ukulele orchestra of great britain pinball wizard

I didn’t even know that existed, but let me tell you-it is impressive.įor only $15 we got two hours of quality entertainment. It was definitely interesting to see classic rock songs translated into a ukulele performance! They even included a song with virtuosic whistling. However, they also covered more surprising genres, with songs like “Pinball Wizard” and “Psycho Killer.” One of the players undid his ponytail and released his long mane, head banging to the one of the rock songs (see leftmost person in above picture).

They started out with a generic island-y tune, as is expected with the instrument. Throughout the night, they performed many classic songs, infused with a ukulele twist. From a small ukulele only several inches long, to a bass ukulele the size of a guitar, they were able to produce a harmonious blend of sound. Each person had a different size instrument, building layers of tones.

Combining all eight ukuleles created a delightful euphony that filled the entire auditorium. The eight-person group has performed for thirty years now, and their experience shows. The main reason why I was so excited? It just looked pretty darn cool. I don’t have any strong connection to playing the ukulele I’ve dabbled in it, but never really got hooked. Now, I’m not entirely sure why, but I was inappropriately excited for this performance. When exploring the 2015/2016 schedule brochure for Eisenhower Auditorium, one show in particular caught my eye: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Heaven knows into what genre their music fits, but anarchic, intensely musical, and completely original – the orchestra appears to be a cult.As a freshman, you are constantly bombarded with brochures and lists of events trying to get you involved. 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. 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 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. George Hinchliffes Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. 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.”

Ukulele orchestra of great britain pinball wizard