Now that's what I call music!

Friday was upon us and it meant only one thing, the Stockton to Darlington Ukulele Express (SDUE) was hurtling into town, and us, the passengers, were ready to get on board!

In full swing

A few of us had gathered in the hall in good time to arrange the tables and chairs. We had completely sold out earlier in the week and even had to scrounge some extra chairs for the band! After plenty of arranging, rearranging and even more rearranging we settled on a layout, people would only move their chairs anyway! Things were all starting to come together on what would be one of the greatest party nights ever.

Another happy kazooer

Despite the music not starting until 7:30, it didn't stop people arriving in their droves, from 6! Chris was doorman for the night so waifs and strays didn't wander in. It wasn't long before all seats were taken. In fact, I noticed at one point Macaulay and Foster sharing a seat, although I suspect that was by choice and not out of necessity! We had managed to borrow some chairs from the primary school, and although smaller than normal with bright colours, they fit in well with the band as they all appeared with what I can only describe as 'funky' shirts.

Lol with a solo spot

Matthew was the 'King of Kazoos' as he undertook to sell, on behalf of the SDUE, kazoos at £1 for a big 'un and 50p for a little 'un. Could he beat the previous world record of kazoo selling of £76? Could he? Could he?? I bought the first one and very quickly everyone else followed. It took Matthew a little while to perfect the art of kazooing but once he got it he was away. Although he did ask me to check his kazoo as it wasn't 'working', only it wasn't the kazoo.....

Pleased to say that although Kriss Akabusi never burst in, he did set a new world record of £89.50! Hurrah!

Top family!

Now everybody was armed with a kazoo, it was time to begin. They kicked off with 'King of the Swingers' which immediately got the crowd on board. Shibbitybopbopdooday indeed! This was then followed up with 'Hello Mary Lou', 'Bad Moon Rising' and 'Stuck In The Middle With You'. Graham, to whom we owe thanks for arranging the night, then took to the mic with his own version of Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues'. Lindisfane, The Turtles, Status Quo were then followed with 'Enjoy Yourself'. It was Roz's solo next and she absolutely smashed it with her version of 'Upside Down' by Paloma Faith. The first half was finished off with two numbers with big audience participation - 'At The Hop' and 'The Lumberjack Song'. A cracking first half!

Graham charming his snakes

It was all hands on deck at half time, with a top team dishing out the pie and peas (which seemed to go down very well), we even catered for the vegetarians! Dad was in charge of bingo selling, while Kath, forever a willing helper, raked in the raffle money. We had 13 raffle prizes (which was unlucky for me - I never won a thing!) including a £20 voucher for The Roundel, a ferrero rocher sweet tree and a nappy cake (both made by Jackie & Kim). 

Roz rocking out a bit of Paloma

We had taken in quite a bit on the bingo so were able to pay out £90 in total. In the battle of the checkers it ended up with a victory to Team Chris by 3 wins to 1. After giving a (rhyming of course) speech we were almost ready for the second half. That was until Chris took to the mic and announced, unbeknown to me, that he had collected £350 in sponsorship from his colleagues off shore. Unbelievable! This was money from guys who I had never met and were never likely to, from countries all over the world including Norway, Russia and Canada! With that surprise sending a buzz around the hall, we were ready for the second half.

The Thornaby JLS turned out for the gig

At Graham's request our family took to the stage to sing 'Fields of Athenry'. I took the lead on the harmonica with the uke's backing up. In my head it sounded brilliant, and you know what? It probably did! We were back on track with the set list then, launching into 'Ghost Riders' and 'Rawhide'. It was a 'bring your own booze' night so the next song was quite appropriate - 'Little Old Wine Drinker Me'! 'Putting on the Style' and 'Dedicated Follower of Fashion' followed (oh yes it did!), and then Lol performed an excellent version of Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World', never had a ukulele solo provided so much emotion. It was a fantastic tribute to Granda.

Fantastic musicians - great people!

After the tears we had Kaiser Chiefs' (yes you read that right) 'I Predict a Riot', 'Maggie May' and 'Ain't No Pleasin' You'. Brendan, who had done an excellent job keeping the show going, asked us to all get involved with the kazoos for the next song 'Delilah' and do the duddleuddleuddleuddleooooo bit. Fortunately no knickers were thrown at him! We then had 'Crocodile Rock', 'Hot Love' and a lovely solo of 'The Last Waltz', before finishing on 'See You In My Dreams'.

Chuckle Brothers getting into the post night tidyup

We then sorted the raffle, with all prizes being claimed, and Mark took to the mic. As part of our fundraising project we want to help local places which fall under the umbrella of the work of the Brain Research Trust. To this end, Mark presented Kath with CD players to be distributed in homes she visits, on behalf of St Patrick's Church, who deal with dementia patients. In another emotional part of the night, Kath, clearly moved by the gesture, accepted the gifts and will distribute them accordingly. We had undertook to use the raffle money from tonight to buy more CD players, some of which will be going to Ward 24 at North Tees Hospital.

Don't even ask - I don't know the answer!

And so that was it, the night over! I must say once again how appreciative I am to Graham and the rest of the SDUE for their efforts last night, it was truly one of the greatest nights of my life and would love them to return again some time. Thanks also, as always, to the great team we have who make these nights a success, both friends and family. Far too many to name individually, so I won't, but you know who you are. It was also great to have Peter Deaton and Uncle Peter over in Thornaby.

A typical end to an amazing night

I've bigged up the night, I've enthused, I've gushed, I've been reading a thesaurus by the looks of it, but I must say my blog cannot stress how well the night went and how good it was. Everybody there last night will never forget the night they had. I fully believe a little bit of magic happened. The irony of the night is that Granda would have absolutely bloody loved it! Anyway, with ticket sales/raffle/bingo, we raised £690.05 (although some of this will be used for CD players), and that is without the £350 Chris had brought and the other sponsorships we picked up on the night.

I'm off now to nurse my hangover...