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The Unbelievable Story Of Threatin: Heavy Metal's Fyre Festival Moment
Last year, Threatin became a viral sensation after faking his entire career. We chat to the man himself and those around him, to find out just what the hell happened…
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Video: Threatin Plays To 60 People At His London Live Return
The band behind "metal's Fyre Festival moment" returned to London and played to literally dozens of fans.
Last year, Jared Threatin made headlines by swindling venues and promoters all over Europe. With a combination of paid social media stats, well-crafted promotional materials, and lies about advance ticket sales, Jared's band Threatin booked a massive tour that was barely attended and screwed several furious industry professionals out a lot of money.
Threatin's hope was that his bullshit ploy -- which has since become known as "metal's Fyre Festival moment" -- would work to build a reputation and identity for the band that would then launch their career. However, this weekend saw Threatin play The Underworld in London, one year since his live debut, to a whopping crowd of only 60 fans.
Here's footage of the show:
As one Twitter user pointed out, Threatin's behavior onstage seemed to mirror the madness behind his career as a whole:
Another attendee pointed out that the use of sex dolls and mannequins added an unsettling vibe to the show:
Were the mannequins a callback to Threatin's "artificial" nature? It feels like a conceptual leap for a guy whose primary concern seems to be rock stardom over musical talent. Then again, maybe Jared Threatin is a brilliant actor and this is an elevated form of performance art.
According to Jared Threatin, the entirety of the band's schlock tour and fake persona was always an intentional ploy to grow his brand. Speaking with Kerrang! earlier this year, Jared -- Jered Eames to his mom -- claimed, “The intent was always to show up and play to empty rooms...You play shows, you put together a demo, you send out the demos, nothing happens. So I had done all that and to me it was just, why do I need to do this? The record labels are basically irrelevant at this point anyway. I can just do it my own way better.”
According to Jared, recording the interview alongside Kerrang!'s reporter only further strengthened his identity. "You know, like, even now, while we’re doing this – ” He gestured to the audio recorders – “I’m learning how to be a journalist.”
We look forward to reading Threatin's award-winning publication in the near future.
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