Reporter: Phil Barr Video John Sargent

Wakeylele Anniversary Bash

St Paul’s Church, Walton (On the site of the Old Tin Tabernacle)

14th July, 2023

With the heatwave of June already a distant memory, the band arrived in drips and drabs ready to show the weather a thing or two on this, the second anniversary of the band in its Wakeylele guise. What better way therefore than to be greeted by mein host, our band leader turned drinks waiter for immediately helping mentally to ward off the wind, rain and glowering sky which looked more befitting of a November afternoon than an early evening in July. 

The band, once set up and ready to go looked splendid in their Sunday best even though it was only Friday. All the ladies looked sophisticated while of the gentlemen, Malcolm, Chris, Dave F and Dave B must surely have been frontrunners had there been a snazzy waistcoat competition…but there was no time for such fripperies with an action-packed evening in store.

So… having armed the audience with rattlers and shakers and also thrown in a couple of ukulele jokes for good measure, David kicked off proceedings with a speedy one – two consisting of the Wakeylele intro and A World of Our Own which must have been completed in record time.

It was a tough baptism for John on the cajon (no, not the chicken dish) which could be seen smouldering. There was no need to panic though with John’s wealth of experience as I think I glimpsed a bucket of water at his side to keep things in check. The short first set continued apace with a ‘modern’ one of Steve Harley’s  (a mere getting on for half a century) and a genuine oldie, originally from late Victorian times but later released by that upstart, Elvis – It’s Now or Never – both of which went down a treat with the audience.

There was now a small hurdle to overcome – the official programme pointed to the much-anticipated interval whereby pie and peas would be served but… good grief, the peas were not quite ready. One or two heads could be seen slumping at this point and even the odd bottom lip quivered but David soon put a stop to that with the rousing Old Time Medley and sure enough, hey presto, the peas were cooked. Linda politely invited the guests to make their way into the adjoining St Barnabas room and then wisely retreated hastily to avoid a potential stampede.

Now the time had come to eat, sip drinks or ponder over the identity of the photos of stars associated with ukuleles, (yet another contribution from David) there were a few spare moments to reflect on the commitment of the band to the cause. Elsie, I believe had struggled through standing traffic due to an accident as had John W. Carol arrived from Sheffield at the interval owing to a lorry fire on the M1. Pop made his usual lengthy journey from East Leeds, Dave Blackburn and Tony drove from Mirfield and Peter A raced back from his holiday in Alnwick to add his dulcet tones to the mix although I suspect he was also keen not to miss out on his pre- ordered baked potato and cheese!

At this point huge thanks must go to the volunteer staff from the Spring who catered for us all in their usual very efficient and very friendly way.

With the festivities now well underway and all the outdoor gloom banished from our thoughts, it was time for the second set consisting of a mix of full band songs and solos and duets beginning with BLABBA aka Pippa and Beryl, although I was not the only one looking quizzically around who didn’t at first recognise Beryl so effective was her outfit and hairpiece. 

Having been entertained by this sparkling duo, there was an accomplished performance of High Noon by the whole band, delivered confidently.

Two of our uke virtuosos then displayed their gifts separately with Mike C picking out the chords of the Dire Straits hit, the Walk of Life with Rob going electric for his solo number. Sandwiching this talented pair was another polished rendition by the whole band of Iz’s ‘rainbow’ song which went down a bomb with the enthusiastic friends and family audience. The force was definitely with us by now and building on this positive wave was no problem whatsoever with Sue’s starring role in the Carnival is Over. As if this wasn’t enough, Chris, a very recent addition to our growing clan, having first thanked everyone for making him feel so welcome, performed a confident and entertaining ditty about a certain time of life – (clue, add between 10 and 30 years onto the age of the aforementioned Cockney Rebel number,

whichever is applicable to you). There was even more to come from soloists – Mike S, providing yet more entertainment in his own inimitable style

and last but not least Pop (Wakeylele ‘treasure’ status assured) with a consummate performance of Three Little Birds to round off the solo performances. There only remained the inevitable – On the Road Again and a lusty sign off it was too – even David feigned enthusiasm!  Hopefully there was nothing feigned though about the final ovation we received – in any event we had given our all. 

There now followed unexpected gifts. One recipient of course being Linda who deserves massive praise for her efforts in helping to organise the event and dealing with individual requests without buckling under the pressure, as does Pippa for working alongside Linda as well as buying the gifts. Lynne was also involved in organising and Margaret’s sterling efforts as treasurer is appreciated by all. David of course is the man responsible for making not just the night possible but for creating this happy band in the first place and seeing it grow not just in numbers but hopefully, too, in stature. Thank you, David, and may the band continue to flourish. 

Now, I said in an earlier post that I would mention my new note book which I received from David on the night. As the M&S advert goes, this is not just any… ( insert product as appropriate), etc.  Anyway, I noticed the name on it was Moleskine and I thought should I feel guilty. So, I googled it and discovered it’s an upmarket notebook used by the likes of the American author, Bruce Chatwin and in the past by giants such as Hemingway and even (a large unlined book, I presume) by Van Gogh! Two things then crossed my mind – first I doubt if you will find one in a Poundshop (or for that matter in Asda where my present bundle f notebooks is from; six for one pound fifty), and secondly although these grandees like Van Gogh are in a different league, at least I’ve got both ears even if I have great difficulty writing precise reports. (The notebooks are vegan by the way –phew.)

By the way, those who left after the band had completed their sets may be interested to know that some brave souls saw the evening out with a short session of Ceilidh dancing (not me – I have enough trouble spelling it) and here Mike H, Pop amongst others (see video) were seen to be strutting their stuff. Thanks to Rachel and her Mum for leading this. Finally, thanks once more to John for providing all the videos – I can imagine the likes of Mags and Roy singing along (percussion included) while looking onto the hills from Grange Over Sands. 

Next up is the Manygates Park concert (see Richard’s post for details) on 2nd August.  

The end (at last).