Heaven knows into what genre their music fits, but anarchic, intensely musical, and completely original – the orchestra appears to be a cult. His trademark song rocked yer socks off, made you laugh, made you cry all in an exotic eight minute romp. But George would have rolled, if not rocked in his grave.
There must have been three or four hundred people in the hall last night, of all ages, from five to over 70.Īnd just as I thought we’d escaped George Formby, the final encore was I’m Leaning on a Lamppost.
Pinball Wizard contrastingly triggers fits of laughter across the hall. Sumptuously rendered, for each player has as good a voice as his or her instrument, Life on Mars emerges pure from two verses and then takes on layers of other songs that run concurrently – My Way, For Once in My Life, Some Day I’ll Fly Away that harmonise perfectly with Bowie’s theme. The result is genuinely orchestral, and you can’t quite divine how on earth they do it.ĭavid Bowie is so taken with their rendition of Life on Mars that he’s put a link on his website. The texture is as round as a 12 string guitar and the contrasts one instrument makes with another amaze. From Rock Around the Clock to the Dambusters the music was as eclectic as the sounds that the Ukulele can muster singly or collectively. It proved to be wall-to-wall, total entertainment.įrom rich humour, to slow nostalgia. Sure enough there were six of them – large men and a woman, armed with tiny ukuleles, a guy with an electric base and another with a guitar.Īnd that was the line up at the Cecil Sharpe House in north London last night for the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Say ukulele to me before and I’d have said George Formby and smoky old pubs browned with nicotine. “Try it,” my friend said, “you won’t be disappointed.” “Six ukuleles?” I asked, “one’s bad enough.” Their live DVD, Anarchy in the Ukelele is available to buy on * Amazon*. The Ukulele Orchestra Live in London 1 is out tomorrow and you can order it and listen to clips on their website. Standout tracks: Running Wild, Misirlou, Hot Tamales, Pinball Wizard, Wuthering Heights, Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. Learn more and buy tickets for their Royal Albert Hall show on Friday 21 September 2012įor more on the orchestra, just visit For everyone else, it’s the perfect stopgap until they next roll into town. The Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walkure) - Wagner
Martian Life Melody - George Hinchcliffe Life on Mars - _David Bowie _My Way - Paul Anka For Once in My Life - Orlando Murden/Ronald Miller Born Free - John Barry/Don Black Substitute - The Who The orchestra have only performed at the Hall on one occasion, the 2009 BBC Proms on 18 August, performing this varied set of music by classical composers and rock bands: Here you can see them performing the Talking Heads hit Psycho Killer here at the BBC Proms: A world tour, they promise, with only hand luggage! Reviews have described the group as ‘the best musical entertainment in the country’ (The Independent), ‘wonderfully clever’ (David Bowie) and ‘plucking brilliant!’ (The Times), and we are delighted to welcome them back to the Hall this September on their world tour. For the past 37 years, George Hinchliffe and six fellow musicians have been producing independent music played on the happiest instrument on the planet the ukulele. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, the group that spawned a thousand ukulele orchestras and inspired millions of players, return to the Hall on Friday 21 Septemberįor over 25 years the group have been sixteen-handedly turning the world onto the ukulele with sold out shows around the world, as well as CD and DVD sales in the hundreds of thousands. George Hinchliffes Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
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