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The Pleasant Revolution: Pedal Powered Rock n Roll Hits the Road |
The Pleasant Revolution performing in Santa Cruz while audience member pedals to power the sound system.
(c) Adam Maglione
by Lara Martin
Kipchoge Spencer and his bicycle- powered rock band, the Ginger Ninjas, have hit the road pedaling. Joined by the band Shake Your Peace!, musicians and crew left Grass Valley, California in the early morning of November 2, 2007. Their four month journey will take them from the mountains of Northern California to the Mayan ruins in Palenque, Mexico. In an effort to promote the use of bicycles in everyday lives, each participant in the tour is riding a bicycle and there is no support car. "If we can ride our bikes 5,000 miles, hauling all of our equipment sans sag wagon," says Kipchoge, "then people might realize that the two mile bicycle trip to the grocery store is possible." Another unique factor of the tour is that the shows are played completely off-the-grid. The troupe showcases their 800 watt human-powered sound system by setting up gigs in a variety of venues, from amphithe- atres to guerrilla performances on the street, while audience members participate by pedaling one of the four bicycles that are rigged with capacitors to power the mobile sound system. This allows the band to perform anywhere without dependence on an outside source of electricity. "We're doing an off-the-grid style of music tour that can't be done any other way," says Kipchoge. He notes that while large solar panels and the accompanying batteries are a viable option for some off-the-grid tours, that type of equipment would be too much baggage for a bicycle troupe. "The only way you can power shows and travel by bicycle is to have a human-powered system. We power our shows with the modified bicycles. The fact that we can also charge our smaller items such as batteries and cell phones with our [lightweight] Brunton roll-up solar panels is pretty sweet." The members of the tour ride bicycles that are modified to carry low-slung loads of up to 200 pounds. These Xtracycles attract quite a bit of attention, especially when a dozen or so of them roll into town. The group has performed several spontaneous shows in response to curious onlookers. If you should see a troup of musicians cycling by on their extra-long, fully-loaded bicycles, feel free to give a shout and a smile to the Pleasant Revolutionaries.
The Pleasant Revolution will be traveling through February ‘08. Their itinerary is listed at www.pleasantrevolution.net and will be updated as the tour progresses.
Kipchoge Spencer and his bicycle- powered rock band, the Ginger Ninjas, have hit the road pedaling. Joined by the band Shake Your Peace!, musicians and crew left Grass Valley, California in the early morning of November 2, 2007. Their four month journey will take them from the mountains of Northern California to the Mayan ruins in Palenque, Mexico. In an effort to promote the use of bicycles in everyday lives, each participant in the tour is riding a bicycle and there is no support car. "If we can ride our bikes 5,000 miles, hauling all of our equipment sans sag wagon," says Kipchoge, "then people might realize that the two mile bicycle trip to the grocery store is possible." Another unique factor of the tour is that the shows are played completely off-the-grid. The troupe showcases their 800 watt human-powered sound system by setting up gigs in a variety of venues, from amphithe- atres to guerrilla performances on the street, while audience members participate by pedaling one of the four bicycles that are rigged with capacitors to power the mobile sound system. This allows the band to perform anywhere without dependence on an outside source of electricity. "We're doing an off-the-grid style of music tour that can't be done any other way," says Kipchoge. He notes that while large solar panels and the accompanying batteries are a viable option for some off-the-grid tours, that type of equipment would be too much baggage for a bicycle troupe. "The only way you can power shows and travel by bicycle is to have a human-powered system. We power our shows with the modified bicycles. The fact that we can also charge our smaller items such as batteries and cell phones with our [lightweight] Brunton roll-up solar panels is pretty sweet." The members of the tour ride bicycles that are modified to carry low-slung loads of up to 200 pounds. These Xtracycles attract quite a bit of attention, especially when a dozen or so of them roll into town. The group has performed several spontaneous shows in response to curious onlookers. If you should see a troup of musicians cycling by on their extra-long, fully-loaded bicycles, feel free to give a shout and a smile to the Pleasant Revolutionaries.
The Pleasant Revolution will be traveling through February ‘08. Their itinerary is listed at www.pleasantrevolution.net and will be updated as the tour progresses.
