Working their way up the California coast, Bowdoin's Meddiebempsters expanded their fan base this month with a week-long tour.
The group's members gladly traded in their Bean boots for board shorts on January 4, arriving in San Diego. According to musical director Jeff Friedlander '08, they serenaded the extended Bowdoin community at a southern California alumni event at Scripps Research Institute.
Alec Berryman '07 recalled, "It was a great turnout and a great range of class years represented. The highlight of that concert for us was meeting one of the first [Class of 1942] Meddies. We've all listened to recordings of past groups and they were very good; singing for such alums puts extra pressure on."
The group then traveled up the coast, making stops in Los Angeles, Westwood, Beverly Hills, and at UCLA as it expanded its repertoire with new pieces by Sublime, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Pat McGee Band.
Members enjoyed a reunion with Meddie alum Tauwan Patterson '06, who traveled with them to the University of Southern California (USC). On the evening of January 9, Patterson joined the Meddies in a performance with USC a capella groups at Ground Zero, the coffee shop on campus. Inter-school bonding ensued as the So Cal Vocals, a co-ed USC a capella group, was the group's host overnight.
After visits to the beach and cultural time at the Getty Museum, the tour continued up the Pacific to California Polytechnic Institute at San Luis Obispo, where they sang with the school's new group Take it SLO in downtown San Luis Obispo.
In classic Meddie style, the group mixed pleasure with work and achieved great acclaim.
Friedlander recounted, "The next morning we traveled up the coast, sang to some elephant seals, stopped by the Hearst Castle, and eventually ended up at the Monterey Aquarium, where we sang our way in for free."
Half of the group traveled north that evening to impress San Franciscans with an impromptu and well-received performance at The University of California at Berkeley.
Bringing the tour full circle, the Meddies reunited on January 11 in San Diego, where they gave a triumphant performance with The University of California?San Diego's own Daughters of Triton.
After their West Coast tour, the Meddies promise great things for this spring, including an invitational on March 3 and their third annual "Evening with the Meddiebempsters." The group hopes to tour internationally next year, Berryman said, citing Europe or Thailand as possible destinations.
Berryman said of the trip, "It was a great reminder to me of why I, and I assume most of the guys, like to be Meddies: not only do we have ridiculous amounts of fun, but we make people happy."