RyRod
Well-known member
So, Mighty Uke Day was this past weekend (Saturday the 14th to be exact) and I took it upon myself to be the unofficial UU rep/reporter.
The festivities started at 10:30am with the L.A.U.G.H. meeting where they went over the songs that they were going to do as a group later that day.
I arrived at 11 am because traffic was bad. (it's that time of year in Michigan) By then they were in full swing and I walked in to their performance of "My little Grass Shack". They played a few other warm up tunes and then it was time for the open mic from 12pm until 4pm.
The open mic was quite the spectacle. John Payne, his socks, and his pedal board were quite entertaining to say the least. He did 3 songs but I messed up recording the first one. There were a few other UUers there too. Nick Kopas did a nice set and his son even joined him on stage.
I even got up there. I wasn't going to, but they were ahead of schedule and Hilo Greg told me to take his spot because he was attending the 2pm Mighty Uke Screening. Mike Kassel (aka Lambchop) did his famous songs "One Ukulele" and "Middle Aged Guy with a Ukulele" along with another song.
Ben Hassenger and Maria did a couple songs also and did a great job. Erin sorryiforgotyourlastname played a couple songs and sounded really good doing it. One was about beards and another about getting poked. Ben got back up there with his buddy Steve on the U-Bass and got down on a couple more tunes.
There were tons of others too, but I can't remember them all.
Once the open mic was done it was time for individual and group performances.
The pictures have been pirated from the mighty uke facebook page. They are not mine. Only the videos are.
I didn't have a good seat for the group/individual performances so I didn't record them. Other people did though. (see below)
They were very entertaining. The Lansing area group started off and did a nice set. I think MMUGS was up next followed by Rachel Davis, an excellent jazz style singer. Julianna Tuell and Andy Wilson performed an excellent set. Andy played a few different instruments as well. Magdalen Fossom, the 10 year old folk singer, wowed the crowd as well. The Ann Arbor Group did a couple songs as well. We played Stairway to Heaven, Secret Agent Man, Ukes on the march (a Hilo Greg original) and Stand by me. The fabulous Heftones performed the last set of the night and did a killer job.
We had to clear out of Sir Pizza by 7pm because they had another band headlining for the night and they had to set up.
I made my way over to the 7pm showing of the Mighty Uke documentary around the corner at the MICA gallery. This movie was very inspirational. It discussed where, how, when, why, what, and the who of the ukulele. All the greats, current and past, were in it. Jake gave a little interview as well as Bill Tapia, Jim Belof, and many others. If you haven't seen it yet, go pick it up or see it when it rolls through your town.
Like a dummy, I didn't stick around after the movie for the impromptu jam session. It was like 8:45pm and I decided to start the 1 1/2 hour journey back home. It was a great day and I sincerely hope it spawns an annual event here in Michigan.
Go here for more pictures and whatnot. http://www.facebook.com/mightyukeday and http://www.flickr.com/photos/slwagner/sets/72157626733908264/
Here's another write-up. http://themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com/
It takes like 45 minutes to render these HD videos and then another 20 for youtube. Be patient. There will be many more videos and write-ups.
Thanks for taking the time to read/watch/look.
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