Ridings Centre Wakefield Nov 2024

Wakeylele is coming to Town before Santa

by phil Barr. Videos James Cawthorne

  Sub – zero temperatures, snow and black ice, covid rates increasing, energy bills rising, ringworm outbreaks in men using dodgy barbers, (not to mention Storm Bert looming ominously over the Atlantic) – looks like the British winter has arrived earlier than usual. As Frankie Howerd might have opined, “Woe, woe and thrice woe!” But not to worry as Wakeylele were back at the Ridings to banish any feelings of gloom and bring back memories of lazing on beaches in Bridlington, Barbados or Blackpool. 

  As the band arrived in the Ridings they found it was already dazzling its customers with bold Christmas displays – indeed there was a festive golden reindeer set – up behind us but the Wakeylele CEO had decided to keep the glitter material on hold until December thereby trusting that the punters will be champing at the reins as the big day approaches.

  As the title of this report implies there was no shortage of drama before the gig with treacherous overnight black ice resulting in numerous cases of falls or narrow escapes with Linda’s expensive uke taking the brunt, but better wood than bone splintering; Chris’s new hip will also be grateful that he decided to stay put in his house. 

  With everyone in place in good time David was ready to start 10 minutes before the scheduled time of 11 a.m,  beginning with birthday greetings to Beryl and Barbara and it soon became obvious that the band were in tip – top form with encouraging support from the rapidly swelling numbers of shoppers whose smiles and keen faces reflected the feeling that the season of goodwill had arrived, reinforced by the regular sound of coins  dropping into the buckets of our Yorkshire Air Ambulance partners. The only blemish was a slight hesitation during the Blackpool Belle song with David testing our ability to adapt quickly to unexpected variations but such is the breadth of experience within the band that this was shrugged off as if nothing was amiss (see video). As with all live performances in shopping centres footfall varies all the time and so following a near perfect performance of Come Up and See Me, Dave F commented that we had stunned them into silence whereas other numbers such as From a Jack to a King was received with whooping from the floor above. 

  Having seemingly zoomed through to the break, we had time for a generous break and for those who partook of cafe refreshments one advantage of the usual below par indoor temperatures was that hot drinks cooled down quickly enough to return to the action without the need to apply savlon to blistered lips.

   At the resumption of the second half Pop announced our presence to those shoppers in M & S who may have been pondering whether to buy Uncle Basil a tin of shortbread or a box of Belgium Truffles for Christmas and so we were back at full throttle and that’s how it remained through to the end. Melvyn enjoyed playing Wagon Wheel so much that he wanted to do it again and glancing round at the commitment etched onto the band’s faces during this classic I could see why and if further endorsement was needed, I even spotted Mike S picking on his banjo to the words ‘ I pick a banjo now!’

 As the end approached two ladies stayed to watch and listen with obvious enthusiasm and before departing  double – checked on our December date in the Ridings and we even had a black labrador guide dog wagging its tail like a windmill as we tore through the Old Time Medley to wrap up proceedings and leave a warm glow to replace the previous arctic air although Maria as well prepared as ever had earlier issued hand warmers to those of us suffering with white or blue fingers.( She also has some footwarmers which is a bit hush hush so no forming  a queue at the next gig as they are in short supply.)

   There was the usual masterly performance from our leader together with an appreciative dipping of his hat at the end, a great show from Mags with Linda’s support on percussion and Val on bass and a good showing of support from family and friends too. Lastly, a big thank you to Mike H who kindly took an extra trip into town to sort out free parking passes and thus avoid the prospect of the need to download an app for the new-fangled pay machines.

  Next up is the Wentbridge House Hotel on 13th December, details to follow.