Jesus and the Ukes

Performed a set in public with the ukulele group tonight for the first time. 

It was a fundraising gig held in – of all places – an orange hall. Normally I would refuse to set foot in one of these places as a matter of principle, but I was assured that the event itself was not affiliated with the Orange Order… and besides, I really wanted to play! 

We were on quite near to the end, which meant sitting through – amongst other things – an accordion band, a compère with an almost indecipherable countryside accent whose speciality appeared to be telling mildly sexist jokes, and a Brethren quartet called something like Redemption Groove, who were wearing suits and singing hymns. 

Our group leader looked somewhat panicked as we went backstage to get ready after a round of “I can’t wait to die and meet Jesus” or something to that effect. Wearing colourful shirts and hats with bright garlands and ukuleles round our necks, we were not at all in keeping with the vibe of the evening. “I didn’t realise it was going to be so religious,” she hissed in an anxious whisper. “We have to drop Fat Bottomed Girls!”

We had an absolute blast though, and the crowd did start to smile and tap their toes and even sing along when we got to our Country Roads finale. New experience: perform in a band. Check!

We did drop Fat Bottomed Girls though.