Saying Thank you.

[Stumpy]

Hello all...

We, Crash The Machine, are looking into the DoD tour of US military bases to play for them and say thank you for what they are doing.

Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing? What are the do's and don't's with the whole process?

Your help is much appreciated.

[Dave R]

I did a USO tour many years ago. My best suggestion--play well, be professional and courteous. The guys will appreciate you being there to entertain them.

That said, here are some things we did that went over real well.

1. We had two female singers. That helped with all the following...

2. As soon as you get to a base, ask one of the admin people, in confidence, what kind of a sense of humor the Commanding Officer has. If he's the right kind of guy, we would have the women bring him up to dedicate a song to him. The song was "Chalking and Hugging. Google it up. They would chalk all over his uniform or clothes. The men loved it. The CO did, too, as far as we could tell. And he got real hugs at the end.

2. We did a dance contest. Ask the guys to send up 2-4 of the best dancers on the base. Somehow, the guys knew who could dance. We'd give them each a turn dancing with the women for a verse or so. Then the men would judge with applause. Went over well.

3. We'd thank the men for their service at the end of the show. Sometimes dedicate an appropriate song to them. They seemed to appreciate that.

[Spoiled Grape]

Originally Posted by Stumpy

Hello all...

We, Crash The Machine, are looking into the DoD tour of US military bases to play for them and say thank you for what they are doing.

Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing? What are the do's and don't's with the whole process?

Your help is much appreciated.

How do you get around to doing a gig like that? I'm assuming the normal booking agent route isn't applied here?