Pomeroy

Outfits cursed with the dreaded title “bar band” typically live out their careers on a frat-party-fueled trip to nowhere. Manhattan, Kansas’ Pomeroy, however, may be one of the few exceptions to that rule. Granted, any self-respecting music snob would rather take cheese graters to his ears than listen to the band’s bounding bongo beats, pseudo-rap vocals and Maroon 5-esque jams. But what ol’ Roy lacks in originality, it makes up for in gumption. In September 2004, the band played 10 shows in 16 days in war-torn Afghanistan, having been selected out of thousands of bands to perform for the troops. Now the fivesome has released a live DVD, shot at the Blue Note in Columbia. In addition to the crowd-pleasing concert — which includes guitarist Matt Marron’s jaw-dropping rendition of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” — the disc features some touching footage highlighting the band’s trip overseas.