Lovely and amazing. The Wellington international ukulele orchestra performing a cover of Valerie. There are eight members of the Wellington international ukulele orchestra. Hello. Can introduce us to the bad? We have Steve and Megan, Deanne just sung the lead. You be able to see the sparkles if you catch them on the video will post on our website. You have an incredible range. We're doing Justin Timberlake, Wilson Pickett, Dolly Parton. The whole point of this group was to see what we could do with the ukulele. Some people may wonder what exactly is a ukulele. It looks like a small guitar. Is different and the same as a guitar. It only has four strings. It's a very unassuming kind of instrument. If you're a guitarist you can play straight away because the shapes of your hand are the same. Any guitarist can play it straight away. What kind of range of sound can you get? I have a lower string. Most people start doing this kind of thing. We get a wide range because we have different types of ukuleles. Get all kinds of different sounds. You are all great musicians and singers. You do an amazing show. What we were doing was always very tongue-in-cheek. We try to keep it that way in our shows as well. We named our band as a joke. Everything when we started was a joke. There was 10 years ago and now the joke is on us because we're touring around the world. There has been a resurgence of ukulele over the last 10 years. There are community groups all around. People started jamming with their friends. A lot of the shows we are playing in America we see ukulele enthusiasts and other groups coming to our shows. San Diego is about the 10th. On a 40 city US tour you're making. This is the first time you been to the states. What stands out for you? All the friendly people we have met. We like to hear that. The thing that always stands up for me, a year ago on the East Coast, the venues we go to, the cruise and the people we work with, everything has such a high level of professionalism and positivity. The sports for the arts and everyone is deeply involved. What you think people expect when they come to your shows? A lot of people don't know what to expect. People think it's good to be terrible or my wife may become and they are pleasantly surprised. Meeting that happens in America is that people subscribe first season to theater. They would just come to shows the theater has programmed. There are a lot of people surprised by what goes on. In general, I would hope it's a pleasant surprise and people seem to have a lot of fun. The shows themselves or family friendly. Yes. I see shows are they go through motions with event. We don't demand any involvement that we do invite involvement. When we started, there's always the observation that people would leave after we had played with big smiles on their faces. It was a happy accident for us but something we have always been careful that we went to keep that effect in our show. We will people feeling uplifted and walking out with a big smile. The Wellington international ukulele orchestra perform tonight at 730. We are going to ask them to play midday edition out. Will you? Yes. Today is world player ukulele day. Thank you.
It is tempting to hope that they tiptoed through the tulips to get here. But alas, no.
The New Zealand band, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra is in San Diego Tuesday as part of a 40-city tour across the U.S. The eight-member band will perform at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Their website describes them this way: "Their signature sound features high-octane ukulele solos, heavenly multi-part vocal harmonies and an impressive range of ukuleles. Flamboyant outfits, delightful theatrical effects and convivial crowd participation complete the night." Well, then.
Concert attendees should expect to hear a wide range of music, from Justin Timberlake to Dolly Parton and Salt 'n' Pepa.
