Past Event
Saturday Showcase
10th Mar 2012
Presenter: Lord Uke
Website:
Event Duration: 450 minutes
3.30PM Doors Open
3:45PM Fabian Lapham (MC)
Fabian Lapham is a comedian/filmmaker who lives in Melbourne. He has performed in numerous Comedy Festivals and small handfuls of television. Fabian maintains that playing ukulele gets one laid far less than playing guitar, but far more than playing piccolo.
4:10PM Mick & Tas Fleming's Hawaiian Duo
"Peeking out from behind the Velvet curtains of Vaudeville, Mick and Tas Fleming charm their way through Jazz, Hawaiian, and cowboy standards and in their way serenade into the night by the warm glow of dusk through till rosy dawn with their fascinations and excellent rhythms."
Mick and Tas Fleming play Hawaiian, Jazz, cowboy and vaudeville. Mick Fleming began his musical career in the late 1950's Touring with his yodelling Aunt Coralie (Col. Fleming) before appearing on Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight with H.E.C. Maclennon, a member of the Victorian Banjo Club, Mick was a member of the Jelly Bean Jug Band, original and founding member of The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, and later became active in the Pram Factory, Soapbox Circus and Circus OZ. Later, Mick performed with Le Swing Moderne and Rex Maclean. In 1994 Mick founded The Carpet Alley Jug Stompers a band dedicated to playing early jug and blue
4:50PM SQ3
3 groovy harmonising songwriting Novocastrians, playing 16 strings (4 really fat black ones) on small bodies, seek relationship with sensitive, interesting yet confident bongo player for occasional uke festival liaisons and long walks on the beach. Don't fancy their luck.
5:30PM S.E.G.U.E. (Slightly Eclectic Guildford Ukulele Ensemble)
The tiny goldrush town of Guildford in Central Victoria has a pub, a shop, a music hall and up to four ukulele groups. But S.E.G.U.E. was formed first, and is the only one with a press release. S.E.G.U.E. musicians have diverse backgrounds and musical tastes, drawn together by an inexplicable desire to vent their musical feelings on the humble ukulele, while dressing in a manner that proves they're all individuals.
A performance can range from vintage Hawaiian hulas to 1920s flapper tunes to 60s rock classics. You never know what you'll hear next.
S.E.G.U.E. has performed to great acclaim at festivals including the New Zealand Ukulele Festival, Guildford Banjo Jamboree, Newstead Live, the Guildford Blues and Roots Explosion and the Chewton Festival. Their show, "The History of Uke'n'Roll", packed out the famous Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. And they opened the 2011 Melbourne Ukulele Festival with a multimedia extravaganza, "The History of the Ukulele", with everything from George Formby to George Harrison, Tin Pan Alley to Tiny Tim.
6:00PM Intermission (60 minutes)
7:15PM Tyrone & Lesley (QLD)
Holding it close to his heart, Tyrone writes songs on, for, with and by the ukulele. He's played at MUF 2010, 2011, the Cairns Ukulele Festival, the Brisbane Festival, the Sydney Opera House and many others. This year he'll be bringing his esteemed sidekick Lesley on double bass, and launching a new recording.
8:00PM Bosko and Honey (FNQ)
Bosko & Honey live in the tropical rainforest of Far North Queensland where they developed their charming and uniquely entertaining style. Through their D.I.Y. travels around Australia and the world on “Ukulele Safari”, Bosko & Honey and their internet videos have inspired thousands to “feel the love”. Their homegrown approach to the ukulele and songwriting has matured into a class act - an engaging blend of quirkiness, humour, musicianship and the unexpected!
Don’t miss your chance to experience Bosko & Honey’s Ukulele Love-In... Live.
8:45PM Ralph Shaw (Canada)
Ralph is best known in the ukulele world for his Complete Ukulele Course DVDs which have shown thousands how to improve their strums. Carrying the true spirit of early 20th century Music Hall showmanship he sings like a seasoned chanteur. Backed up by his stellar Ukulele playing he croons, dances, plays harmonica, yodels and whistles like a state fair champion.
A comedian, with his lanky presence alone conjuring up heartfelt laughter, he delights audiences of every creed and culture. His stories, jokes and physical comedy draw on his life as; a clown, a physicist, a child in Yorkshire, and Canada's King of the Ukulele.
Let him take you on a journey into the past that manages to be both nostalgic and contemporary. One minute you will be transported back to the days of vaudeville where you'll hear; Fred Astaire, The Inkspots, George Formby and Ukulele Ike and the next moment you'll be entranced by one of his hilarious and soul stirring original songs evoking a bygone era that has been reborn.
9:35PM Benny Chong (Hawaii)
Beyond a repertoire comprised mostly of musically challenging jazz standards never before even attempted on the ukulele, Benny's contributions to ukulele playing include novel left and right hand techniques, chord voicings new to the Ukulele, and an unprecedented level of virtuosity. Through exotic and often widespread left hand fingerings, he comes up with chords in open position that would otherwise be impossible to play in the reentrant (high D) tuning that he uses on his baritone uke.
10:25PM The Nukes (NZ)
Out of the beautiful west of Auckland come The Nukes, full of good humour and charm, and a certain something that makes audiences tap their toes, grin from ear to ear, and sometimes even shed the odd tear. This original New Zealand ukulele trio have quickly made a big name for themselves appearing on the Good Morning Show and National Radio, playing Bob Harvey's 70th (they love nothing better than a good birthday party), and touring round the country doing workshops and gigs - invariably to full houses.