mel’s photo of Threatin’s show
Mel is now eBaying the shirt, with all the money going to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, an excellent charity set up in the wake of Lancaster’s horrific 2007 murder. Lancaster and her boyfriend Rob were beaten, in her case fatally, for being Goths. Their story was told in last year’s BBC Three film Murdered For Being Different.
The winning bidder will also receive tickets for The Sophie Lancaster Festival, taking place in Manchester this weekend and featuring some hella stoney doom, as well as next year’s Aoniafest in Sheffield. There’s also a bottle of Cloven Hoof spiced rum thrown in there.
At the time of writing, the bidding is up to £132. It’s a good cause, the shirt has a great story behind it, and if Threatin ever become as big as they claim to be, could one day be worth millions. Get bidding!
(Pics: Threatin/eBay)
