When the Kids From Wisconsin bus pulls up to Veterans Memorial City Park in Rice Lake on Thursday and the troupe of 22 singers and 14 band members disembarks, a familiar face will be among them.
Drummer Nolan Tomesh, son of Kyle and Melissa Tomesh of Rice Lake, is welcoming the Kids to his hometown for the 6 p.m. free concert. The public is encouraged to fill the park for the Larger Than Life concert, a tribute to The Great Entertainers.
No raffle nor food drive will occur this year, but Rice Lake High School musicians will provide pre-concert music starting at 5 p.m. Concessions will be available with proceeds to go to the Rice Lake High School Music Boosters. Rain site is the Rice Lake High School auditorium.
The stop in Rice Lake is about midway into the Kids’ summer concert schedule that has already seen the troupe performing at New Richmond, Wausau, Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rapids, Milwaukee, Thiensville, Delafield, Janesville, Brillion, Plymouth, Shawano, Monona Grove, Mukwonago, La Crosse, New London and Antigo.
After its Rice Lake performance the Kids bus heads to River Falls, Eau Claire, Dodgeville, back to Milwaukee, Hartford, Stevens Point, Brussels and Elkhorn before its only out-of-state performance at Dubuque, Iowa. The troupe’s summer tour concludes with daily shows during the 10-day run of the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis, Aug. 1-10.
“It’s going great,” said Tomesh in a phone chat while having a little time off on the Fourth. “Playing a show every night is really fun. We’re getting more comfortable with each show.”
He’s glad their show in Rice Lake is mid-way through their performance schedule.
“I think it will be almost a perfect time to be in Rice Lake — we should be at our peak, and we won’t be sick of it yet,” he commented.
The local musician said he will have a drum solo at the local show, which he gets to perform every other night. It’s a tribute to Buddy Rich.
As a percussionist, Tomesh has just two costume changes per show, one for the first half and the other for the second half. The singers and dancers have many more, at least six to eight, he said.
All the travel involved in crisscrossing the state for shows has not been bad as the drummer described the bus as “super comfortable.” He soon learned that members new to the troupe share seats while those who have been in it before get their own seats.
“We’ve found our bus buddies, and we kind of stick with them,” he said, calling his bus mate “the piano guy.”
The 18-year-old said the troupe, which is in its 56th year having started in 1969, is open to musicians and dancers ages 15-20.
“There are quite a few 16- and 17-year-olds this year,” Tomesh said. “We had a lot age out. The most years you can be in it is six. There’s one singer in our show in his sixth year.”
Tomesh hopes to become one of those returning Kids.
“I’ll definitely come back at least another year,” the drummer said. “And I could be in it for another year after that.”
As for the size of crowds attending their shows, Tomesh said, “It’s a big range.”
He said there was not even 100 people at their show in Rhinelander while their show at a field in Dubuque is expected to attract 1,000 or more.
Tomesh said most of their shows so far have been indoors, and at their first outdoors show, when it was 84 degrees and humid, a couple of musicians got heat exhaustion. But after some liquid and a chance to cool off, they were OK.
“We’ll have to be careful when we get to the State Fair,” he remarked, as those shows will be outdoors and it will likely be hot in August.
As for meals for the musicians, Tomesh said, “We’re usually fed very well — all sorts of food, a good variety.” He said it is very welcome after living off dining hall food at UW-Whitewater during their camp experience when they were rehearsing before the tour began.
Their accommodations vary. The Kids head back to their base at Edgewood College in Madison after their shows in the middle and southern part of the state. For their show at New Richmond, and again happening at Rice Lake, the troupe will be assigned homestays for the night.
On their days off troupe members can be on their own or go somewhere together, such as the orchestra concert that Tomesh and some of the others took in at the square in Madison.
“There’s lots to do,” he said, especially in larger cities.
After three years of helping his dad put up the stage in the local park band shell in preparation for the Kids’ performance, Tomesh will now be performing on it.
He already got a little feel for it last summer when, as an alternate, he was able to play drums in the first half of the local Kids’ show.
This summer Tomesh will be on the drums for the entire show, and he encourages everyone to come out.
“It’s free and it’s going to be a really great show,” the Kid said. “Come and check it out!”
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