Dee Ukes were out and about again today following our very short break! Our first gig in Arbroath took place at Seaton Grove Care Home. Despite the fact that a few of us had some difficulty finding the venue, we soon settled down to a cheery afternoon singalong with some lovely people.
Our photographer had some difficulty getting everyone in the frame, but managed with this one. Thanks to all my ukulele friends who managed to come along and create such a fun afternoon.
Looking forward to seeing many of you next week when we are back at Midlin Day Care. 🙂
I was lucky enough to attend the Essex Ukulele Festival on Saturday 22nd July along with our very own Sandra. What a fabulous day we had in glorious sunshine. There were amazing professional acts from Ben Rouse, Phillipa Leigh, Zoe Bestel, D’Ukes (!!!) and Phil Doleman. The headline act was none other than The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. They were brilliant! ( I finally got to see them ‘live’ – Woo hoo!)
There were also amateur society bands, workshops and strum along sessions with words/chords on the big screen. Great fun. Sandra and I even managed to make a brief appearance on the big screen!
One of the groups who caught my attention for a different reason was called D’Ukes (pronounced Dukes). They are a six-piece electric ukulele covers band, have performed on TV and BBC radio, headlined the Czech Republic’s first ukulele festival and sold out theatres in the south east of England. They started up nearly 7 years ago in a small way, entertaining at Care Homes, Gala days etc. Does this sound familiar? Now they are in big demand and are hosting their own ukulele festival in Hornchurch, Essex in August 2016. They sell their own CDs and other merchandise. You never know what we will be up to in a few years time! 🙂
I must personally thank Sandra and her daughter Susan for a fantastic day and indeed weekend. Cheers!
PS
Just a quick reminder that some of us are off to Seaton Grove Care Centre, Seaton Road, Arbroath DD11 5DT from 2pm – 3pm tomorrow, Tuesday 26th July. (No class tomorrow)
Dee Ukes were back at Midlin Day Care today for our second visit. Yet another amazing audience. From the start we had dancers on the floor. It was wonderful to see the obvious joy on so many faces.
A carer later informed me that one of their members has very poor mobility, yet he managed to get up and dance, albeit with his stick. She also was thrilled to see the response from the audience, many of whom have dementia. Music seems to reach parts of the damaged brain in a way that other forms of communication cannot. Music can bring to mind long forgotten memories. Their dancing and singing skills were certainly still there! What fun we all had! 🙂 We will be back soon.
Next gig – Friday 15th July @ Midlin Day Care, 59 Pitkerro Drive, 1.30-3pm
Tuesday 19th July – no class / no gig
Tuesday 26th July – no class – gig @ Seaton Grove, Arbroath, 2-3pm.
Tuesday 2nd August – no class – gig @ Midlin Day Care, 1.30-3pm.
Tuesday 9th August – classes restart at 12 noon
New gig – Thursday 25th August, Willowbank Care Home, 56 Maule Street, Carnoustie, 2-3pm
New gig – Friday 4th November, Food Train Befrienders, Market Mews, Market Street, Dundee DD1 3LH – Confirmation and more details to follow. If you would like to find out more about this group click Food Train Befrienders.
Tuesday 12th July was a very special day for Dee Ukes as one of our members, John, celebrated his 90th birthday! Many thanks to all who contributed to the entertainment which was fabulous as you will see from the videos below. Thanks also for all the food and drinks which were provided. ( I have in my possession a lovely silver oval tray which was left behind. Get in touch if it is yours.)
I must also say another big thank you to all my Dee Ukes friends for the lovely flowers, card (complete with mini uke!) and gift voucher which I will take great delight in using! I am so lucky to have such a friendly, enthusiastic, supportive group of people to share my Tuesdays with (and all the other gig days!)
I managed to track down Jim and his wife Isobel to hand over the card and gift from Dee Ukes. (and of course the smiley helium balloon!). They were surprised and delighted and kindly sent their thanks as well as a couple of photos.
Here are the videos. Enjoy!
Pat started off proceedings and soon had everyone strumming and singing along. I was very impressed!
George was up next to show off his guitar skills. Considering he has only been playing the guitar for 5 weeks, he did pretty well.
Alice and Denis were next to entertain us with a brilliant performance of Rod Stewart’s Hold the Line.
Maggie sang a beautiful song for John called The Lambs on the Green Hills as he had previously asked her if she knew it.
John responded by singing a different version of the same song. Apologies for the poor sound on this one.
Anne treated us to a classical piece called Nostalgia by Cees Hartog. Beautiful!
Our very own Ukulele Babes entertained us with Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain followed by Bottle of Wine.
George was back with his performance of In a Town Like This.
Our Birthday Boy John led the way with Little Old Wine Drinker Me.
Just 3Folk were next and sang False Young Man and Cotton Mill Girls.
