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Provided by the compucert DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Drowning Pool tour plays tribute to soldiersD allas band performs at Palladium on Friday night0 5 :19 PM CDT on Thursday, September 6, 2007By MIKE DANIEL / The Dallas Morning News mdaniel@dallasnews.com The neck-snapping metal rave-up "Bodies" may have placed Drowning Pool on the national rock map in 2001, but it placed the Dallas band in a rocky international battle zone years later.Several factors, from record-label indifference to the premature death (from an undiagnosed heart disease) of original singer Dave Williams in 2002, contributed to its fall from general popularity after its debut CD, Sinner, went platinum in six weeks. But the band's never lost its popularity with generals because of that one hit song.Soon after U.S. troops deployed to Iraq in 2003, "Bodies" became preferred pre-combat listening for many soldiers there. As a result, Drowning Pool has supplanted its chart-assailing days with another mission: to give back to the source of its hardest-core fans: the U.S. military.
"We've been involved with the USO for almost three years now," guitarist C.J. Pierce said. "'Bodies' became an anthem to get them motivated to do their job. That was cool, but later we thought about how we could give back.
"Here's how: trips to Iraq in 2005 and 2006 for numerous performances, first with Jason "Gong" Jones on vocals, then with current singer Ryan McCombs. Then, immediately after the first Middle East excursion, writing a down-tuned and throb-hooked tribute song called "Soldiers" that's on the band's new CD, Full Circle , an d is rapidly gaining rock-radio airplay."You can't help but be touched by what soldiers do," Mr. Pierce said. "They're the most hard-working people I've ever seen. It was kind of a natural progression for us to write that song and give something back to those folks that have supported us so well."
Now, it's the 14-date "This Is for the Soldiers" tour, which stops in Dallas Friday night at the Palladium Ballroom. It's a partnership with the USO and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America meant to achieve two goals: raise money for both groups ($1 from each ticket sold benefits them) and raise awareness for the need for mental-health treatment for many of the 1.5 million troops that have served overseas. A companion website, www.thisisforthesoldiers.org , features a petition to ask U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, to fast-track pending legislation to require post-tour counseling for combat vets.
"It's not about war, and it's not about political matters," Mr. Pierce said. "It's about our brothers and sisters that are over there doing their jobs. Everybody thinks that our soldiers are all John Wayne types that can just hop back into normal life or something, and that's just not the case. Everybody's affected. Heck, I'm affected, and I just went over there to play music."Drowning Pool's partnership with the military won't end soon, either. A third trip to Iraq is likely in early 2008, and a DVD with footage from Iraq shows is being planned for later that year. In the meantime, Drowning Pool wants people to know that supporting American troops is different from supporting the U.S. involvement in Iraq .
"You see it on the news all of the time, and you start to become numb about it and keep it at a distance," he said. "But seeing it in person opens your eyes, wide. You have to support them. Nobody's for it, but you have to support the people over there. They don't have a choice; it's their job."
Plan your life.
The "This Is for the Soldiers" tour with Drowning Pool, Deepfield, the Suicide Hook and Somsara is tonight at the Palladium Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St. Doors open at 7. Ticketmaster. $18.
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