BRIAN HOWE Heads To Iraq For A 'Command Performance'

Rock's legendary voice Brian Howe finds himself preparing for a history-making event and concert. Four March concerts are scheduled for Kuwait and Iraq and one is a "command performance" for the historic "Change of Command Ceremony" in Baghdad on March 12, 2010.

The Brian Howe Kuwait/Iraq mini-tour is funded (and supported) by the U.S. forces' Iraq entertainment branch.

The "Change of Command Ceremony" marks the day the Iraq national police take partial command of Baghdad and it is the first phase of President Obama's overall withdrawal of U.S. troops — Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Baghdad-based U.S. forces Iraq had BAD COMPANY's Brian Howe on "their short list." They called the group's agent, who told the band there was an offer from the Iraq entertainment branch requesting Brian and the band to perform four concerts in March. The call came, however, just as Brian was making promotional plans for his new album, "Circus Bar", which was released late last month in Europe and is due in North America on March 9 via Frontiers Records. Quick and simple — "Circus Bar"'s launch would be postponed for a week or two.

This out-of-the-blue "command performance" for the troops was an honor the band did not expect that day. The concerts in Kuwait and Iraq were not going to be ordinary concerts — there is a risk element in the mix. Brian and the band decided that even with their commitment to a heavy 2010 touring schedule, they could not pass up this chance of lifetime to give back to our men and women serving overseas.

"At first news, I could not believe what I was hearing — me going to Iraq?" Howe said. "What are they going to do — parachute me in and ask me to sing on the way town to scare the Taliban? Seriously, though, the boys and girls in uniform have been there for awhile without any real rock and roll that I know of. I could not pass up the chance of doing concerts in Iraq. This time Baghdad is going to be rocked in a different way.

"We are heading to a city where bombings occur on a daily basis. However, this time, it will be our explosive rock and roll show that shakes Baghdad — BAD COMPANY style.

"The U.S. Forces division and their production expertise are well known. This isn't their first concert. Also, Jeff Thornton of Lone Wolf Entertainment is managing the dates along with my management/booking agency, Artists International Mgt. (Boca Raton, FL.). So I'd say we have our bases covered — Iraq and Baghdad here we come."