New Season at the Ridings 12th September, 2025
YAA White Rose Centre Gig, 24th October, 2025.
Report Phil Barr Videos Jane Barr, Joe Fisher Photos Janr Barr
The first gig at this Leeds venue since the changing of the guard and a proper test of resilience it turned out to be too! As members of the band set off from their homes, Richard P sent out an emergency message of cancellation, but the majority of the group were en route by this time. On arrival, the reason for the cancellation notice became clear: our playing space next to the YAA stall was taken up by witches, giant pumpkins, and all things Halloween. However, Wakeylele is made of stern stuff, with an obstinate streak thrown in and so after a group huddle, Joe negotiated a deal with the management or/ and security people to play inside the top foyer. However, this wasn’t the end of our problems as the new location meant that there was a blast of Arctic air from the constant comings and goings of shoppers. Icicles were soon forming on the end of noses, and some fingers turned yellow, white, or purple. Those who arrived in top coats or fleeces were the lucky ones. Our leader, Chris, though, made light of the problem with adopted Yorkshire grit, proudly displaying his wakeylele t- shirt.
The next issue was the sound set- up along with a problem with banners. The area we were playing in was cavernous, and there was bound to be a bit of trial and error involved in the best balance. As for the banners, one of ours proved to be a headache for Mel, who with each waft of breeze from the entrance got a glancing blow, until he was able to move from the firing line. Meanwhile, three of us were struggling to keep upright a YAA banner we assembled to help draw attention to the fact that although we were distanced from their stall, we were still supporting and collecting money on their behalf. We did manage this eventually and it helped too as lots of folk, young and old dropped coins into the buckets as they passed by on both sides of the band in a constant stream, a bit like the Aire and Calder.
As for the actual playing, Stuart has already said in a nutshell what I generally take three sides of A4 to describe, that the second half was a lot more assured than the first. This was indeed partly because of the hurried and late change of location, resulting in the balance of output being distinctly awry. The musical term Wall of Sound could be used in this context, with a mixture of Sue’s vocals appearing to emanate from Roy’s mouth via a speaker located at the back, and plenty of volume from Pop and Mike’s banjos, but not a sound that you could say that quite reached Oasis’s standard. Morover, David Blackburn made a rare front row appearance, meaning that Mags couldn’t use him as a sounding board to judge tempo as it appeared from the back row. Fortunately, our sound engineer, Joe, was constantly patrolling the perimeter and making adjustments which soon paid off, making our leaders job that much easier. Chris also helped our cause by fast developing his variety of facial expressions to emphasise a beginning or end from one of a mean looking lion to an All-Blacks style Haka glare. No doubt he is working on a waggling tongue gesture too for future gigs. As the songs started to flow, there was just the odd blip when we were slightly at odds on the order of songs with someone ready to play the intro to Country Roads while others, a large majority in fact, were mentally preparing for Come Up and See Me. I just want to make it very clear that, in no way and mentioning no names, was Chris the person who got it wrong.
The interval arrived with the chance to thaw out and a chance for me to ask Roy where he got his fine-looking Stetson from. The reply was that he bought it from a fisherman’s hut in Sutton on Sea for a pound, where items of flotsam and jetsam are for sale. I expect the leather is still supple because it was retrieved from an oil slick.
With Glyn and David Flatters back from their leisurely coffee break we were ready to go and after hitting the ground running with a super- confident sounding Love Potion Number Nine and Green Door we never looked back and the whole session was a resounding success with our number one supporter Jenny, showing her appreciation as Barbara continued to busy herself with videos – the band really appreciate their backing.
And so, to the end and another feather in the cap for Chris and all of the band under trying circumstances. Many thanks go to Joe for his all-around contribution in adverse conditions. Before he gathered together the equipment, he was heard to say that he was just going out to feed the huskies. A personal thanks too to Peter J, who succeeded in finding a way out of the car park unscathed, with vehicles appearing from nowhere in every direction.
Next up is a gig at Wakefield Hospice with an already full capacity of players.