They had a ticket to ride.
Hundreds of elementary school kids swarmed the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus on Thursday like it was some kind of yellow submarine. The bus, which is decked out with musical equipment, made a stop on its magical mystery tour at Williamsburg Northside Schools for what would have been Lennon’s 74th birthday. Given the state of music education in schools these days, the organizers say they want to show kids they can write songs and record music with a little help from their friends.
“With schools cutting funding for music education, we offer the kids something to get them to be creative and think differently,” said Matthew Reich, United States tour coordinator of the Lennon bus.
The team has been driving Lennon’s tribute car for 17 years, Reich said. A day in the life of the vehicle and its engineers typically consists of them teaching kids how to pen a tune, then spending the day showing them how to record, mix, and shoot a music video for it.
The prekindergarten-through-fourth-grade kids at Williamsburg Northside Schools got to try their hands at guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, percussion, and singing — with some twisting and shouting for good measure.
“We show them all sorts of instruments they have not had the opportunity to try before,” Reich said.
Since there were so many kids running on and off the bus in Williamsburg, as if for their lives, the engineers set up jam stations and a photo-booth tent outside.
The visit was one of five day trips to each of the boroughs this week in honor of Lennon’s birthday.Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono funds the bus but did not make an appearance.
