Re: Y & T and Stormzone in Belfast 5th October
Date: September 17, 2009 01:12PM
I'm not too sure how all this started between Andy and those he seems to have issues with so I won't get involved in that side of things, but I would just like to confirm what most others who have contributed to the various posts have said. As lead singer of Stormzone I have the utmost respect for Davy Warren, Keiran Dargan and everyone who has been associated with the shows the two guys have been involved with here in Ireland and England.
Back in 2004 I was involved in the tribute scene paying homage to Whitesnake when Davy called me to say that Kieran and he were bring Danger Danger to Belfast and would I be interested in supporting them. I didn't want to do support to a band playing original material with a tribute set and quickly put together a support length set of songs recorded mostly during my Den Of Thieves days. Thinking this was just going to be a one-off show we did it simply under the 'Harv' moniker. Of course it was a huge success for all involved and there was no way I was then going to settle for that feeling being a one-off, we changed our name to Stormzone and that's basically how we started.
Without the encouragement and opportunities given to us then and afterwards by Davy and Kieran we probably would have become quickly disillusioned, but Kieran quickly followed up his appreciation of Stormzone by giving us supports with Danny Vaughn and a triumphant opening slot at Firefest in 2007 and Davy continued to support us with local shows including a packed out Rosetta gig with White Lion.
We have much to thank Davy and Kieran for, we were always treated well and also experienced the almost unbelievable scenario of a support band being PAID!!
As for our recent shows with Tesla and Y&T, yes, of course we are grateful to CDC for promoting these shows but our involvement with both wasn't actually down to their personal choice. We played the Spring & Airbrake in Belfast with Tesla as part of supporting them on all their UK dates and that was an opportunity given to us by Steve Strange. The imminent Y&T show sees us returning to the same venue as support to them basically because they stated that we were the band they wanted to play with in Belfast as we'd toured with them last year in Spain. Glyder are doing the Dublin show because they did the UK dates. So CDC are heavily involved, but as promoters they probably didn't really care who the support bands were. When we did the shows for Davy & Kieran they definitely CARED as to who the support bands were and apart from us they have given Million Dollar Reload a helping hand along the way so the local scene is two bands better off as a result of being given great opportunities by two of life's true gentlemen!
I hope that let's everyone know where Stormzone stands with regards to all this, we'll be forever greatful to everyone who has supported us but a special place will always be in our hearts for Davy & Kieran because basically without them I'd probably still be in a tribute band!!