Combating AIDS on a Metal Band Tour

In the sea of black-clad audience members at the 2001 Ozzfest, Chris Abrego, a pierce-lipped 23-year-old resident of Bayside, Queens, N.Y., hands out condoms and pamphlets and talks to metal fans about AIDS. This is the second year Abrego has crossed the country with Ozzfest, living with the tour crew and setting up a stand at each of 40 concerts to answer questions about safe sex, distribute free condoms supplied by Trojan and refer people to volunteers from local organizations for AIDS testing and treatment.

His work is part of a $2 million annual effort by the music industry and various recording artists to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Lifebeat: the Music Industry Fights AIDS, is a nine-year-old organization that sends people like Abrego on the road with summer tours and musical festivals, or has them appear with traveling acts at several locations. Ozzy Osbourne, Ozzfest's guiding light and the source of its name, adds a 25-cent surcharge to his ticket prices to support the group. "This is a generation that thinks AIDS is very easy to manage -- they don't see it as a death sentence," said Sonya Lockett, Lifebeat's communications director, who believes that most AIDS outreach programs are not directed at the 13- to 24-year-olds at the core of the Ozzfest audience.

Abrego came to this work after AIDS touched his own family: his stepfather died of it several years ago. Shortly after graduating from Queensborough Community College, Abrego became a volunteer at Lifebeat. After several days of training, including instruction from doctors, social workers and representatives of Gay Men's Health Crisis, he was sent out on salary with the heavy metal SnoCore tour. In many parts of the Midwest, Abrego observed, he had to work doubly hard to reach people, even if they were fans of the same music. But he still thinks he connects with them more often than "a 45-year-old guy who works for the board of health."

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