Punk, protest and secret shows sing 'truth to power' in Myanmar

Music offers continuing resistance to nation's military machine

Punk rock traliblazer Kyaw Kyaw at Rebel Riot's 15-year anniversary show (Kaung Kaung).jpg

Punk rock trailblazer Kyaw Kyaw lets loose at The Rebel Riot's 15-year-anniversary show in Yangon. "If you're a photographer, musician or artist and you're given a gun ... maybe you are useless," says the singer. "But if you're an artist, you can be yourself and create positive change." (Photo by Kaung Kaung)

JACOB PAYNE, Contributing writer

December 23, 2022 08:00 JST

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.