The Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain - The Lowry - 11/09/06 by
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The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have earned a loyal following over the past few years with their ingenious act of covering every genre of music in homage of George Formby - the patron saint of ukuleles (I’m only joking). They have vowed fans and critics alike but sooner or later telling the same joke will surely become tiresome. Therefore I went along to see if the ukulele devotees were more than just a one trick pony and whether the audience would lap it up just as they did the very first time they came across these miniature guitar disciples.
Embarking on the “Never Mind the Reindeer” tour, the ukulele strummers were taking their pews at the Lowry Centre to a packed and raucous audience. As it was a Christmas tour and it was almost Christmas the ukulele set started off on a yuletide footing. They are lead amiably by the ukulele ringleader George Hinchcliffe, who is charmingly supported by Hester Goodman, Kitty Lux, David Suich, Richie Williams, Will Grove White and Jonty Bankes.
What is in no doubt is the technical performance of their set. They are able to relate such Christmas classics as Winter Wonderland, or retro film themes such Shaft, or timeless disco tracks as La Freak or pop hits as Wuthering Heights with considerable ease. They translate with affectionate aplomb, bringing another dimensions to pieces of music that we have heard before.
They also bring the same warmth and compassion to their vocal performance. What is more they are able to translate their set into something more intrinsic that just a verbal or musical copy of the songs that they are covering. Indeed, these are more than just seven ukulele players playing oddities that you would never expect to hear being played by the ukulele and therefore making them something of a novelty.
Their charm, personality, call it what you like, but it goes a long way in creating their on stage persona that contributes to their success. The banter, the joviality in between the songs and the witty repartee has the audience almost eating out of their hands. And this was no more apparent in the finale to the first act that had their rendition of “Two pints of lager and a packet of crisp” that showed the technical expertise, the vocal interaction, their timing, their interpretation and their execution to the best of their abilities.
Moreover, they seemed to have matured since I saw them last, having more faith in showing of their wares rather than always giving the audience want they want. There is also thought to how they put their set together, no longer just a collection of well know songs and themes thrown together for effect.
Furthermore, the cross section do the audience simply lapped it up. Those that were returning fans were still mesmerised by the ukulele performers and those that were witnessing them for the first time were simply enthralled by every facet of what they had just seen.
Such was the rousing routine that they were called upon for two encores. The kind of encores that you’d only read in the papers where the audience would cry out for more and not the pre-rehearsed organized ones that are so frequent these days. Okay perhaps they had banked on the first one, yet nevertheless, their popularity by the end of the evening was without question. |
