Dozens of bicyclists drifting through the streets of Seattle, hauling guitars, cellos, multiple drum kits, a 2000-watt pedal powered PA system, smiling and waving at confused pedestrians and annoyed drivers, being serenaded by a musician on a bike-stage:  this is the essence of the Bicycle Music Festival.

It was, put simply, AWESOME.  There [...]]]>

live on-bike music

Dozens of bicyclists drifting through the streets of Seattle, hauling guitars, cellos, multiple drum kits, a 2000-watt pedal powered PA system, smiling and waving at confused pedestrians and annoyed drivers, being serenaded by a musician on a bike-stage:  this is the essence of the Bicycle Music Festival.

It was, put simply, AWESOME.  There are about 15 touring musicians, orchestrated by the Ginger Ninjas, who teamed up with about 10 other local bands.  A few bands would play at a park – the sound entirely powered by audience members pedaling on bikes – everything would be packed up onto the bikes, and we would critical mass through the streets to the next venue.

Max juggles heavy bike locks - very impressive

The music was great, the atmosphere was spirited, vegetarian sandwiches and vegan donuts were handed out by Food Not Bombs, good times were had by all.  One of the highlights for me was meeting up with a bunch of other jugglers.  It’s incredible how magnetic whipping out a few juggling balls can be.  Some of them were better jugglers than I was, but I taught all of them how to pass and how to steal – I think partner and multi-person juggling is even more fun than individual tricks.

When I was handing out Downside-Up business cards and telling folks about our planned bicycle-tour, Max the juggler said Hey! I’ve heard of the Downside-Up Circus!  My face contorted into an interrobang of disbelief and exclamation.  It turns out that he knew one of our troupe members, Corvus.

It was fantastic to see the results of a successful bicycle performance tour, to prove that we aren’t just chasing an impossible dream, and exciting to hear about the Ginger Ninja’s next venture: a bicycle tour of Europe!

More photos from the day can be found here.

the Sprockettes dance their [...]]]> This weekend I went to the Tour de Fat in Seattle at Gasworks Park, a touring festival sponsored by the New Belgium brewing company to promote their beer, but mostly to celebrate bicycles and art.  There were a few spectacular performances that I thought I would to recap and review here.

the Sprockettes dance their biker girl hearts out

First, I saw the Sprockettes, an all female bicycle dance troupe from Portland, Oregon.  Clad in hot pink and black, they gave a spirited performance dancing to what sounded like 80s/90s pop-punk music, half of them lip-syncing along.  Some of the simple acrobatics they did using their little trick bikes were really clever and fun.  Their dancing wasn’t always synchronized, but that was not the point.  The point was that every move they made, they made with such GUSTO, such vigor and spirit.  Watching them made me feel like our culture is not actually doomed, and the revolution will be lead by girls on bikes clad in pink hot pants.

the Baron Vegan von Hamburger

The other show I saw was the Squirm Burpee Circus, by a group know as the Handsome Little Devils.  Their show, as they proclaimed, was a “vaudvillian melodrama, with good guys and bad guys.”  Their schtick was pretty straightforward, but effective and enjoyable.  The bad guy, the Baron Vegan von Hamburger, had a contraption he used to to turn the audience’s applause into pure evil, in the form of a giant black balloon.  But!  if the audience applauded TOO loud, the machine would malfunction and the balloon of evil would burst.  The good guys, brothers Mike the Handsome and Dashing Dave, with their assistant Lolo making a love triangle, performed some first rate juggling, swing dancing, and tricks, as well as having some of the best audience banter I’ve seen.

my dad enjoys a very unusual bike

Unfortunately I missed a show by Nanda, a group of juggling and acrobatic ninjas from Port Townsend.  In addition to the variety of performances, there was other bike fun to be had, at a section of the park full of funky, rideable art bikes that were some of the strangest (and funnest) looking bikes I’ve seen.

Seeing such an outpouring of bike love and creativity got me really exciting for bike touring around the northwest, and seeing the performances got me really excited to start developing our own show, INTERROBANG!