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[bomp] "You rock out to the band you have, not the band you wish you had"
Punk Band Moshes in the New Year in Iraq
While Saddam Hussein spent a second New Year's Eve in a jail cell, a
Southern California rock band known for such albums as "Hitler Bad, Vandals
Good" and "Look What I Almost Stepped In" played in the heart of his former
empire.
The 3rd Brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division got a one-hour show by
punk perennials The Vandals during a modest Friday night party in the Green
Zone. The show was one of the few entertainments provided for U.S. troops in
Iraq on New Year's Eve, a day marked chiefly by a relative lull in violence.
A nighttime curfew kept Iraqis off the street, and the only fireworks were a
few flares shot out of the Green Zone and about 20 minutes of gunfire
echoing across the city just after midnight.
"It's pretty cool to be asked to come out and go right in the middle of it
it's like we stepped inside our television," Vandals bassist Joe Escalante,
wearing a flak jacket he borrowed from the Army for the tour, said before
the show.
While soldiers bounced and bobbed their heads, The Vandals reeled off
favorites like "Oi to the World" and "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government),"
a ditty that earned them brief fame and $22,000 when it was quoted in
the 2002 Vin Diesel movie "XXX."
Many soldiers sat in the dusty, darkened theater staring in bemusement, but
a handful of die-hards jostled each other in true slamdance style in the
impromptu mosh pit.
"This is straight up one of the few times I get to go out and beat people
up, but it's a friendly atmosphere so we're not getting beat up too bad,"
said Pfc. Russell Holt, 20, a medic from Tampa, Fla. "These guys are up
there with Superchunk."
The Vandals, who gained popularity in the 1990s for blending a sharp sense
of humor with punk riffs, mixed it up with a few three-chord ditties, speed
versions of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" and "Summer Nights" from the musical
"Grease."
The set earned the praise of Matthew Linus Byars, a 31-year-old medic from
Nashville, Tenn., and self-proclaimed punk rocker for 18 years. He stomped
through the mosh pit and stood before lead Vandals singer Dave Quackenbush,
nodding in rapture.
"There aren't many real punk rockers in the Army," Byars said. "I just kind
of blew off Christmas as another day of work, but this was really special to
me."
The Vandals are on a two-week tour in which they have played eight shows at
several bases, with their last coming on New Year's Day in Kuwait.
Celebrity visitors for every taste have touched foot in Iraq since the war
began. Troops have chuckled to Robin Williams and Rob Schneider of "Saturday
Night Live." Pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page taught soldiers a few moves,
while pro fisherman Ray Scott, affectionately known as the "Bass Boss," cast
lines into the Tigris River.
The Vandals acknowledged they do not have the drawing power of other
visitors like country music star Toby Keith, former Cincinnati Reds pitcher
Rob Dibble or the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. But they said they were
pleased with the military crowds.
"You rock out to the band you have, not the band you wish you had,"
guitarist Warren Fitzgerald said, riffing on Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld's comments to troops in Kuwait who complained the Army was not
getting them enough armor.
There were few other events planned for the troops' New Year's Eve. Mess
halls served a special menu and troops were allowed nonalcoholic beer at a
few bases. But there were no big-ticket visitors like for Christmas Eve,
when Rumsfeld stopped at Fallujah and David Letterman filmed "The Late Show"
from Camp Taqaddum.
"It's work today, work tomorrow. We're here to work," said Spc. Joe Killo,
22, a military policeman from Columbia, Md. "Iraqis don't celebrate our
holidays, so we can't put the war on holiday."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=3&u=/ap/20041231/ap_en_mu/iraq_punk_rock_new_year
"These guys are up there with Superchunk." Hee-hee!!!
********
"We spend $35 million before breakfast every day in Iraq."- Sen. Patrick J.
Leahy
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