Thursday, August 7, 2008

Rock Band Tours by Bike



Great music, great idea, and great execution. Check out this 4 minute video. As Kipchoge Spence, the person behind this idea, wrote me:

"In 2007, the Ginger Ninjas became the first band in the history of rock and roll to tour by bicycle, unsupported by automobile. On a 5000 mile odyssey from their home in Northern California to the pyramids of Southern Mexico, they promoted transportation cycling while also exploring the frontiers of pedal-generated electricity, using their own bikes to power a hyper-efficient sound system. The audience took turns getting on stage to pedal the bikes to make the sound, taking crowd participation to a new level. Originally conceived as a one-time adventure/statement/experiment, the band became addicted to low-impact touring, and now does so exclusively.

The Ginger Ninjas' mobile human-power stage is the first of its kind in history. Coupling super efficient digital amplifiers, lightweight components, and generators attached to working bicycles (as opposed to purpose-built stationary bikes), the system allows a band to play off-grid anywhere, wall outlet or no, and to also carry the system to a gig on the same bicycles (Xtracycle sport utility bicycles). This enables a new kind of completely self-sufficient bicycle touring, sans automobile support. On the band's most recent tour, the system and touring style enabled them to avoid generating close to 60,000 pounds of CO2, or 95% of what a similar sized band creates in a similar tour."

We're hoping GoLoco can partner with them on their next tour in the U.S.

http://www.gingerninjas.com/
great 4 minute video describing 2007 tour

2 comments:

Kai Carver said...

Awesome! (I do hope pedal power can also produce a less folksy sound, with synths, saturated guitars, pumping bass, ...)

Some other links found after reading your post:
video of Rock'n Roll Bicycle Tours with excerpts from several bands
Bicycle Music Festival
Kipchoge Spence's The Pleasant Revolution web site

This also reminds me of a friend who plays music that's probably a bit less pedal-powered but battery-powered and radical in its own way:
martin klang plays music: have battery will travel

Anonymous said...

This is great!

You might also enjoy the Ditty Bops who bicycled 4,700 miles from LA to NY on tour with their band during the Summer of 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlCkmQdJeBs

Bike tour blog (with fun comics):
http://www.thedittybopsbiketour.blogspot.com