When maddog asked me to review the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain during their appearance at the Ipswich Corn Exchange on the 23 February, my immediate thought was: ‘great I could take along my 84 year-old father.’ As their name suggests this is a group of people only playing silly little four stringed guitar type things. A life-long fan of the instrument, dad would love this, and hopefully he could give me some pointers when it came to writing my piece (as I assumed I’d be out of my depth). As for me, at best I could expect a night of classical pieces of music with some frantic, intricate George Formby-esque strumming – I could deal with that. As I quickly discovered impressively fast and frantic it was, but classical (yawn) or twee it certainly wasn’t.

In fact there probably wasn’t a piece of music my old pa recognised. We’re talking stuff like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistol’s Anarchy in the UK, Teenage Dirtbag, Pinball Wizard, and extracts from the scores to Once Upon a Time in the West, Trantino’s Pulp Fiction and the James Bond series to name but a few favourites – all given unique and amusing twists and all played on Ukuleles!

The ‘orchestra’ consisted of seven: six men and a woman. All were wearing suits, sitting to play all across the stage. The ‘lead’ Ukulele was at the centre, whilst the ‘bassist’ sat at the far right, with an instrument the size of a guitar, but as he

explained to the audience it was still classified as a Ukulele as it only had four strings. What can I say? In spite of my initial reservations they played and all took turns to sing brilliantly, and were very funny to boot. Aside from their outstanding musicianship, these guys weren’t looking to be taken seriously, and the whole show was geared to be as funny as a good stand up show – perhaps taking its influence from Bill Bailey’s musical shenanigans. One highlight for me was during an AC/DC number, when one of the musicians let down his long hair and began to headbang whilst playing!

With their mick-taking banter, humourous introductions and individual characteristics and expressions, along with ingenious, pre-orchestrated musical errors they had everyone in stitches. A quick glance around the packed-to-the-rafters auditorium and I noticed that there was a good cross-section of ages present, and quite frankly I can see why. I couldn’t have been more mistaken about what I was going to get, but couldn’t have been more pleased with what I got! Not only have these guys come up with an incredibly original and quirky idea, they have found a way to make it appeal to all ages and persuasions. So if you get the chance, go and see them, and I doubt you will be disappointed. And as for my old man… well, he loved it too!

Words > Tim Johnson