
YANGON, Myanmar -- The band onstage breaks into a crunching distorted riff, with clattering drums and spittle-flecked screams. The mosh pit erupts into a writhing mass of colliding, headbanging, sweaty bodies. A heavily tattooed bare-chested punk with a bleached yellow mohawk mounts the stage and dives into the swarming crowd.
Between barrages, Kyaw Kyaw, lead singer of Burmese punk rock trailblazers The Rebel Riot, which is celebrating its 15-year anniversary, addresses the crowd: "Their coup cannot stop us! They cannot stop our art, our revolution. F--- the military!"