SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Cheers echoed from the theater Oct. 31 as the Dirty Word band performed here to wrap up the day-long Rockfest XI morale event.
The four-person band played a variety of music from multiple genres, including songs from AC/DC, Johnny Cash and House of Pain.
John Scalia, Dirty Word lead singer and bass player, said playing for the troops is like playing for an American town 50 years ago where you could only attend a show every couple of months, instead of every week.
“These service members are hungry for (the performance),” Scalia said. “When we come here, there is not a person in the audience who is not listening and contributing,” he said. “It really kind of warms our hearts to play here.”
The band, who has played here several times over the years, met with Col. Jason Hanover, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Jose Barraza, 386th AEW command chief, prior to the show.
“These gents genuinely care about what our Airmen are doing here,” Barraza said. “A lot of times when performers meet with the command team, they will spend 10 or 15 minutes. This team spent 40 minutes, which really shows the level of appreciation they have for what we do."
Several times during the show, the band brought Marauders up on stage. Senior Master Sgt. Kristi Wilson, 386th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron, deployed from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., joined the band on stage to sing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.”
Wilson, who was celebrating her birthday, said they initially called her on stage to sing Happy Birthday, but they took a chance that she would be able to sing. She could, and she thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.
“I had a blast. It was really a lot of fun,” said Wilson, who is still receiving compliments on her performance.
Overall, she said the whole experience was awesome, especially the variety of music they played.
“You could tell they were here for us,” she said. “No matter where you’re from, or what you like, there was something there for everyone.”
After nearly two hours of cheering, dancing and singing, the band wrapped up their performance to chants for, “One more song!” It was the third time that night.