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380AEW Article

Viral video sensation coming soon to 380th AEW

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Newfound Internet celebrity band Sidewinder, the U.S. Air Forces Central Command band, is coming to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing to entertain the troops here Aug 20-22.

A video of the band performing an acoustic cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" went viral Aug. 9 after a fan posted it to YouTube, where it has garnered attention from celebrities Carson Daly and Ryan Seacrest, as well as members of the Good Morning America staff. The video has more than 800,000 hits and is now hosted on popular sharing sites such as Reddit and Break.com.

The video was of Sidewinder's performance Aug. 8 at the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron at an air base in Southwest Asia and features the vocals of Staff. Sgt. Angie Johnson.
"We're very excited for this opportunity to host such a talented group to entertain the deployed personnel here," said 1st Lt. Gina McKeen, the chief of public affairs for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. "We're offering a wide range of performance times and venues so we can bring the music to as many folks as possible."

The band is scheduled to perform their first set Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. at the Chapman Activity Center Pavilion to help celebrate the end of the Ramadan Games here.

"We've incorporated Sidewinder into the post Ramadan Games party since this is a big event that we hope a lot of people will attend," McKeen said. "There will be free pizza, games, a great show by the band followed by an event we call fight night, and super Bingo. It should be a great time."

They will also have shows at Roy's Dining Facility during steak night Sunday, Aug. 21, an evening performance in the CAC Pavilion Sunday, Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. and a show at the flightline Monday, Aug. 22 at 1:30 a.m.

The band is currently touring Southwest Asia bringing deployed service members a little bit of home with popular music, including the songs "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys, "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green.

Sidewinder is part of the Missouri Air National Guard's 571st Air Force Band. They are deployed as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Band, which is part of the Air Force Bands program, a family of 12 active-duty Air Force and 11 Air National Guard bands. These musicians not only boost morale for the troops, but they also play a key role in building and strengthening relationships with host nations and coalition partners. Sidewinder returns home next month. (With contributions from Staff Sgt. Alexy Saltekoff)