The power of positive punks

Rocker Andrew W.K. made headlines recently with the quest that ultimately wasn't—his initiative to bring positive partying to Bahrain on behalf of the US State Department. A case of rockers being held down by the man (isn't that what sparked the punk movement?).

Well, rock did make it to the Middle East this fall. And fittingly, it was a quartet of punks from Atlanta doing the diplomacy. The Black Lips are known more for stage shows involving blood or vomit than they are for any outreach. But this September and October, they brought their brand of punk to music lovers in Egypt and Tunisia, UAE and Lebanon, even Iraq. Frontman Cole Alexander and co. had—as you'd expect—the experience of a lifetime. And while he was on a holiday break post-tour, Alexander was kind enough to reflect on the experience.

Beyond the green zone

The band's original idea to play Iraq isn't some Black Lips' political statement. Rather, The Black Lips were embracing their inner-Bourdain. "We already started traveling to all types of places," Alexander says. "We played Thailand, Brazil, India, Israel, and into Palestine. We just got the bug once we started going. And how the Egypt show became a possibility—we realized we would've played every continent except for Antarctica. We're actually trying to play Antarctica in the future so we can be the only band to play all seven continents."

It's a perk of the job. The Black Lips want to travel and playing music 1) gives them a reason to go then 2) allows them to afford it. However, Alexander admits heading to Iraq started out as just something the band just said. Two years ago, that trip wasn't even feasible given the military occupation happening within the country.

The climate changed over time, and eventually the Lips planned accordingly. But even now, the tour as the band intended it didn't seem possible. They entered it knowing to tone down their antics because certain actions could force venues in certain countries to cancel their performances (Alexander infamously kissed his guitarist while in India in '09; the tour was immediately halted). The Black Lips only ran into situations like this on a smaller scale this time around—for instance, one venue in Jordan cancelled a Lips' performance after discovering the band played Israel beforehand.

But the band was on a mission to "give culturally and also take culturally," so even the cancelled gigs became opportunities. Instead of a show in Jordan, the Lips had dinner with the promoters to hear why playing Israel was an issue and learn more about the situation.

"We definitely wanted to force the tour, it was an 'if it wasn't going to happen, we were going to make it happen' kind of thing," Alexander says. "We wanted to be a band that went and played for the people of Iraq. A lot of other bands have gone and played for troops in the green zone, which is protected and safe, but this was us playing for locals. We felt like kind of diplomats for culture in the US, because most others going to Iraq are soldiers. It felt good to come with something positive, to bring music instead of drones or something."

"A crude show," just not like that

That introduction of American punk was the tour's primary goal and it happed mostly during performance. Alexander says the band played two types of shows while touring the Middle East. There was the familiar bar setting, where the Lips were met by a mix of locals and ex-pats ("There were close to what a show would be like in the States," he notes).

The other shows were more unique, ultimately what Alexander calls the most "rewarding and endearing experience" for the band. The Black Lips played two community centers—one in Cairo and another in Erbil, Iraq. These were all ages affairs, no alcohol, no previous rock concert experience necessary. These are shows on the tour where you'd see hijabs throughout the crowd.

The Iraq show in particular stands out for Alexander. The band booked their flights to Northern Iraq, but had plenty of issues between then and the show. Their opening act for most of the tour—Lazzy Lung from Lebanon—couldn't come. So Alexander asked a local kid playing music on the street if he'd be willing to open (and of course he did, playing some traditional Kurdish folk songs).

Naturally, there was trouble with the original Erbil venue. "It got cancelled when they saw a video where some crass things were happening," he says. (The video in question is The Black Lips' Family Tree—SFW but there are bodily fluids.) "But we were so dead set on going. We'd already bought our tickets, we thought 'we're going anyway, we'll play in the street if we have to.'"

Luckily the community center stepped in. Alexander said the crowd was about 100 strong, a mix of elderly and college aged fans. Firsthand accounts (that's a well written one) put the crowd closer to 50, so we're talking very intimate. The facility itself only added to that vibe.

