By Cpl. Donato Maffin, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan
Singer and Marine Corps veteran, Orville Burrell, better known as “Shaggy,” performed for service members and residents at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, July 26, 2017.
The performance brought station residents together to enjoy Shaggy’s live music concert that also featured some of his hit songs such as “Boombastic,” “It Wasn’t Me” and “Oh Carolina.”
“The atmosphere of all the service members coming together in a unified love for Shaggy was awesome,” said U.S Marine Corps Sgt. Christopher Pietz, an MCAS Iwakuni resident. “The concert was incredible. Shaggy is an amazing showman.”
With an almost full house, Shaggy said he enjoyed performing for the service members and station residents.
“I think there’s a certain amount of enthusiasm and energy that comes with that audience … it is rewarding,” said Shaggy. “They just give you that vibe.”
Shaggy toured three different military installations in Japan with Armed Forces Entertainment going from Camp Hansen, Okinawa, to Naval Air Station Atsugi, Japan, and finishing the tour at MCAS Iwakuni.
Armed Forces Entertainment was founded in 1951 and is the Department of Defense’s official agency that provides all genres of entertainment to more than 500,000 service members annually who are deployed all over the world.
Shaggy said everyone at MCAS Iwakuni was friendly, nice and very positive. He also said that being overseas doesn’t provide many opportunities for service members to see artists from the U.S., so when he got here, he caught their energy.
“Thanks for their service. I hope they had a great time,” said Shaggy. “I hope they danced until their feet were tired and they went home with a smile on their face that made their jaws hurt. I hope to put a little soul in their hearts-a little music. Reggae music is good for that.”
