European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 15, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 15 2007 Page tour seem even More important getting to Iraq was a Chal Lenge of its own the group had to disassemble their amplifiers to meet weight restrictions on the commercial flights overseas half of their equipment got lost be tween England and the United Arab emirates resulting in a 10day hiatus in Dubai that Al most scuttled the tour soon though the band was hovering Over Iraq strapped into the seats of a cd 30 Jet As the Pilot made a swerving combat Landing to avoid potential enemy fire at their first shows they played to fairly reserved audiences partly due to the ban on alcohol but at Forward operating base Sykes near Iraq Bor Der with Syria something changed with the temperature outside Topping 110 degrees Edison took the stage in an air Condi toned mess Hall packed with several Hundred soldiers the band launched into helter skel Ter by the beatles in front of the stage a camouflaged throng Sang danced and pumped their fists some soldiers strummed their unloaded machine guns like electric guitars it was the most moving musical thing that has Ever happened to me Isaac says now Back Home Edison us Marine corps photo members of the music group Shin Down listen to instructions before Takeoff in a uh60 Black Hawk helicopter at Camp Tara drum Iraq last november transporting the acts for Dan base to base can be the greatest Challenge entertainers can face on a Uso tour members say they often get Mes sages on their myspace Page from soldiers who saw them play overseas James Lougee a Mem Ber of the air Force National guard drove six hours from his Home in Spring Grove to a ski resort in new York to see Edison perform last Winter hed been in the audience at one of their Iraq shows in fact it was the first Rock concert hed Ever seen last year afe organized 118 Tours overseas and a total of 1433 performances a record for the group which was founded in 1951 with a budget of million for1 fiscal 2007 afe is still much smaller than the Uso which is funded almost entirely by donations and Whick relies on the afe to coordinate Tours with the Mili tary in 2005 the last year for which tax records Are available the Uso brought in about million in donations and spent almost million on services ranging from Tours to canteens but while the Uso typically Only april is the month of the military child Zondervan live life inspired available at select military bookstores marshals stars for on week Tours to a limited number of bases afe recruits acts for stints of up to a month that reach Many More outposts recently in an Effort to attract More High Quality bands afe has been working to boost its profile its hired a marketing Agency which helped design a Slick web site and new logo for the group its also taking part in More Industry events making contacts with labels and sending More recruiters to clubs and music festivals touring with the military can translate to a boost in album sales for some bands pop Punk group Ballentine played for an audience of 3000 soldiers at Guantanamo Bay compared to the crowds of a few Hundred it usually gets at Home in la Singer Niki Barr who is about to leave for her fifth afe stint says she sees about a 40 percent Burn in merchandise sales after every tour Rock group cinder Road landed a record Deal with Emi and an opening Slot on tour with american idol Star Chris Daughtry after building a big fan following on afe Tours bands Arent paid for the Tours but receive free lodging and a stipend of per person for each Day there away in re Mote areas performers usually eat alongside soldiers in Chow Halls and stay in the same cramped quarters bands Are banned from Selling their cd and other merchandise on the bases to prevent Competition with the military Exchange stores instead afe gives bands up to 1500 to pay for promotional items such As shirts cd and fliers which they give away to the troops some acts bring Lap tops and Burn their music onto Blanc is some in the music Industry say afe is emerging As a Force in helping bands get noticed its filling a void there actually helping to break artists says Tamara Conniff executive editor and associate publisher of Bill Board which plans to sponsor an afe tour of bands All this has turned a Marine Captain named Jesse Davidson and several of his afe col leagues into unlikely arbiters of indie bands capt Davidson 30 served three Tours of duty in Iraq from 2003 to 2005 As a logistics officer in the infantry battalion that helped pull Down the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 2005 he was Given a new assignment sending Rock bands to the War zone he had just left capt Davidson mans a cubicle on the fourth floor of a building Complex near the Pentagon he spends most of the Day on the phone coordinating gigs once every two weeks he and his colleagues file Down the Hall to a conference room for a ritual Treyve dubbed afe idol they gather before a Fla screen to connected to a did player and stereo system this is where they screen submissions partly As a result of its recruiting efforts afe receives dozens of applications from musicians magicians and comedians each month Only a third Are accepted on a recent afternoon the staff assessed a Rock group from the Midwest a video montage showed the leather Clad band Riding motorcycles and sweating it out at biker rallies capt Davidson gave the band Points for having an electric fiddle player a sign they could adapt to mixed military crowds these Guys straddle the line Between country and Rock he said each band is graded on a scale of 1 to 5 in 20 different areas a system that afe recently introduced to make the process More objective categories Range from the fairly Standard stage presence audience engagement to some particular to the military appearance profanity and religious references Are considered red flags Michael Atlanta Falcons running Back Warrick Dunn left and Larry Izzo Back ground of the new England patriots signs autographs in april 2005 at the opening of the Pat Tiltman Uso Center at Bagram air base Afghani Stan the Uso tries to line up Star athletes and other celebrities As Well As musicians to meet and Greet the troops