Horbury Street Fayre 14th June

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  Mid – June in a small but lively market town in Yorkshire, the grey clouds rolling back as the warm sun makes a move to break through and the promise of an enjoyable and productive day for all those involved in the annual Horbury Fayre. Wakeylele arrived in an optimistic mood after recent and successful gig performances for a second appearance at this venue, setting up immediately outside the iconic parish church designed by John Carr with gravestones rather than floor tiles under their feet and it’s not every day you can say that. 

A slight problem with interference affecting the sound system was soon overcome and with David keen to get things underway to avoid a rushed set before a local brass band was due on stage, we launched into songs from our well-rehearsed catalogue with more than a nudge towards songs from the sixties and seventies, which proved to be a winning combination. We were accompanied by the church bells striking ten during Bad Moon Rising causing guffaws all round but this just added to the positive vibes from everyone in the vicinity. The temperature was certainly rising which may partly explain why one of the Horbury Fayre volunteers was seen to park a fire extinguisher behind our band banner which incidentally by this time was bending double in a sou’ westerly. This was followed soon after by the vicar scurrying by – maybe the heat was getting to him too.

There was great support from family and friends, from the beginning – it was lovely to see Mike Hindley’s wife being one of them, and – as the morning progressed and the sun shone, more and more people gathered to join in and show their appreciation of songs including I Can Help and Love Really Hurts. It was a very colourful scene all round with a variety of food and craft stalls, and further down the street, tombolas, hook -a- duck, Wakefield Theatre volunteers advertising Calendar Girls whilst raising money and even a tent with owls of all sizes including a diminutive tropical screech owl, not that any of the Wakeylele Band can ever be accused of screeching of course nor I’m sure will any of our talented female players ever have to worry about appearing on our YouTube channel if Limousin Lil, as mentioned by Mike Carr on Tuesday, is anything to go by. Meanwhile back on stage the band ripped through a string of hits including the rhythmic San Francisco, a faultless Sit Down helped greatly by David’s expert promptings, a ‘Kinky’ Sunny Afternoon and yet again with a bit of a lump in the throat the ever-popular Union of Different Kinds

with enthusiastic participation from the swelling audience which concluded with the biggest cheer of the morning. Time was now running out as passing tubas and trombones glinted in the June sun so after a quick straw poll without the straws Wakeylele belted out their version of Wagon Wheel to complement Mel’s recent Nashville experience of the same song. More thunderous applause followed and it only remained for the band to appreciate a job well done, and for them to beat a hasty retreat either into the church for tea and cake or to stroll along the packed streets taking in the sights and sounds of Horbury’s jamboree; that is after we had hunted for Pop’s uke tuner battery, which was under my foot 

   Huge thanks for the hundredth time to David who on what was a very breezy day soon overcame the problem of music copy making a break for freedom as mine did at one stage before keeping it quiet with clothes peg and to the band for expertly continuing without David for the time it took for him to recover his equilibrium. In fact, we got away with things quite lightly compared to another mature group called No Age Concern whose large amplifier crashed to the ground as they were in the middle of a sound check an hour after we had finished. 

  Next up is another Summer Fair at Thorpe Audlin on Sunday, 29th June, 1:30 for a 2 p.m. start.