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We Will Uke You
Mar. 24th, 2012 05:37 pmFlew to Luxembourg on Thursday to see the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra on their 'We Will Uke You' tour.
Both London City and Luxembourg airports are tiny. London City's café served an excellent bacon butty - the perfect breakfast ahead of an early morning flight. The main meals at Luxembourg were OK but nothing special, but among the desserts one of the very few chocolate-free options (I'm still keeping up my Lent abstention) was a set vanilla yogurt that was absolutely divine.
The hotel was very pleasant and the staff friendly, although when I popped into the bar in search of a cold drink there were no bar staff around - the lone occupant was one old man drinking and reading a newspaper, while the TV showed a bicycle race on Eurosport. I had to fall back on the vending machine in the hotel reception. Both the vending machine and the café sold 'Lays' crisps whose packaging was identical to our Walkers - the most popular flavour in Luxembourg City appears to be paprika.
The venue, the Conservatoire de Musique, appeared to be a working music college. Posters advertised forthcoming concerts not only at the Conservatoire but in two German cities. The bar served just one beer, a bière blonde called Simon - quite reasonably priced at 2.60 euro, with a refreshing taste with a hint of lemon. When I asked about peanuts, the barman handed me a complimentary full bowl. What a great country.
Bought a programme and a CD; found the programme was all in German. That maybe shouldn't have been too much of a surprise, as the tour is almost entirely in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland; this was their sole foray into francophone territory.
The Orchestra opened with Sabre Dance. Early on it became clear that young Alan Sweeney's uke appeared to be a tad out of tune. Peter Baynes, next to him, kept an eye on him through the first few songs, and Sarah Dale offered him her tuner. After four numbers he changed ukes and was OK from then on.
Apart from that little hiccup, they put on a superb show. Their group ukulele playing and close harmony singing were fantastic and they laced the evening with plenty of humour. Their second song was I'm The Urban Spaceman, Peter Baynes led the group in a song about broccoli, and all eight took turns on lead vocals on Frère Jacques, each of them singing it in a different language, ending with Lesley Cunningham leading the crowd in the German version. During the 70s disco medley Kytson Wolfe, the orchestra's one non-playing member, appeared on stage behind the orchestra and dad-danced.
The star of the show was lovely Sarah Dale. Her fine singing voice did full justice to every genre, from handling Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia like a full-on operatic diva to giving a cheery cheesy rendition of the theme tune from Heidi (complete with turning her bangs up at right angles Heidi-style for the duration). She donned a blonde Agnetha wig for the two ladies' majestic rendition of Mamma Mia (Lesley already had long flowing black hair so didn't have to Frida herself up further). Sarah played a full part in the comedy, donning a ballerina costume for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and putting on a hilarious performance of someone trying to dance the dance only to keep losing her balance or pulling a muscle.
The comedy included two on-stage love stories. Orchestra leader Alan Dowson sang You're Beautiful to Sarah during the Pop Medley, burst into tears at the line "'Cause I'll never be with you" and handed her a red rose (which she slung over her shoulder the moment he wasn't looking). Lesley had more luck in her pursuit of Tony; after she repeatedly touched him flirtatiously across several songs, he finally reciprocated during Honolulu Baby.
It was for Honolulu Baby that Sarah and Lesley stepped stage front and asked the audience for two volunteers to join in, holding up two little brightly coloured ukes. How I would have loved to step forward, not just to please those lovely ladies but also to announce that I'd come over from England specially for the show. Alas, I have never picked up a uke in my life, so that wasn't an option.
The crowd roared them back on for two encores; the second, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, ended in a mass singalong.
Well worth the trip.
Back home last night I went to plug my laptop in, only to find the 'plugged in' light wasn't coming on. A push or two on the springy connection on the adaptor got the light coming on, but it wasn't long before it went off again. Before I ended up with a flat battery, I gave up and settled down to watch Sport Relief.
Went to Novatech in Portchester today to buy a new adaptor. They didn't have a specialist one for my particular model, but did stock a general one that came with a wide range of different tips to fit every brand. Sorted.
