Tours of Duty

Troops rock out in the front row at Operation MySpace / Photo by Specialist Richard Del Vecchio, U.S. Army

Unheralded Atlanta-based alt rockers Five Star Iris met with reps from Navy Entertainment and AFE at the RedGorilla music festival in Austin, Texas, in 2007 instead of label honchos and booking agents. The resulting tour took them to bases throughout Southwest Asia on military planes and helicopters, and they now earn what they call a "nice lump sum" on this circuit. Although it does present challenges that your average van tour through college towns doesn't.

"All of a sudden, you're flying over a town and cannot help but think, 'There's got to be at least one person that would take us out if they could,' " says Five Star Iris frontman Alan Schaefer, recalling a night flight over the Iraqi desert. "Out of nowhere, two soldiers in the helicopter, at the same time, lock the weapons. And I'm thinking, 'Holy shit!' " For these guys, though, it's worth the risk. "What's achievable is us being a sustainable business," says Schaefer, whose band is headed to Japan later this year on another military jaunt. "We've seen big spikes in our iTunes downloads, and I really think a big part of that has to do with the military. On these tours, we don't [and aren't allowed to] sell CDs, so the only way for people to get them is to buy them online."

The organizations involved would be glad to offer more recognizable talent to American troops abroad, but they have to make do with what's available. At the same time, as Navy Entertainment's Karen Fritz says, "If [the troops] don't recognize the music, they might not come see the show." For AFE and USO, word of mouth among bands can provide a big boost. "There are groups that go out and they come back and tell their famous friends," says the USO's Tischler. "We'd love more partnering with industry, more people knowing who we are," says Col. Ed Shock of AFE.

With the war's unpopularity at home, some bands might worry about adverse reactions from their fans. For Filter, that wasn't the case. "[The reaction] was 99.9 percent positive," says Marc Pollack, the band's manager. "You have a couple of people who voice their opinion -- like, 'Why would you do this for Bush?' -- not understanding the real reasons why we did this."

"I would absolutely recommend it to other bands," says Richard Patrick. "Someone is out there, literally doing the hard work, and it reminds you, you're American, buddy, and you get to be in a fucking rock band. How sweet is your life?"

Operation MySpace video blogs:

-- Pre-travel thoughts
-- Arrival in Kuwait
-- The troops jam with Filter's Richard Patrick
-- Lu Huynh rocks Stone Temple Pilots' "Interstate Love Song" with Filter's Richard Patrick
-- Interview with Richard Patrick and Filter's former bassist, Sgt. Frank Cavanagh | Part One | Part Two | Part Three