Hi DUGs,
I'm still on a ukulele-high after events of the last week!
Doune Music Night
Twelve of us came along to the Doune Music Night at the primary school. It was a lovely evening, with lots of talent on show, particularly young talent.
We had some challenges, in spite of all our planning. We were on a small stage, jostling for space in front of a large drum kit and keyboard. The lighting made it very difficult to see the song sheets. Although we were crammed close together, we were in a line, making it difficult to hear each other.
In spite of all this, we played and sung well, and were very well received. I have had a lot of positive feedback, and it can only be good for the DUGs to be seen at such a well-attended local event.
The evening raised over £1,000 for the Doune and Deanston Youth Project.
Town Break Dementia
Our performance at Town Break last Wednesday was one of the best we have done. There were ten of us and we had plenty of room to set ourselves up. The singing and playing was superb. The audience were great too. Singing along, dancing, clapping, and getting well involved. I came out the hall smiling from ear to ear!
A massive thank you to those of you who came along, especially those of you who were back at the Rural Hall just a couple of hours later for our BraveUke rehearsals.
BraveUke
Our main focus for the past few weeks has been the Friday evening performance. Most of those performing had managed to get along to the extra rehearsals over the last month or so, and it showed. Our singing and playing was superb.
Again, there were challenges. In fact, many of the same challenges as the Music Night. Although the Victoria Hall has a good-sized stage, we were, once again, crammed into a tight space in front of full drum kits, keyboards and sound equipment. Lights reflecting of the song sheets was, again, an issue. We need to review all this and see what we can learn. However, at multi-group events like this, I fear we will always have many of these problems. Some things are just out of our control.
However, for all that, our performance was amazing. All those rehearsals really paid off. Singing and playing to an audience of over 250 people, all of them Ukulele players themselves, was quite daunting. But you did us proud, DUGs, well done.
Nine of us were on stage, joined by Sarah (Ukulele Saz), along with Erin, her bass player and Stephen (one of the best Ukulele players of the whole weekend).
One of our members, who shall remain nameless (though not hatless!) took part in the open-mic session on Saturday afternoon. I will talk a little more about this on Wednesday (talk a little? Who are you kidding, Joe 🤣)