Both London City and Luxembourg airports are tiny. London City's café served an excellent bacon butty - the perfect breakfast ahead of an early morning flight. The main meals at Luxembourg were OK but nothing special, but among the desserts one of the very few chocolate-free options (I'm still keeping up my Lent abstention) was a set vanilla yogurt that was absolutely divine.
The hotel was very pleasant and the staff friendly, although when I popped into the bar in search of a cold drink there were no bar staff around - the lone occupant was one old man drinking and reading a newspaper, while the TV showed a bicycle race on Eurosport. I had to fall back on the vending machine in the hotel reception. Both the vending machine and the café sold 'Lays' crisps whose packaging was identical to our Walkers - the most popular flavour in Luxembourg City appears to be paprika.
The venue, the Conservatoire de Musique, appeared to be a working music college. Posters advertised forthcoming concerts not only at the Conservatoire but in two German cities. The bar served just one beer, a bière blonde called Simon - quite reasonably priced at 2.60 euro, with a refreshing taste with a hint of lemon. When I asked about peanuts, the barman handed me a complimentary full bowl. What a great country.
Bought a programme and a CD; found the programme was all in German. That maybe shouldn't have been too much of a surprise, as the tour is almost entirely in Germany and German-speaking Switzerland; this was their sole foray into francophone territory.
The Orchestra opened with Sabre Dance. Early on it became clear that young Alan Sweeney's uke appeared to be a tad out of tune. Peter Baynes, next to him, kept an eye on him through the first few songs, and Sarah Dale offered him her tuner. After four numbers he changed ukes and was OK from then on.
Apart from that little hiccup, they put on a superb show. Their group ukulele playing and close harmony singing were fantastic and they laced the evening with plenty of humour. Their second song was I'm The Urban Spaceman, Peter Baynes led the group in a song about broccoli, and all eight took turns on lead vocals on Frère Jacques, each of them singing it in a different language, ending with Lesley Cunningham leading the crowd in the German version. During the 70s disco medley Kytson Wolfe, the orchestra's one non-playing member, appeared on stage behind the orchestra and dad-danced.
The star of the show was lovely Sarah Dale. Her fine singing voice did full justice to every genre, from handling Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia like a full-on operatic diva to giving a cheery cheesy rendition of the theme tune from Heidi (complete with turning her bangs up at right angles Heidi-style for the duration). She donned a blonde Agnetha wig for the two ladies' majestic rendition of Mamma Mia (Lesley already had long flowing black hair so didn't have to Frida herself up further). Sarah played a full part in the comedy, donning a ballerina costume for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and putting on a hilarious performance of someone trying to dance the dance only to keep losing her balance or pulling a muscle.
The comedy included two on-stage love stories. Orchestra leader Alan Dowson sang You're Beautiful to Sarah during the Pop Medley, burst into tears at the line "'Cause I'll never be with you" and handed her a red rose (which she slung over her shoulder the moment he wasn't looking). Lesley had more luck in her pursuit of Tony; after she repeatedly touched him flirtatiously across several songs, he finally reciprocated during Honolulu Baby.
It was for Honolulu Baby that Sarah and Lesley stepped stage front and asked the audience for two volunteers to join in, holding up two little brightly coloured ukes. How I would have loved to step forward, not just to please those lovely ladies but also to announce that I'd come over from England specially for the show. Alas, I have never picked up a uke in my life, so that wasn't an option.
The crowd roared them back on for two encores; the second, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, ended in a mass singalong.
Well worth the trip.
Back home last night I went to plug my laptop in, only to find the 'plugged in' light wasn't coming on. A push or two on the springy connection on the adaptor got the light coming on, but it wasn't long before it went off again. Before I ended up with a flat battery, I gave up and settled down to watch Sport Relief.
Went to Novatech in Portchester today to buy a new adaptor. They didn't have a specialist one for my particular model, but did stock a general one that came with a wide range of different tips to fit every brand. Sorted.
