Review of The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain at Perth Festival

May 28 2010 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

A PERTH Festival wild card turned up trumps – and aces too – in a packed Perth Concert Hall.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was venturing north of the Border especially for their Perth Festival concert, and admitted it was the first time they played in Scotland outside Edinburgh or Glasgow in their 25 years of music and mirth-making.

With an animate Fair City audience right across the age spectrum making it obviously clear that the eight-piece orchestra pulled – and strummed – all the right strings, perhaps the UOGB will come back soon.

The six men and two women line-up have certainly created their own quirky niche which is basically that ‘all genres of music can be re-interpreted on the ukulele’.

Throw this ‘ukuleles rule’ ethos into the pot with liberal helpings of talent, humour, slickness presentation and musical arrangements, versatility and the joy of performing, and you cook up an evening of outstanding entertainment.

The show was a singing, twanging, toe-tapping ukulele magical mystery tour visiting Spaghetti Western territory, Life on Mars and Wuthering Heights; putting plucking good arrangements on the Rezillos and Sex Pistols, Saint-Saëns and Otis Reading; and contributing interesting sound effects to Shaft and Yes Sir, I Can Boogie.

George Formby’s ‘I’m Leaning on a Lamppost’ became a melodrama and Limehouse Blues was a real crowd-pleaser.

Best of all was the orchestra’s oh-so-clever musical montages of voices and instruments, especially the one which followed the first of three standing ovations.

A beautiful arrangement of an old pibroch was a itting conclusion to an exceptional concert. This treat was sponsored by Frames Gallery.

Among the audience were the ukulele bands of Perth High School and Luing Primary School.

The youngsters from the tiny West Coast island made the most of their long journey.

After the concert, the school children from Luing gave a wee concert themselves on the stairs of the concert hall with their ukuleles, making it a great end to the evening for the children and audience.