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Spring Tour 2009
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Tour Blog #4 (3/12/09)

Hey Guys,

On Wednesday we had a college bound extravaganza. First we stopped by the University of New Orleans (UNO) and performed for the University’s choir. It was an enlightening experience that was enhanced by UNO’s choir sharing some of their diverse repertoire.

Most of the group headed home after the UNO choir performance, but a small group of the Ramblers decided to hang around the UNO and Tulane area for the day. At these universities, this Ramblers brigade randomly broke into song for groups of college students. Some of the students were embarrassed while others were ecstatic, but these mini-performances helped to promote the performance we would have at Tulane’s Roger’s Memorial Chapel.

We sang with Green Envy and THEM at Roger’s Memorial Chapel that night and had a blast. Both of these groups were extremely entertaining and filled with energy. It was an honor to sing with both of them and the packed house only added to the excitement.

Thursday started with an early morning workshop at Archbishop Chapelle High School in Metairie, Lousiana. After this workshop, the school’s choir showed us a beautiful song from their repertoire; it really showed off their refined sound. We then joined them with an acapella rendition of “Under the Sea” and even a sing-along version of Sara Bareilles’ “Love Song.”

After lunch we performed to a larger group of students at the Archbishop Chapelle High School. These students were an extremely responsive crowd. After numbers like “Disturbia” and “La Camisa” the crowd’s loud screams of excitement made it seem like the building was going to come crashing down.

However, these emotional responses were trumped in comparison to Cabrini High School’s reaction later in the day. Our first performance at Cabrini consisted of an hour long set for the whole school. The students were enthralled with our performance and their passionate applause echoed and shook through the auditorium. The day ended with a workshop for Cabrini High School’s choir.

We are grateful that both schools thoroughly enjoyed our performances.

Thursday ended with an amazing dinner at Rachel’s house. After this dinner, we came to a joint decision that the group’s new favorite food was fried cabbage. We gave the family a small performance in their house (that is being rebuilt from Katrina) and said our final goodbyes. Helping Rachel’s family has been a powerful experience. Knowing that we positively impacted a family’s life through community service is an honor. We hope to continue this new tradition as we explore greater possibilities of helping communities in the future.

Sincerely,
Apo

 

Tour Blog #3 (3/10/09)

Sorry for the delay on these blogs everyone! Things suddenly got pretty hectic as we had more and more school gigs the past couple days. You can be sure that there will be video footage posted for the entire tour at a later point. For now though, here are blogs for Monday/Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday with accompanying pictures. Enjoy!

"Hey boys and girls,

Tuesday, we traveled to the all-girls Louise S. McGehee School in the Garden District of New Orleans. There, we performed for two outstanding crowds including both the lower and upper classman of the school. We were especially pumped about getting the lower school girls to participate and help us out with our rendition of “Minnie the Moocher.” After our morning show, we performed for the upper school. Matty quickly became a big hit with his (in)famous rendition of Rihanna’s Disturbia. Climbing through the crowd of girls in the audience, hiding behind curtains, and jumping out and crawling on the floor, he put on an entertaining show for the enthusiastic crowd.

Afterwards, we stopped at a local coffee shop to unwind a bit until we had to meet back at the school to work with the sophomore girls singing group. We joined in on their version of “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” and also shared a little vocal percussion 101. Getting caught up with all the excitement of the day, Asher and Nick even got into a little bit of a vocal percussion battle. That sort of thing happens from time to time, always in good fun.

Before we headed home, we surprised the 3rd and 4th grade music class with an impromptu singing of “Brown Eyed Girl” just when they thought we’d already left. We also gave them a chance for a short Q&A session that led to some more singing when we joined the girls on their phenomenally version of “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King.We had a blast singing at the McGehee School, and the students were an enthusiastic and attentive crowd.

-Jared and Matt"

 

 

Tour Blog #2 (3/9/09)

"Hey everyone,

We've been loving the south so far, especially the (above-freezing) weather. Yesterday we traveled to the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the area's hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, to help rebuild a house belonging to one of the students we sang for today. Rachel and her family have an amazing story of survival, with her father and brother cutting a hole in their roof to escape the rising waters and subsequently saving 20 people from the flood. They welcomed us into their home, where they served us some of the best smoked sausage and cajun chicken we'd ever had. On our end, the freshman helped clear out a ditch in preparation for pouring some new concrete, Nick and Roger hung two doors (and discovered, firsthand, just how difficult it is to hang a door without any knowledge or experience in the door-hanging arts), while everyone else taped and spackled some serious drywall. Around midday, we all piled in the back of Rachel's dad's ATV trailer (along with Bubba the Dog) and motored down the street to see the Irish/Italian parade. This seemingly endless string of tractor-pulled floats cascaded the traditional rain of Mardi Gras beads on our heads, along with cabbage, potatoes, onions, carrots, and a lace thong or two. We had a blast, even though most of us are now sporting really fashionable sunburns and cabbage bruises. After a day of hard work, new friends, and flying produce, we came back home where we all crashed early.

Today, we headed back out on the gigging trail. Our first stop of the day took us to Helen Cox High School, where we sang in the band room for a very attentive and enthusiastic crowd of about 30 students. As usual, Apo's distinctive legwear and the Matty Stone Show were highlights of the 45 minute presentation, along with Noah's new arranging workshop and the ever-popular Five-Man-Jam. After a lunch-and-football break in the park which culminated with Roger's fantastic faceplant into a pile of leaves in the final seconds of the game, we headed back to the Ninth Ward to Chalmette High School, where Rachel and her friends sing with the chorus. We sang with the crew from Chalmette for about an hour and a half, and again had an awesome time. Hearing them perform their version of "When You Believe" (from The Prince of Egypt) was especially moving, having witnessed firsthand the day before the type of conditions they've had to contend with and the hardships they've had to overcome. Up north, we saw the destruction of the storm on the news, but it's impossible to even start to gain a sense of Katrina's magnitude without seeing the aftermath and meeting the survivors. They are a truly inspiring group of people. We can't wait to sing for more students tomorrow and hear their stories. Until then, though, we're off to bed. Check out some pictures in the gallery below and stay tuned!

-Nick"


Tour Blog #1 (3/7/09)

"Hey everybody, its webmaster Roger from the Ramblers, here with the first blog update of our 2009 Spring Tour. Thankfully we arrived safe and sound here in New Orleans after spending Friday in Philadelphia. We are so glad you were able to take advantage of our New Orleans page and hope that this series of videos will give you a look into what a Midnight Ramblers spring tour is really like.You'll find the first video below outlining our first couple of days on tour just click on the 'play' icon and enjoy, oh and be sure to check back early in the week for another update! If you have any comments on this video or suggestions for videos to come, please don't hesitate to email me."
 



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