Jake Shimabukuru Live in Liverpool - (2)

I posted yesterday about my latest Ukafrolic - preparing to go to Jake's first concert of his first UK tour in Liverpool on Tuesday. Before that I posted the interview that I was so privileged to be given by Jake for this blog. So there I was at St George's Hall, as excited as any teenager about to see their favourite pop star!

I was lined up to assist with selling merchandise for Jake's team... Jake's new CD "Travels" and Jake teeshirts. As such, I was also privileged to have Green Room access. Mary (Mary Agnes Krell, tour organiser for Grand Northern Events) and I went up there to check that everything was ready for Jake and his team to arrive, and very soon afterwards in they came.

I was so conscious that here were people about to put on a first full concert in a strange venue in a foreign country... tension? Nerves? Certainly not from the performers! So relaxed, so warm and friendly! And so solicitous... would I like some orange juice, asked Jake... what, me? You're considering ME? But yes, he was! I was very touched - what a nice young man - and I just didn't want to be in the way!

Jake signed the little blue uke for the Cavern Club Hall of Fame. Then Mary and I set up the table to sell CD's and tee-shirts and I waited there, poised, for folks to arrive. Business was brisk... I was delighted to see Peter Moss and Andy Eastwood, brilliant uke players themselves, both in the highest echelons of British ukery, and both of whom I've featured on here several times... Tim Smithies of Dead Man's Uke appeared at my shoulder, and of course, In Liverpool, the Mersey Belles! I think the most excited of all the musicians there was Michael Adcock, who has to be one of Jake's most fervent fans.

I was honoured to have a couple of quiet minutes with Jake in the Green Room before the show... how wonderful - he signed my Little White Uke on the headstock and I could not believe how laid back he is, less than 15 minutes before playing - his genuine warmth was an absolute joy to be around.

The concert was in the Concert Room. What a fabulous room for Jake's first performance here... it is staggeringly beautiful. Charles Dickens gave many readings on that stage as he considered it the perfect venue! Do follow the link for a full description!

Jake came on stage to tumultuous applause, accompanied by his bass player Nolan, and the two of them gave us a full ninety minutes of wonderful music! If anyone entered that room unsure of whether they would like Jake's performance, any doubts were soon dispelled. He held that audience totally mesmerised. Every piece was different in mood, and different in the array of picking and strumming skills - how often I heard gasps at the sounds Jake so expertly teased out of that beautiful custom Kamaka... and Jake and Nolan were the perfect stage partnership - Nolan accompanied Jake's playing with consummate skill and sensitivity - it was clear that they love playing together. What a joy!

I can understand why Jake is often called the "Jimi Hendrix of the ukelele"... they used to say that Hendrix and his guitar were "as one" when he played... his musicality was such that he was on a different plane when he played... and this was how Jake came across to me as I watched and listened. He oozes musicality. I said to him after the show, "Jake, you don't play music - you ARE music..."

There were two standing ovations! Lordy, Lordy....

Directly after the concert I rushed down to man the stall again and it was manic... everyone wanted a CD, everyone wanted a teeshirt... not surprising. Then Jake came out to do a meet and greet... and everyone went home totally bowled over by this young man. I shall never forget Michael Adcock's face... still transported, half an hour after the show ended! What a shame my camera was still in the Green Room! Thank you. Mary and Rob, for bringing this to fruition.

Jake in England.

Then next morning, Jake was on the BBC, national TV. I watched the interview from my hotel room and smiled broadly. What a Ukafrolic I had had - a day never to be forgotten!

As I write, Jake is appearing in London, a sell-out.... but you can still catch him in Leeds or Bath!

photos courtesy of Rob Collins, www.tinguitar.com

Jake Shimabukuru live in Liverpool - first concert in the UK! I wuz there.... (1)

Ukafrolic - my fun, made-up word to describe fun times around ukuleles... to be sure I have been fortunate this year alone to have had very many memorable ukafrolics - some of which I have not found the time to tell you about yet, unfortunately - but surely last night's was rather - nay, exceedingly special! And I'm wasting no time in telling you about this one!

Perhaps you read the interview that Hawaiian ukulele super-star Jake Shimabukuru so graciously gave me in my last post. I had initially thought that I wouldn't be able to go to any of the four concerts that Jake is giving in England this week... family commitments and then the GFS convention in Blackpool at the weekend... but when a player as highly regarded as Jake is coming to the country for a first tour - how can you pass up the opportunity to see them? So I juggled things around a little, resolved to squash more things into less time, and bought my tickets for the first concert, Liverpool St George's Hall. Concert ticket, train ticket. Long-Suffering-Husband had his own commitments so with his blessing I would go alone. Could not wait.

The tour is being organised by Mary Agnes Krell of Grand Northern Events - organisers of the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival. Now there's a woman in a million. She has vision, belief and firm principles. The vision and belief to want to bring Jake here, to know that the ticket-buying ukulele community would want to see him and that the tour should be successful, and the principle that it should be a not-for-profit undertaking. Anyone can see the inherent risks...

I so wanted this tour to be a success - for Jake, and for Mary, so ably supported by her man, luthier Rob Collins (www.tinguitar.com)... I asked if there was anything I could do to help... next day, Mary asked me if I would help Jake's tour manager on the merchandise stall as he was totally unfamiliar with our currency. Yes, of course I would.

Jake is a huge Beatles fan... the team arrived on Monday, predictably jet-lagged and very tired by the long-haul flights - but off they went to do the Beatles tour of Liverpool... the Beatles Museum, the houses where the Famous Four grew up, the song-spots, (Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane) and the Cavern. Jake was delighted to play on the Cavern stage... after all, it was the George Harrison number "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" that rocketed him to public recognition in the famous Youtube video that went viral.

I got a last minute request as I prepared to leave home yesterday morning to catch the train ... would I find a few minutes that day to pop into a music shop and buy an inexpensive uke for Jake to sign, as the Cavern Hall of Fame would gladly display it? No problem. A few hours later I was with Mary, walking through Liverpool to the venue, St George's Hall, armed with a little blue uke for the Cavern, and my own little white uke to ask Jake to sign. I knew I was in for a fantastic evening - and I was not disappointed!

It's getting late... I'll dying to tell you all about it... but will have to finish off tomorrow! Now don't go away... promise? So much to tell!

photo courtesy of Rob Collins, tinguitar.com

If you missed Liverpool you can catch Jake at Leeds or in Bath... maybe even in London as a few seats have been released... tour details here... If you're not sure that Jake is your thing... believe me, he will be! If you're in the UK, GET THERE!

Jake Shimabukuro to visit the UK!

Yes it's true, dear readers, it's true... Jake Shimabukuro is coming here... to play Liverpool, London, Leeds and Bath in September.... organised by the team at Grand Northern Events, (the team behind the Grand Northern Ukulele Festival and the Grand Southern Ukulele Festival), this will be Jake's very first visit here!

Read all about it here... tickets on sale now for three of the four venues... but better be quick, I'm thinking!

Now isn't that a great way to start the weekend!

Here's Jake playing "Over the Rainbow"



Thanks for dropping in... don't go too far away, now!