Wouldn’t it be pleasant to see a revolution towards eco-friendly thinking emerge in today’s crazy world? A collective of musicians, artists and cyclists called The Pleasant Revolution would like to see that happen, so they’re planning a concert tour of the Pacific Northwest that’s entirely powered by bicycles.
The group has hosted bike tours in Europe and the Americas since 2008 and this summer a troupe of 18 performers plan to pedal along the Pacific Northwest, hauling all of their gear with them. The concerts will be powered by stationary bicycles connected to generators, which audience members hop aboard to crank out some wattage.
The ‘Biketopia Music Festivals’ will feature performances by Latin circus funk band Bicicletas Por La Paz (Bicycles for Peace) and neo-folksoul artist Heather Normandale, with various other musicians and performance artists joining in. Read on to find out if the Pleasant Revolution is coming to your city…
The Pleasant Revolution was created by Kipchoge Spencer, a musician who completed his first bike tour in 2005 with the band Ginger Ninjas. Since then, the group has completed several more tours through the USA, Europe and Mexico using pedal power. The headlining acts for this year’s shows have participated in self-powered tours before, and will continue promoting Spencer’s eco-friendly concept.
The collective works with musicians, bike enthusiasts and environmental groups to not only promote ideas of sustainability, but also to emphasize the power of working together as a community.
“We really have so much to learn from our natural environment, bike touring allows me to be closer to what inspires me as an artist, and pedal¬powered music is a fun way to involve audience members in the show,” says performer Heather Normandale.
In previous years, performers rode from one stop to the next but relied on electricity to power the actual concerts. Thanks to the creation of a pedal-powered sound system by a bay area business called Rock the Bike, this year’s tour will be completely off the grid.
The tour will run for two and a half months, and scheduled concert locations include three Canadian stops in Vancouver, Salt Spring Island, and Victoria, plus shows in Seattle, Bellingham, Olympia, Astoria, Portland, Eureka, Arcata, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way, the band will also put on several impromptu performances in surprise locations. The full schedule is still in the works, but several shows are already slated for dates between June 25th and August 25th.
The Pleasant Revolution has set up an Indiegogo campaign to collect the necessary funding to purchase a pedal-powered sound system, cargo bikes, and cover other tour expenses. The campaign is live until May 27th and offers some pretty interesting perks, including a personalized original song or a private concert performance!
