“It pissed me off.”

That is how R.E.M.‘s Mike Mills described his reaction to seeing firsthand the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and the stagnated recovery effort since. Though his band has a history of political involvement, Mills himself has shied away from activism until now. Having seen the suffering of New Orleanians in the aftermath of Katrina, he declared, “No one can appreciate the destruction without seeing it and I was very aware that due to the nature of the media, this would be forgotten.”

“We need to remember that these are human beings just like you and me,” he continued. “Regardless of how inept state and local government may have been, it’s up to the rest of us to help them.”

Mills, the latest musician to come to D.C. in hopes of raising awareness of the struggle still going on in New Orleans, said this just after performing on Saturday night at Hope for Home, a semi-private cocktail party hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (“FMC”). The event was held at the home of FMC supporters and D.C. residents Eric and Sharapat Kessler to benefit Al “Carnival Time” Johnson (pictured above performing with Mills), an icon of the New Orleans Mardi Gras community, as well as Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization dedicated to aiding the Crescent City’s displaced musicians.

Photo by Caroline “Puck” Deutermann