WELL, I have never been to a concert before where the programme has consisted of Disco, Jazz, Heavy Metal, Punk Rock and Blues with covers of songs by the likes of Prince, Tiny Tim, Amy Winehouse, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Nirvana, Ferrell Williams, Tom Jones, Kraftwork, The Clash and Chic.

But this is exactly what the audience at the Alhambra in Bradford experienced at the performance last week by The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. This seven-piece group consisting of five male and two female performers have been together now for the best part of three decades and are masters of their craft. Using five different sized instruments – three soprano ukuleles, one concert, one tenor, one baritone and one bass ukulele they produced a brilliant sound and whilst there were one or two instrumentals, most of the evening comprised songs performed and harmonised by all the different members of the group.

Fresh from their appearance at Windsor Castle for a performance for the Queen’s 90th birthday, they opened the evening with the song On The Beach at Waikiki. An immediate change of tempo and genre gave us Prince’s song Kiss followed by Tiny Tim’s Tiptoe Through The Tulips which he used to perform with a Uke. Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, Amy Winehouse’s Valerie and Tom Jones’s Thunderball all were included in the first half plus also Bowie’s Life on Mars, Ferrell Williams’s Happy and Gertrude Lawrence’s Limehouse Blues to take us into the interval.

The second half opened with Ennio Morricone’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly, followed by Kraftwork’s The Model, Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You and R Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly. We were then treated to Roadrunner, Wheatus’s Teenage Dirtbag, and the jazz number Yes Sir That’s My Baby which segued into The Goons’ Ying Tong Song. The final two numbers then were Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Chic’s Le Freak. Tumultuous applause from the audience ensured an encore from the Ukulele Orchestra which was firstly The Dambuster’s March and finally The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go.

What an eclectic mix of music the audience and I had experienced over a two-hour period. It was an excellent concert which I am sure everyone will remember for a long time.

by John Burland