Big Madchester and Beyond Ukulele Singalong (21st February 2020)

February saw us return for the Big Madchester and Beyond Ukulele Singalong. Starting with the late 80s Madchester music scene as our inspiration, we arranged an evening’s celebration of Manchester music from all eras.

We had a fair amount of interest prior to the singalong, so we were expecting a good crowd. We definitely weren’t disappointed, The Sip Club was packed again and it was standing room only for most of the evening.

We had a jam-packed songbook for the evening, which we’d split into three sessions, kicking off with the first session at 8pm and carrying on until last orders.

Each session had a mixture of Manchester music from all eras. Starting with the 60s, we had songs from The Bee Gees, Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman’s Hermits, The Hollies and The Mindbenders. From the 70s, we had 10cc, more from The Hollies and Buzzcocks.

Compilation of songs from the three sessions

We had a selection of the best post punk/new wave bands from the early to mid 80s, including New Order, The Fall, The Smiths and The Waltones. Then in the late 80s, we had the best of the Madchester era, including The Charlatans, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, James and The Stone Roses.

From the 90s to the present day, we had some big anthems from the city from the likes of Elbow, Oasis and Take That.

It really was a fantastic evening, with a great atmosphere and people really joining in with singing and playing. We also had quite a few getting in the spirit of the late 80s, with Madchester themed outfits for the evening.

Playlist of most of the songs from the evening in full

Since the evening, we’ve had a really fantastic response on social media. Particularly on Twitter, where we’ve seen a number of the bands we featured liking our interpretations of their songs.

We hope to be back at some point with the Big Ukulele Singalong at the Movies, featuring all your movie soundtrack favourites. Though, given the current situation, we’re not sure when.

Head over to the Big Ukulele Singalong page to find out more about our singalongs. Got any song or theme requests? Get in touch or join our Facebook group.