Despite fight camp, Strikeforce's Josh Barnett hosts Thursday benefit concert for Jap
by Steven Marrocco on May 24, 2011 at 8:15 pm ET
from mmajunkie
Josh Barnett is used to putting himself in the best possible shape to mercilessly beat his opponents in the ring or cage.
But give him the task of corralling a bunch of death-metal bands into a marquee venue for one night on the Sunset Strip, and let's just say it's a learning process.
"That's even more difficult, actually, than getting ready for this fight," he today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
Barnett is juggling preparations for his June 18 meeting with Brett Rogers in the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix with the promotion of a benefit concert for victims of the recent earthquake in Japan.
The concert, which takes place this Thursday at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, Calif., arrives in the middle of his peak training weeks. At a time when he's pushing himself to the limit and trying to prevent his body from breaking down, the minutia of promotion is on his mind.
He's long been an avid death-metal fan – if you follow him on Twitter, he gives plenty of selections for recommended listening – but he's never taken a step behind the curtain other than to mingle with the friends he's made over the years. And it's proven to be a whole other ball game.
"Did you ever think that you needed to take a look at the ticket and decide what all the text on the ticket says to make sure it's correct? Trust me, man, I know all about it now," Barnett said.
Basically, it means he has no free time whatsoever. But it's a small sacrifice, he said, for supporting the people of a country in which he's spent a large part of his career. As a fighter and professional wrestler, he feels a profound loyalty to Japan. And while the media has moved on from the tragedy, its effects are still being felt.
"Things have died down a little bit, but it wasn't that long ago that they were still having earthquakes, and the radiation issue is not the sort of thing that's going away any time soon," Barnett said. ... The place is still very much devastated."
More than 18,000 people lost their lives in the earthquake and a subsequent tsunami that swept over Japan's northeast coastline, and almost a half-million people are living in shelters in the wake of its destruction. The disaster could cost Japan $309 billion in repairs and reconstruction. Moreover, radiation continues to leak from crippled nuclear reactors in Fukushima, and its long-term effects on the Japanese people and the environment have yet to be known.
Raising both awareness and funds for the the country at the time when the tragedy is not splashed across 24-hour news channels has been a challenge.
"I can tell you, in trying to promote this event, that people have definitely forgotten about it," Barnett said. "This is not at the top of a lot of people's priorities. Not to say that it should be.
"I always come at things with (the attitude that) this is my project to help out those in Japan, and I hopefully get others behind me to support it. But no one's obligated – not anybody I contacted to play the show or any of the companies behind it. It's all by volunteer."
Barnett also has gotten help from Live Nation – one of the biggest live-events promotion companies in the U.S. – to assist with the logistics in putting on the show. Other than that, it's a bunch of his friends in the metal industry who want to do their part. Bands include All Shall Perish, Animals As Leaders, Cattle Decapitation, Abysmal Dawn, Internal Corrosion and Thrown Into Exile.
"I know a lot of people in the metal industry down here in Southern California," he said. "I'm not really a super-somebody or something, but I know enough people that I could pull something like this together and make it happen. So instead of sitting back and thinking what I could have done, I thought more or less what I should do."
After Thursday, his day job will take center stage. But for now, it's about helping others.
Of his goal for the show: "Put together the most awesome, raucous show that I can," he said. "Have the people in the audience have the most amazing night, and the people playing have the most fun they've ever played at a gig. Put all that energy together and make the biggest difference that we can for the people in Japan."
To purchase tickets to the event, which are just $22.15, go to www.ticketmaster.com.