"It's was a crude show—the center," Alexander says. "They didn't have amps for us because they don't have a lot of bands coming through. So we brought the soundboard onto the stage and plugged our guitars straight into it. And there was no bass drum, so I had a suitcase and our drummer put his pedal up to it and used that."

The crowd sat in plastic chairs, some left immediately after the first Ian Saint Pe guitar solo. But many others (mostly the young folks, Alexander noted) stayed throughout and really enjoyed the experience. The band itself took time before and after to meet with the crowd. And it's rare in concerts today (even with bands similar sized to the Lips); fans and bands don't often get this opportunity to mutually express appreciation.

"Those community shows, seeing the little kids dancing was really heartwarming," Alexander says. "It was interesting, NPR did an All Things Considered interview with us about the show in Cairo and they also talked to some kids. They were having the protests at the embassy at the time, and this kid was saying she'd go to the protest but then go to our show and didn't think there was anything weird about that.

That was the fist time I heard the voice of someone protesting at the embassy, hearing what they had to say, because you don't get that on the news. It was a cool moment for me—meeting the people at the center and these kids who had never been to a rock show."

The next project

There isn't a press shortage from when The Black Lips announced their Middle East tour; but there's an odd lack of accounts of how things ended up. The Black Lips tone down their schtick, succeed in connecting with young people in the Middle East over music. Not as sexy of a story when compared to what came out of their '09 India tour.

But beyond a positive experience, The Black Lips see ways this Middle East tour will stay with them. The most immediate may be other bands seeing these results and taking their own tour opportunities. Giant stadium rock shows have happened before; the RHCP recently toured in India and Lebanon. But now bands like their labelmates Off! are beginning to explore the Middle East as a real possibility.

"We're hoping more bands would start to do this," Alexander says. "We started to find kind of a circuit there, there are promoters there who want to bring bands and then there are some bands who are interested in going to new places. So I think there is a circuit developing—there are good promoters in Cairo, and Beirut has a fantastic scene. Sure, the country as a whole feels different, but the scene is so strong it felt like it could have been in Europe actually."

For the band directly, the trip is slowly becoming the subject of a documentary from filmmaker Bill Cody. Cody taught in a film school in Erbil once upon a time and Alexander said the trip wouldn't have been possible without him on their side. The hope is to have something finished by Spring 2013, but they're struggling for crowdfunding. Another tough aspect of being a DIY band.

The trip's influence will inevitably creep into the band's next release somehow. Alexander found plenty of music inspiration in all forms. Cairo cassettes strike him as particularly fantastic. "I can't even tell you the names of the artists because they're in Arabic," he says. "But I've been trying to find samples to take." Even the traditional Muslim prayer provides motivation. "The way the man leading the prayer quivers doing these quarter notes," Alexander says. "In a Western musical scale we do full steps, but he was doing these micronotes—honing in on a microscopic level of note. I couldn't really even decipher that because I don't know too much music theory, but it was very otherworldly."

Technology proved helpful in capturing those moments—Alexander was able to find a prayer he really liked by Shazaming it then finding that particular passage on YouTube (it's "Mawlay Enni Bei Babak" by Sayed Al Nakshabandi). Though when he was trying to learn how sing like that (starting through humming), friends would tell him it's offensive to take that sound and use it in other contexts. "So I have to find a way to incorporate that sound in a way that won't offend people," he notes. "On the other hand, I've been known to do things in an inappropriate way. At the end of the day, I may just take something musically from this trip no matter what, it's quite beautiful."

I know it's only one person's opinion, but that first hand account of the show in Erbil from Joshua Levkowitz sums up this entire thing nicely. "Even though [Alexander] said there was no real objective of the tour except for the band's wanderlust, this concert provided cultural exposure to Iraqi people that had only previously experienced the American military presence." So whatever you think of The Black Lips today—the over-rowdy live act with the pure punk discography—it feels easy to support anything that comes next. As Levkowitz says, "Thank you Black Lips for helping build up a new bridge in the region." And from music fans like me, thanks for strengthening our belief in rock.