Grand Northern Ukulele Festival 2014

bazmaz

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This really is just around the corner now, with only a few tickets left I am told.
http://www.northernuke.com

Just a post to shout if you are attending - some great acts on the bill. Who is going from UU? (I am!!)

Would be great to hook up with some folks who I havent met in the flesh
 
Oh wow!

A chance to meet other ukers? Awesome!

I shall do my very best to get over for one or both days.

How exciting
 
Yay! Hope to see you there
 
I hope so too

I'll be on my own and being new to the uke community, not know a soul; I have great faith that ukers will be a friendly, inclusive, bunch. :)

Which, in your opinion, would the best day to come over? I've just been looking at one of the popular train sites and can get 1st class travel for crumb-pence if I book ahead.
 
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Who is going from UU? (I am!!)

Me and the mrs-to-be'll be there! Conned another couple to come with us too, he's leant my Mahalo to try and learn a chord or four before we go ;)
We met very briefly at N'ukefest, at least I think we did? And I won the floral ukulele strap on your raffle which of course, Jess claimed for her baritone.

As for which day Daktari, I can't help you! I've got a weekend ticket because all three days're set to be good'nes. Friday night'll be a pub jam, good to chat and meet everyone, plus it claims to have "yet unannounced titbits". That'd be ideal for you to meet fellow ukers in a less hectic environment I suppose?

Saturday'll be the first full day of the actual festival with loads going on around town and UU members Zoë Bestel (amazing talent, being young is irrelevant but makes it even more impressive) and Krabbers (needs no introduction I'm sure) :D Plus the Mersey Belles (lovely duo, seen twice and met once, brilliant covers and a couple good originals too) and other acts that I've personally not heard much of, Andy Eastwood seems to be a modern multiinstrumentalist Formby, Del Rey seems to have some superb fingerstyle blues, Tricity Vogue and her All Girl Swing Band, The Mother Ukers, Vonck and Vlam who seem to incorporate a bitta slapstick in their performances and The Uke Box who I know nothing about except that they own a store :) For the best bang for your buck I'd say Saturday's the best bet.

That said, Sunday has the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who've never played a festival before and again, value for money, wow. Plus Eek who seems to be quite the entertaining one man band, The Anything Goes Orchestra who I don't know much of except that it consists of Dead Man's Uke duo who're very entertaining and again brill people that I've had the pleasure of playing with at N'ukefest, and Chonkinfeckle who're proper mint I tell thee. Cracking band and real good fun. Plus more of the fringe bits, strum alongs, pop-up events and so on like the day before (but different no doubt) aha.

So deciding one one day'll be tough for you but I hope to see you there! I'm less rambly in person honest.
 
Me and the mrs-to-be'll be there! Conned another couple to come with us too, he's leant my Mahalo to try and learn a chord or four before we go ;)
We met very briefly at N'ukefest, at least I think we did? And I won the floral ukulele strap on your raffle which of course, Jess claimed for her baritone.

As for which day Daktari, I can't help you! I've got a weekend ticket because all three days're set to be good'nes. Friday night'll be a pub jam, good to chat and meet everyone, plus it claims to have "yet unannounced titbits". That'd be ideal for you to meet fellow ukers in a less hectic environment I suppose?

Saturday'll be the first full day of the actual festival with loads going on around town and UU members Zoë Bestel (amazing talent, being young is irrelevant but makes it even more impressive) and Krabbers (needs no introduction I'm sure) :D Plus the Mersey Belles (lovely duo, seen twice and met once, brilliant covers and a couple good originals too) and other acts that I've personally not heard much of, Andy Eastwood seems to be a modern multiinstrumentalist Formby, Del Rey seems to have some superb fingerstyle blues, Tricity Vogue and her All Girl Swing Band, The Mother Ukers, Vonck and Vlam who seem to incorporate a bitta slapstick in their performances and The Uke Box who I know nothing about except that they own a store :) For the best bang for your buck I'd say Saturday's the best bet.

That said, Sunday has the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain who've never played a festival before and again, value for money, wow. Plus Eek who seems to be quite the entertaining one man band, The Anything Goes Orchestra who I don't know much of except that it consists of Dead Man's Uke duo who're very entertaining and again brill people that I've had the pleasure of playing with at N'ukefest, and Chonkinfeckle who're proper mint I tell thee. Cracking band and real good fun. Plus more of the fringe bits, strum alongs, pop-up events and so on like the day before (but different no doubt) aha.

So deciding one one day'll be tough for you but I hope to see you there! I'm less rambly in person honest.

Thanks so much for taking time to describe what's going down on each day and helping me decide which day to attend Chris.

Sadly the whole weekend is a little out of the realms of my pocket (travel, accommodation and tickets) this year because I'm saving pennies to go see my bezzie mate in the US (NJ) at the end of the year.

Which day to go?...What a wonderful first world sorta choice to have eh?
Saturday looks like it's the best one for me, much as I'd love to see the Uke Orchestra of GB on the Sunday, I have 'recovery' commitments on a Sunday.

I'm so excited about meeting other ukers...I've yet to meet another one, let alone hundreds/thousands more.
Dying more than anything to try some different ukes too. There's just a couple of music shops here (in the pool that is blackest), neither of which have anything of any note to try out sadly.

I hope to cross paths with Baz, Chris and any other UUers.

See ya'll there!!
 
I'm all booked up for the weekend. I've just got out of hospital and hopefully will be fully recuperated by then. Fingers crossed. It should be a great weekend.
 
