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The Irrawady Friday, May 15, 2009 Heavy metal band Iron Cross will leave Burma for a US tour at the end of June. The band was scheduled to leave
Rangoon three weeks ago but military authorities prohibited them from departing. Iron Cross, one of the most popular musical acts in Burma, planned their tour with the help of US-based promoter LawKaNatt Corp, but were forced to cancel several western US dates after being denied exit from Burma. A member of Iron Cross said the tour was delayed for "so many reasons, " but declined to elaborate. The original tour dates spanned from a June 7 concert in
Los Angeles to a July 19 appearance in
New York City. Shows in
San Francisco,
Phoenix, Coral Springs,
Florida and the
Washington DC area also appeared on the schedule. The
Los Angeles,
San Francisco and
Phoenix concerts were cancelled and not rescheduled. The band will perform at the three venues on the East Coast. Many Iron Cross fans outside Burma speculate that the group’s travel ban was related to the tensions following the May 30 clash in Depeyin. Run-ins with the authorities are nothing new for Lay Phyu, lead singer of Iron Cross. Burmese censors forced the singer to change the title of his 1995 album Power 54 because the number matched opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s University Avenue address. The famed singer also resists singing propaganda songs, which many Burmese artists are pressured to perform. Many Burmese believe military intelligence officers consider Lay Phyu a subversive element and keep a close eye on him. All musicians inside Burma are subjected to supervision by the Press Scrutiny Board, which screens lyrics before granting permission to record a song. Authorities can ban the albums and live performances of any artist or band guilty of writing anti-government lyrics.
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