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Benefit For Wounded Soldiers Of The Iraq War
America, in the post 9/11 world, finds itself seven years on, more than five of which have been spent in war, with 4,460 casualties and counting. Drew Bardo, singer and guitarist of local rock quartet The Questions, speaks to me of complacency, egocentricity and cruelty — three traits degenerating the human race, each sufficiently massaged and fed by the great numbing power of thin screens on glowing boxes spewing distorted information and a constant parade of distractions. But now, it is time to sober up and realize the human tragedy of the Iraq War. “We’re trying to do something that has an immediate impact,” says Bardo, who, on September 11, 2008, will host a fundraiser concert for wounded Iraq veterans at the Magic Stick. Proceeds will go to Soldiers' Angels (soldiersangels.com), a volunteer-led nonprofit organization started by the mother of two soldiers, dedicated to providing aid and comfort to U.S. service men and women.
This is Bardo’s third Iraq War-focused concert, but instead of protesting or asking “Why?” this show is less about dissent and more about humanitarianism, to ask, “How? How can we help?”
The show starts at 7 p.m. and features a diverse cast of local bands: The Questions, The Electric Lions, The Koffin Kats, Duende, SikSik Nation, Friends of Dennis Wilson, The Directions, Stare into the Sun, Mick Bassett and the Marthas and Pinkeye. Bardo said the response from bands eager to participate was overwhelming and the lineup will run on a random time-slot lottery. “We’re too far down the road to just sit around bitching about it at this point,” said Bardo. “We’ve already protested what’s happening, now we have to start resolving the consequences — helping each other out — because there are a lot of [veterans] out there who feel lost, they feel abandoned, used, they feel abused and frankly, they feel raped by the United States government. We can’t allow that ... we just can’t.”
This is also an opportune time to clarify perceptions of The Questions as a political band or left-wing, or Democrat, or radical. “We’re really just independent humanitarian activists — we believe in humanitarian causes. We want the soldiers to come back and to feel that people care. There’s a human cost and that is the reason we’re doing this show.” | RDW
More: soldiersangels.com & majesticdetroit.com
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