I'll be there, performing on the fringe and running two workshops (still a very small number of spaces available on them ;-) )
Sorry I missed you from my list buddy! Where/when are you performing?
Thought I'd covered almost everything but skimmed over workshops entirely...
Probably because I cannae afford to attend any of them myself aha.

I've just got out of hospital and hopefully will be fully recuperated by then. Fingers crossed.
Hopefully I'll see you this time Dave ;) Fingers crossed for a fast and full recovery pal.

Thanks so much for taking time to describe what's going down on each day and helping me decide which day to attend Chris.
I hope to cross paths with Baz, Chris and any other UUers.
No problem Daktari, love the 1st world problem comment :')
Saturday does seem best bet in my opinion too, hopefully cya there!

And I know what you mean about wanting to try other ukes, it wasn't until I was gifted my Ovation that I'd touched a uke other than my mahalo really but I'm lucky enough to be near Manchester with Johnny Roadhouse (HobGoblin), The Forsythe Brothers and Dawsons all a 10 min walk from one another.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a Kala U-Bass; I'm intrigued by U-bass but know I wont enjoy playing on wound strings and want to see what these strings made from innertubes really feel like :p
 
Sorry I missed you from my list buddy! Where/when are you performing?
Thought I'd covered almost everything but skimmed over workshops entirely...
Probably because I cannae afford to attend any of them myself aha.


Hopefully I'll see you this time Dave ;) Fingers crossed for a fast and full recovery pal.


No problem Daktari, love the 1st world problem comment :')
Saturday does seem best bet in my opinion too, hopefully cya there!

And I know what you mean about wanting to try other ukes, it wasn't until I was gifted my Ovation that I'd touched a uke other than my mahalo really but I'm lucky enough to be near Manchester with Johnny Roadhouse (HobGoblin), The Forsythe Brothers and Dawsons all a 10 min walk from one another.

I'm hoping to get my hands on a Kala U-Bass; I'm intrigued by U-bass but know I wont enjoy playing on wound strings and want to see what these strings made from innertubes really feel like :p

I hope you get to try the U-Bass. It's an intriguing one for me too as a ex double bassist.
I'm hoping to get my hands on a K brand, and equivalents, as well as everything else down from there.
(I'm lucky enough to be able to consider a custom uke + a high end factory-made in the future when the right person comes along to buy the gorgeous, but expensive, Fylde Alchemist guitar I can no longer play)

Thanks for the reminder about the muso shops in Mancs. I should have m'self a day out trying ukes :)

Hasta luego


 
I'm actually up North the week before. Getting to Wigan on the 5th of September and was planning on heading back down on the 12th. Wonder if the other half would be up for a detour via Huddersfield and come down on the Saturday? Very tempting.
 
I will be there Saturday & Sunday, including a Phil Doleman blues workshop. Can't wait.
 
I've just finished work on the 12 washtub bass kits and 18 diddleybow kits for the workshops I'll be hosting. There are only a few places left for these workshops, so get your booking in quick if you'd like to take a self-built instrument home with you from GNUF!

http://www.northernuke.com/2014-festival/workshops/
 
No worries Chris, there's a lot going on! I don't know where or when I'm playing yet, but I think the 'timetable' will be released soon.

Say hello at the workshop Steve! I think you'll enjoy it, I'm really pleased with that particular workshop!
 
Will be good to see you again Chris - we only met very very briefly at N'Ukefest I recall.

Love the workshop range they have at GNUF this year - Phils will be a top draw.

I put this little video list together for some of the main stage acts playing this year (sorry, couldn't fit them all in). Its a great range of acts that makes this festival stand out to my mind. http://www.gotaukulele.com/2014/08/grand-northern-ukulele-festival-2014.html?spref=fb

I also believe that with ticket sales to date that this is now THE biggest uke festival in the UK.
 
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!!

I booked my GNUF Super Saturday ticket and 1st class rail tickets [cheaper than standard for some reason]

I'll be wearing a red carnation and carrying a copy of the Guardian ;)

Really hope I get to meet some you. Maybe pick up a few playing tips along the way.

See ya there!
 
No worries Chris, there's a lot going on! I don't know where or when I'm playing yet, but I think the 'timetable' will be released soon.

Say hello at the workshop Steve! I think you'll enjoy it, I'm really pleased with that particular workshop!
Sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello, but yes, it was a great workshop. I think I may be a better player because of it (I'll find out tonight, as will the family...)

The whole weekend was a lot of fun. I would really recommend it to any of the UK ukers, and indeed to those from further afield. Tickets for 2015 (May22-24) are already selling!
 
Thanks Steve!
It was a brilliant weekend, great to be a part of as a performer, but also from an audience perspective (I spent a lot of time out front watching the acts!) Yes, it's back next year (but earlier on the 22nd-24th May), with Aaron Keim, Manitoba Hal, Sarah Maisel and Craig Chee amongst others, and I'm really pleased to say I'm confirmed as a main stage act!
http://www.northernuke.com/2015-festival/
 
I had great fun at the festival.
You probably saw me and my friends in the arrogantly loud Hawaiian shirts dancing at the front of the stage.

Also had great fun doing the open no mic spot on Sunday with my friend Sarah, we did Happy and Take on Me.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wSg9vVwkCgs
I also found this video on bbc news with the fantastic Zoe Bestel, was a bit annoyed we got described as regular punters though. Maybe next year will be different :D
 
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