by Phillip Barr (Videos also by Phil Barr)

The band arrived deep in the  heart of Normanton at the modern looking establishment of Whinn Dale on a decidedly chilly, not to mention gloomy February afternoon, with the intention of  bringing some winter cheer to the residents. There was  early excitement, though, when while in the process of adjusting our parking,(Sue and then me) on the street, a black VW golf suddenly appeared in the small gap ,  forcing an oncoming and surprised Richard to mount the opposite pavement. The driver of the said vehicle allegedly lives in Crofton, and when David appeared a minute later from the official car park looking smug that he had bagged a slot, suspicions increased. Whatever the truth, it  got the blood pumping, which is just what we needed when facing the prospect of a second gig in a demanding week  along with a rigorous dress rehearsal on Tuesday night. In fact, there have been rumours on social media of certain band members needing stimulants to keep them going – builder’s tea, lucozade, and even extra strong mints have been mentioned. Furthermore, Peter Joule and I have been suffering from ‘ukulele shoulder’ pain, which at least in Peter’s case must be connected with the amount of practising he’s doing in his determination to master difficult chord sequences so that songs which David terms ‘3 chord jobbies’ are consigned to history. 

 So to the concert itself, with David introducing Wakeylele to the expectant audience before kicking off with the familiar opening double number. Percussion instruments were also handed out to the residents prior to a walloping rendition of Amarillo. 

Pop then took centre stage – we would expect nothing less – with an unexpected but nevertheless feel – good rendition of  Everything’s Goin’  to be All Right with Mags and Sue providing the echoes in upbeat style – it was a cracker. ( Just in case Pop feared remaining anonymous, he wore a large sombrero in vivid colours which was all well and good except that it meant the rest of us were squashed into a corner.) There followed a very accomplished and moving performance of The Carnival is Over  with Sue’s solo verses wowing the audience and after that the whole group made redundant any chance of the clientele dropping off with the full Monty of bells and whistles in Chatanooga Choo Choo.

   Now it was the turn of  another of our star soloists, Mags to show the depth of talent within the group , and after a momentary blip caused by Pop’s aforementioned headgear cramping her style, she recovered her dulcet tones to entrance those lucky enough to be in attendance.   

 Then, after regaling ourselves in pretty garlands for Honolulu Baby, the quality duo of  Beryl and Rob captivated the audience – things were definitely ‘Getting Better.’ Next, David prepared the audience for an obligatory George Formby number with a typically knowledgeable introduction, and it was actually rather fun performing it! Now, it was time for David to display his own musical expertise by accompanying Pippa, who was on top form with the ever popular Only You – another highlight of the afternoon.

 Of course, as is often the case with live events, there has to be someone who lowers the standards, and on this occasion, it was your correspondent who made a complete hash of extending his music stand prior to the Thursday group’s Stray Cats number by scattering papers all over the floor as a result of loosening the wrong screw. (It would have been worse if Peter J hadn’t informed me: ” It’s about to go again.” ) 

However, the villain of the piece of last week’s gig, Roy,  restored the otherwise professional standards with a brave performance of Teenager in Love, which went down a storm. After that, it was soon time for the last small group effort of the day, the challenging but satisfying You Belong to Me, which was consummately performed.

It was left to the whole group to round things off with a couple of perennial favourites to complete an enjoyable and very worthwhile afternoon – an amazing £270 was collected after a residents whip – round. This means that Wakeylele has helped to raise approximately £1120 towards Yorkshire Air Ambulance funds in the last three gigs alone.

Many thanks to David for his multi – tasking involved  in such events and for encouraging us to improve our standards by throwing in the odd challenge during practice sessions. Also, thanks to Dave Burgess for keeping the Thurday group on track.

  Next up is the less sedate but bustling atmosphere of the White Rose Centre on Thursday, 23rd February at 11am.