Uke Round-up

Uke Zoologica, our celebration of the animal kingdom, was a wild affair indeed. Though Tony, Qucikdraw and I were the only Lake-Effectors in the house (we missed David & Eva, Welsh Rarebit, The Hitmaker!) there was more than enough eclectic uke animal madness to make for one of the best cabarets yet-with 17 acts and 4 hours of music.

C Everett Ukelstein opened the show with a spot on version of manu Chau's "Bongo Bim", and the highlights piled on quickly from there. Heather killed Heart's "Barracuda" with Tony & Mike power-riffing behind her, and Troy Martin offered a delightfully x-rated version of the "Doe-a-dear" song from The Sound of Music, featuring of course, a duck.... and an Oragutan. The Heavy Boxes were short one box, as Melanie was home studying for finals, so they piped her in on a laptop for an "Unforgettable" duet on "Somewhere Out There". Best newcomer went to Sexy Dave and his band of merry hipsters, who turned Ziggy Stardust into an animal parade..."God Given Bass" and the like. One major highlight of the evening came with Luke Bailey's set and "The Manitee Song"... The guy is an amazing player, performer, and comedian, and he brought the house down. Mariane and The Sure-Bet Quart/Oct-et closed the eveing with a full set, including a mind blowing version of "I am The Walrus" complete with trombone, piccolo, bells, and more.

The next cabaret, Ukers Wild! will be on Saturday, August 1, and each act will be asked to bring its own them for their set.