Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson | Catchpenny drummer Alec Roeser, rocks out during the band's performance at Forward...... read more read more
By Sgt. 1st Class Joe Thompson
41st Fires Brigade
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq – Soldiers braved the chilly nighttime temperatures to see the rock band Catchpenny perform on the Morale, Welfare and Recreation stage on Forward Operating Base Delta, Jan. 14.
"I kind of feel like the rodeo clown over here, and these guys are the cowboys," said lead singer Christian Schauf, on visiting with the troops during their tour. "[The Soldiers] are the guys out there ... every day, and we appreciate that. Everyone at home tells us to tell the troops 'thanks,' and its great what they are doing and just pass that along."
The five-member band played songs from their album, "From Where You Are," along with covers from Led Zeppelin and John Mellencamp, encouraging the audience to sing along.
The best part of playing for the troops is the meet and greet time after the performance is done, said Schauf.
"This time right now is my favorite, right after the show, just talking to people, and you can just see they are more relaxed and are smiling," he said. "Most of the time, when we start a show, everybody's arms are crossed, and they just kind of stare you down for a half hour. Then you crack them, and at the end, everyone is having a good time. I like that. That's what we are here for, to give them a little window of relaxation, and if we can do that, then I feel good about it."
Schauf had a family tie to the military: his brother has already completed one tour in Iraq with the National Guard.
"I was really proud of him and what he did, and I thought this was a great way for us to pitch in a way that we can," said Schauf.
Catchpenny visited Joint Security Station Mutenabi, and played for the Soldiers of Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment and later in the afternoon at JSS Ezdehar, with 67th Forward Support Company, 2-20 FA Regt.
"This morning, we were in this tiny little tent, with our heads hitting the ceiling. We had all the gear in there and just rocked it out, with 40 guys in there. They had this mosh pit going, and it was just a bunch of hardened dudes. They just had a blast. Everybody was sweating, and it was dusty; we all looked around, and that was just awesome," said Schauf.
Catchpenny is on their Operation Iraqi Freedom Tour playing more than 150 shows for service members in Iraq.
| Date Taken: | 01.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.17.2009 08:42 |
| Story ID: | 28959 |
| Location: | AL KUT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 230 |
This work, Catchpenny rocks at Forward Operating Base Delta, by SFC Joe Thompson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT