Don’t Worry Be Happy Ridings Gig 13th March Photos Jane Barr Videos Jane Barr and Joe Fisher

In a time of volatility in world affairs, what better than a dose of home comforts in the form of a local group of ukulele players entertaining Wakefield folk on a chilly but bright and breezy Friday morning in early Spring. Millions of barrels of oil may have been released to ease a wider fuel crisis, but here there was plenty of potential energy being stored in readiness for today’s performance and so David Blackburn, making his debut as gig leader, signalled the start of a refreshed list of numbers, relying on songs rather than bombs to put the world to rights.

  Bad Moon Rising got everything off to a rousing start, closely followed by Country Roads and Da Do Ron Ron, in which Val, on bass and under pressure from friendly vocal fire, performed admirably. The first of several new gig songs, chosen by Dave the Brave featured soon after with Get Along Without You Now but the real instant success was Gypsy Woman with two young lovers taking to the floor in a great exhibition of uninhibited dancing. They made another brief appearance after the more restrained tones of Leaving on a Jet Plane to the strains of Love Potion Number 9, which brought us breezily to the interval. 

  You will probably have been on the receiving end of at least one of Roy’s joke telling sessions, but as a diversion from this, during the break, today was all about his dissatisfaction with a new mattress which is too hard for him as well as too high. However, he is hatching a cunning plan, so if you see a suspicious character late at night, (possibly wearing a balaclava) dragging a large rectangular object along the pavement from a council recycling centre, the odds are that it’s Roy retrieving his old memory foam mattress.

 Meanwhile, back at the playing area, Mel, amongst others, was waiting in his top coat and hood over his woolly hat, hoping that the cafe brigade would return at the designated time.

  With all eventually present and correct, Mags and Val, with impeccable timing got us under way with what was a faultless performance of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer followed by a confident debut of a Showaddywaddy hit and equally successful Return to Sender before a bit of a car crash attempting Wild Rover, although Sue’s powerful voice came in handy as the furious pace could have easily resulted in charred ukes had the song been any longer. Undeterred, sanity was soon restored with some very familiar tunes before another very brisk debut number, Roll over Beethoven, except that this time, the car stayed firmly on the road. Lindisfarne’s Meet Me On The Corner was another feather in the cap for the band bringing us to the finale, with Bring Me Sunshine, inspiring two of our regular supporters to mimic Eric and Ernie along with another spectator. It was a happy end to what was hopefully another fruitful morning for the YAA funds; certainly, a note or two was seen to be donated directly.

A great effort by David, who gave us clear cues whenever possible. Talking to him afterwards he described his debut as being a learning curve and, by leaving his comfort zone, not only in leading a gig but also introducing only recently added ‘gig ready’ songs he undoubtedly stepped in where others fear to tread. Bravo to him.

Next up next Tuesday is the gig at Whitake Grange, Ossett, starting at 3p.m.

For those looking for some respite from the intensity of a performance, Mel is hosting a chilled evening with an interesting line- up of songs at Walton Club later on the same day, with a 7p.m. start