Ukulele Orchestra

So last night ellefurtle and I trolled up to Camden to meet romney in the Edinboro Castle for beer and food before sloping off to a gig by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at Cecil Sharpe House.

I like the Edinboro Castle, though it is a mite expensive. It stocks quite a range of foreign beers as well as a reasonable domestic selection. Furtle and I guzzled a couple of pints or so of Frusli, a particularly nice strawberry beer from I assume, Belgium. We chatted and boozed for a while before going on to the gig.

The last time we saw the UOGB was at the Late Night Prom at the Albert Hall back in 2009. That was good, but I think Furtle and I at least, enjoyed last night better because it is a much smaller and friendlier venue. And there was cider. Happily, while doing a few favourites, the band played some numbers that were new to us, though I have to say that I rather expect them to quietly drop ‘Funky Chicken’. It didn’t really work and seems to have been added to their repertoire solely because they had discovered that their musical director, George Hinchliffe, could do a voice that sounded almost, but not entirely unlike Donald Duck. That’s not really the basis for a skit.

Overall, though, top marks. And their arrangement of Saint Saens’ (or Saint Sean, the Irish maestro, as Hinchliffe would have it) Danse Macabre arranged for 7 ukuleles and acoustic bass guitar (bass ukulele) is wonderful. I wish they had done their rendition of ‘The Dam Busters’ March’.

Of course, the logistics of getting from Camden back out to Essex meant that we only released an outraged Gollum from captivity shortly after midnight and it was well after 1.30am by the time we managed to unwind, shower and turn in.

I may slope off home reasonably early tonight.

Ukulele Orchestra

So last night ellefurtle and I trolled up to Camden to meet romney in the Edinboro Castle for beer and food before sloping off to a gig by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at Cecil Sharpe House.

I like the Edinboro Castle, though it is a mite expensive. It stocks quite a range of foreign beers as well as a reasonable domestic selection. Furtle and I guzzled a couple of pints or so of Frusli, a particularly nice strawberry beer from I assume, Belgium. We chatted and boozed for a while before going on to the gig.

The last time we saw the UOGB was at the Late Night Prom at the Albert Hall back in 2009. That was good, but I think Furtle and I at least, enjoyed last night better because it is a much smaller and friendlier venue. And there was cider. Happily, while doing a few favourites, the band played some numbers that were new to us, though I have to say that I rather expect them to quietly drop ‘Funky Chicken’. It didn’t really work and seems to have been added to their repertoire solely because they had discovered that their musical director, George Hinchliffe, could do a voice that sounded almost, but not entirely unlike Donald Duck. That’s not really the basis for a skit.

Overall, though, top marks. And their arrangement of Saint Saens’ (or Saint Sean, the Irish maestro, as Hinchliffe would have it) Danse Macabre arranged for 7 ukuleles and acoustic bass guitar (bass ukulele) is wonderful. I wish they had done their rendition of ‘The Dam Busters’ March’.

Of course, the logistics of getting from Camden back out to Essex meant that we only released an outraged Gollum from captivity shortly after midnight and it was well after 1.30am by the time we managed to unwind, shower and turn in.

I may slope off home reasonably early tonight.