Two electric ukuleles and a song list that runs from Chuck Berry to Kings of Leon are heading to Hampton Hub Club on Sunday evening, when the Ukaye Ukes play the venue on Ashley Road, a minute’s walk from Hampton station.
The duo is Bill Dare and Kaplan Kaye, who play electric and acoustic ukuleles over backing tracks they’ve recorded themselves, so what comes off the stage sounds closer to a full band than the gentle strumming most people picture when they hear the word ukulele. The band’s own website lists a few things they’ve done along the way:
- They toured as the support act for the soul singer Geno Washington, who said they “smashed it every night with their sing along, good time music.”
- Their first CD, BlueSkies, came out on Zango Records in March 2011.
- They supported The Straits, the reformed Dire Straits line up, at the Royal Albert Hall.
- They played the Isle of Wight Festival in 2015.
Doors Open at 6pm and the Music Starts Around 7.30pm
Doors open at 6pm on Sunday 8 November and the band is due on at around 7.30pm, according to the gig listing on Lemonrock. The Facebook event shows a 7pm start, so treat that as the time to be sitting down with a drink, since the first song will probably come a little later. Hampton Hub Club says on its FAQ page that Sunday shows finish around 10pm, an hour earlier than most nights, so people can get the train home.
Seats are first come, first served from when the doors open, and there are no table bookings, so anyone who’d rather not stand all evening should aim to be there for six.
Tickets Cost £10 in Advance and £14 on the Door
Advance tickets are £10 through FIXR and it’s £14 on the night, or you can reserve by calling the box office on 07770 636303 and pay when you arrive. The venue says door tickets are usually available but that popular acts do sell out, and if a show is cancelled, ticket holders are given a full refund.
Motown, Rock and Roll and Songs the Whole Room Knows
The band’s published repertoire runs to 66 songs, though there’s no set list for Hampton, so these are songs they play and not a promise of what you’ll hear on Sunday. It takes in Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode, Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and Earth, Wind and Fire’s September, along with newer songs like Kings of Leon’s Sex on Fire, Elbow’s One Day Like This and George Ezra’s Budapest, and Sweet Caroline and Valerie are both on there for anyone hoping to sing along. The duo also plays some songs of its own.
The Venue Is a Minute From Hampton Station
Hampton Hub Club is at 3 Ashley Road, TW12 2JA, right by Hampton station on the line between London Waterloo and Shepperton. There’s free street parking on Ashley Road and the roads nearby, because the few spaces on site are kept for performers.
Inside, the bar serves beer, wine, spirits and alcohol free drinks and takes cash, contactless and chip and PIN. Food is limited to bar snacks, crisps, nuts and vegetable samosas, and since the snacks contain nuts, check with the staff if you have an allergy, or eat at one of the restaurants about five minutes away first. There’s step free access, accessible toilets and wheelchair spaces both in the seating and on the dance floor, but there’s no cloakroom, so leave the big winter coat at home if you can.