Did we miss the metal Mr Tourist Board - there follows a rant!

I have in my greasy mits (well I'm just after a feed of chips!) the Northern Ireland Tourist Board's promotional leaflet "Unmissable Music"'; and a fine wee leaflet it is!

You can read all about the City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival, the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, the International Guinness Blues on the Bay Festival, Celtic Fusion, and even the Appalchian and Bluegrass Festival, not to mention the MTV Music Awards.

All fine and dandy - except where's the metal? I scoured this lovingly produced and found one, yes one, mention of metal. It was in reference to Glasgowbury, and the sentence read: "...featuring eveything from rock to indie to funk to dance to metal".

Nice to know that we appear in some of the pages - and it does mention The Limelight, saying "indie and rock fans will love this venue".

But what it does not mention is the many international acts brought to Belfast stages by James's Distortion Project. Nor does it mention the international acts brought by Derwin to the outer reaches of civilisation, also known as Ahoghill's Diamond Rock Bar (and it may be in theboonies, but buses are available from Belfast!).

Simply put Northern Ireland's hard rock and metal scene deserves recognition from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board for introducing so many international acts to our wee neck of the metal world. The Tourist Board has a wee website which I am about to head on to and bleat and whine about support. Hell I may even go to the Department of Enerprise, Trade, and Investment's website and suggest they provide buckets of grant aid to James, Derwin and all the other promoters - plus the cottage industry that is locally produced hard rock and metal!

Not that the stuffed shirts would ever let their hair down or take a risk on the metal. Should they not, they mus remember that Tenacious D may be a joke band, but they weren't kidding when Jack Black sang:

"You can't kill the metal

The metal will live on"

Rant over - normal service to resume as soon as I calm down with beer and the latest Amon Amarth album...'Surtur Rising' indeed!

PS - quite fancy that Appalachian festival if they can mange some metal banjo playing...