Xscape with Wakeylele Band and dancing queen Donna!

by Richard Hancock. Photo’s and Videos John Sargent, Jenny Sidebottom & David Burgess

Singing Happy Birthday to Charlotte and some uplifting dancing from Donna, an exuberant Xscape staff member were two of many highlights from our Yorkshire Air Ambulance fund raising gig at Castleford on Saturday.

Donna was pushing her cart full of work kit past us when she, hearing our music, abandoned the cart and morphed into a manic disco babe and at the same time exhorting the passing audience to join in.

Charlotte’s dad had made the request to David earlier, between songs, while his wife and daughter were upstairs at the snow slope. We broke into “Happy Birthday” as Charlotte and her parents came down the stairway behind us.

There was a steady flow of people drifting by us, visiting, shops, bars and cafes or heading for the ski slope, climbing wall behind us, the gym, trampoline park or for a swim. Quite a few stopped to listen and others smiled, briefly, sang or acknowledged us. It was slightly surreal playing in front of a climbing wall where occasionally climbers would plunge off and bounce around on their ropes as we attempted to push up our own high notes below them.

Our Roadie/Sound Engineer, David Burgess, worked tirelessly to set up the sound system and mics and once the gig was underway was constantly patrolling and making tweaks in search of the optimum sound between bouts of playing and singing.

The venue was quieter than the Ridings and White Rose shopping centres and consequently it was easier to follow our leader, David Broadbent and percussionist Mags Bennett. We missed Rob’s virtuosity, but all the band stepped up to the mark including Mike Carr, Chris Haywood-Poole, Mags Hinchcliffe and Stuart Morris who were on fine form.

David Blackburn wasn’t feeling too good on Saturday but, trooper that he is, decided to come along and see how he went. At the interval he’d noticed a shop selling sports kit and went in to buy a cycling jacket. David joked with the shop owner, suggesting he might have a headache from our noise, but no, he’d loved it and gave David a good discount on his jacket. After that David began to feel a lot better.

Val Stringer excelled on her base despite also being slightly under the weather; in her case literally, after she and her husband were mauled by Storm Babet while on a cruise through the Bay of Biscay and off Portugal in the Mediterranean.

On the back row, Harry, looking as if he’d just flown in from his ranch in Wyoming, was whipping up the enthusiasm and cajoling those around him without headgear to bring a hat next time.

An eclectic mix of individuals make up this band, with a wide range of backgrounds and interests. What we all have in common is practicing hard and focusing on improving our performance skills with the ukulele and with singing; David Broadbent pulls all this together, is guidance is huge. Every single individual makes a vital contribution and when we come together as a group, like we did today, the result becomes much greater than the sum of our individual parts. Our sound continues to improve and it all remains hugely enjoyable.