Teacher David Blumberg and his German classes will watch the band Tonbandgerät play on March 7 in the new Parish Concert Hall in downtown Oakland.
In March, the band will embark on an 11 concert tour of America, from Seattle to Boston, with a 2 day stop in the bay area. According to the Goethe Institute, Tonbandgerät is one of Germany’s most exciting “up and coming” acts. The concert is free, but the students will still have to pay for their BART tickets.
The concert will last from 12-2 p.m., but students will miss the whole day of school.
The trip is sponsored by the Goethe Institute, which helps students in the process of learning German. Blumberg has worked with the Institute in the past. “I do different workshops with them. I know a number of people who work at the Gothe Institute,” he said.
The chaperones play a critical role in the field trip. “They manage the kids, and make sure they do not wander off. It is important they do not get lost,” Blumberg said. The chaperones have not yet been determined.
This field trip is similar to the one in 2011, in which the students listened to a band called Madsen. Both bands perform high tempo and loud songs. Like Tonbandgerät, Madsen is popular in Germany.
“I found after the Madsen concert, students became more enthusiastic about learning German. It became more real,” Blumberg said.
“The Madsen field trip was really fun, because we had the opportunity to meet with the band. It was really cool to be with a famous band, and they preformed just for us,” Christina Beck said.
“It was basically a free concert with a German band. You could get right up to them; literally five feet away. I got my Madsen shirt signed,” Jonathan Rowland said.
Rowland is hopeful that the field trip this year is like the Madsen concert. “If it is anything like the Madsen band, it should be fun,” he said.
The Gothe Institute also has summer classes for students and adults.