The Ukulele Babes were back singing The Fields of Athenry.
Birthday Boy John rounded off the entertainment by sing and playing The Hiking Song.
John chose a couple of songs for us all to sing and play together to round off what had been a terrific afternoon: Caledonia and Newport Braes. Great choices.
Here is a selection of photos taken from our party.
What a lot of very talented friends I have. 🙂
Finally, John has been in touch with the following message:
Could you please pass on my grateful thanks for the good wishes and presents I received yesterday. I feel awkward when accepting gifts and put them aside to open later. However , Mame prevailed upon me to open the large envelope and when I did I was completely “dumfoonert”
I have never seen anything like it and was thrilled to bits. When I got home and opened the gift card I could not believe my eyes at the wonderful monetary gift you all gave me. What a wonderful bunch you all are. I think I was among the first members of Dee Ukes and it has been a time of great happiness for me at the practices and gigs.
As was only to be expected, the entertainment yesterday was brilliant but I would like to mention Maggie who put so much into her lovely rendition of “The lambs in the green fields” which is one of my all time favourites. “Stewball “ also brought back memories of the Woodlands Folk Club in the early 60’s when many of the big names used to come to Dundee.
I bet you never realised what you were starting when you set up Dee Ukes!!
Love the word “dumfoonert”! John, you are an inspiration to us all. Ke-ee-ep strumming. See you at the next party. 🙂
It was lovely to welcome Wendy, Marge’s sister from Australia, as a visitor to our class. She has been playing the ukulele for eight weeks and doing really well.
New gigs have been added to our Events tab and Gig Volunteer list:
Tuesday 26th July 2-3pm @ Seaton Grove Centre, Arbroath.
Monday 31st October 2-2.45pm & 3-3.45pm @ Gerard Hall, Monifieth
Tuesday 26th July – no class but gig @ Seaton Grove Centre, Arbroath 2-3pm
Tuesday 2nd August – no class but gig @ Midlin Day Care 1.30pm-3pm
Next gig:
Friday 15th July @ Midlin Day Care 1.30-3pm
Songs practised:
Flower of Scotland
Roses O Prince Charlie – I have corrected the chord boxes, so it is now version 2.1 in C
On Moonlight Bay/By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Side by Side – the intro is quite tricky, but just needs practice. For the Cdim chord, just play strings 1, 2 and 3 of the version on the page. The full version adds fret 5 on string 4 which is quite a stretch!
Sam the Skull
Sunny Afternoon
Leaving on a Jet Plane – Is now version 1.1 – have taken out the ‘slow down on last line’.
New song – The Northern Lights – I have taken out the last verse of the original copy and added the chorus of I Belong to Glasgow. I have also created a simplified version. Both versions are on the website. Choose your preference as they should work together.
We discussed possible song choices for our Dee Ukes & Folks Luminate Concert and I will send Draft 1 Playlist to you.
We had a return visit to Glebe House in Kirriemuir on 4th July to celebrate American Independence Day. The clients helped to create a party atmosphere by being our ‘backing group’, complete with various percussion instruments. Great fun!
Dee Ukes @ Glebe House 4th July 2016
Finally I am delighted to introduce our latest recruit! Great strumming action! 🙂
Dee Ukes have been very busy over the last few days and have experienced a number of firsts.
Following on from our second visit to Toll Crescent on Wednesday (see previous Blog), on Friday 1st July we had not just one, but two gigs! The first was in Panbride Church Hall, Carnoustie where we had a great audience. One of the care workers was so moved at the sight of the clients happily singing along, that she shed a few tears.
Click here for some great feedback from Christine. Here we are at Panbride Church Hall:
As soon as we packed up at Carnoustie we all headed off to Douglas Sports Centre where there was a Go For Gold event taking place with clients from a number of local Sheltered Housing places. They had all been taking part in various physical activities. We were asked to provide entertainment during their lunch and had been informed that they would be quite tired. Well, lo and behold, we soon had a few of them up dancing and even did Rock Around the Clock twice through! Great fun.
On Saturday 2nd July we experienced our first time on a moving float and we sang out merrily for around an hour as the float travelled along the streets of Carnoustie. The float was a work of art and represented Food is Free Carnoustie. This float actually won the competition for the best senior float! Woo hoo! Once we arrived at Carnoustie House Grounds we sat beside the stall for Carnoustie Free Food and sang for another hour and a half. We were even invited to sing s few songs at another stall! After an initial downpour before the floats set off, the weather was very kind and altogether it was a brilliant day. Many thanks to Maggie and other Food Is Free volunteers for inviting us along.
Many thanks to those from Dee Ukes who have come along to so many gigs in such a few days. Your support and enthusiasm is greatly appreciated. 🙂
PS I look forward to seeing quite a few of you at Glebe House, Kirriemuir the day after tomorrow.
Dee Ukes 