Concert and Rally against the War
Boston Common
October 11, 11 a.m.
Website
Whatever the intentions were of Congress members who voted in favor of the "Iraq War Resolution" on October 11, 2002; everyone knows the administration has used that assent as authorization to invade and occupy Iraq for the last five years.
Many excellent performers, speakers, and thousands of conscientious citizens like you will gather to exercise our constitutional rights to assemble and speak in support of peace in the Middle East. Much like other rallies in the past, the speeches will likely wander across issues related to the war and beyond.
Those with opposing viewpoints often claim that protesters do not support the troops, but it's a misrepresentation of every rally that this Bostonist has attended where gratitude and concerns about the troops.
One example would be Kier Byrnes of local bluegrass-cum-roots-rock outfit, Three Day Threshold, who'll perform at the rally. Kier and band went on a Central American USO tour around Independence Day this summer, and we asked him about their experiences recently.
Bostonist: Where did you actually go?
Kier: We just flew to Honduras this trip. Honduras unbeknownst to me has one of the biggest US military bases outside what we have going on in the Middle East.
How long were you there?
For about a week. We did a bunch of shows, all for the troops, including some on-the-air radio broadcasts to soldiers in the field. Mostly it was playing military club type stuff, but the coolest one was when we got to play in a hangar in front of a huge, 60-foot American flag.
More with Kier after the jump.
How did the crowds react?
Well, we weren't Jessica Simpson or Kid Rock, like the troops over in Iraq have gotten, but as these guys hadn't had music entertainment in almost 2 years, so we went over extremely well. They were hungry for it -- plus we brought along two of the sexiest dancers/cowbell-and-tambourine players.
How much interaction did you have with the soldiers?
A ton. I got to hang out with everyone from the lower ranking enlisted soldiers to the top brass of the base.
My favorite part: We were in one of the bars on base called "The Rally Point." I was chatting with a colonel after one of our shows. Our guitarist may have had too many Flo and Cokes -- a local rum mixed with Coke that was quite tasty -- stands up on the bar and starts singing "God Bless America."
Initially the colonel gives me this look that made me think, "this is going to be trouble," but then all the troops started joining in singing and soon we had the whole bar pumped up. They were all screaming "God Bless America" at the top of their lungs. Colonel turns to me with this awesome smile of approval and does the slow clap thing and waves his hat in the air. I blew a sigh of relief; the morale of the troops went through the roof. It was awesome.
What was your impression of the troops?
They are awesome. Met a ton of great people. Anyhow, these people had so much dedication to this country, it's something I think a lot of people I know wouldn't even understand. It takes balls to put your live on the line for something you believe in. It really made me proud of the U.S. even though there's a lot about the US I'm not proud of. Not to get too political, but let's just say as a country I think we can improve.
Do you get paid for USO shows?
No, its basically volunteer stuff.
Would you do it again? Are you doing it again?
We hope too. I personally would rather them have all the kevlar body armor they need, or to be able to afford the best technical support they can get. However we'd be more than happy to do our part if they want us back. We will always serve our country with pride and look forward to doing it again if it comes up.
Would you like to go to the Middle East?
I'll go anywhere. I have some friends stationed in Iraq now that I'd love to see. I worry for them. A lot of the full time military men in Honduras have spent time over there, like 9 months in the sand pit and three month off. Honduras is supposedly like Club Med compared to what's going on over there.
Did you ever feel like making anything political while onstage?
Well, we supported the troops. That's kind of political. As part of one of the 4th of July celebrations we did an impromptu cover of Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World" inspired while we were standing in front of this huge 60 foot American flag. The troops went f---ing nuts. They loved it.
What was the food like?
I heard somebody describe it like this: "Beans the official food of Honduras. Its what's for breakfast... and lunch... and dinner."
Did you get sick?
We had to take Hepatitis and Typhoid shots and Malaria Pills before we went down. We even got Cipro pills. One day, I woke up and swore I thought I had malaria -- turns out I was just really hung over from Flo and Cokes.
Nice! Thanks, Kier.
Photo by Scott Gacek, from Three Day Threshold's website.
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