Ukulele Orchestra national tour announced

Media Release – for Entertainment reporters & Gig guides – 28/08/09

Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra
2009 New Zealand Tour
September – October
Tickets on sale September 1st
Visit www.ukulele.co.nz for all ticket info
Get The Dreaming EP at the shops from September 28th

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The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra are chuffed to announce their national tour in support of a brand new record, The Dreaming EP, which will include towns that have not yet hosted the wildly popular strummers.

The orchestra provokes a fanatical scramble for tickets wherever they play, so it’s advisable to book ahead – tickets are on sale from Tuesday 1st September.

Renowned for their sing-a-long favourites, snazzy dress sense, blazing solos, madcap banter and surprise guests, the band’s command of the four-string is lovingly interpreted through hit songs across the musical generations.

With two CDs already under their belt, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra will shortly release their new one, The Dreaming EP. Recorded at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, it features crowd favourite ‘Africa’, The Coral’s ‘Dreaming of You’, Prince’s ‘I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man’ and the Dean Martin hit ‘That’s Amore’.

The new EP also features the WIUO’s salute to the 60th anniversary of the haunting wartime classic ‘Blue Smoke’, which was written by Ruru Karaitiana during WW2 and became New Zealand’s first official pop song in 1949.

In the liner notes for the EP, painter Grahame Sydney, a fan of the ukulele and occasional guest performer with the band, writes: “A concert by the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra is transporting stuff; the innocent pleasure of music on parade… These five new tracks reveal the growing complexity and sophistication of their arrangements.”

Tour Dates:
Saturday 26 September - Alexandra Blossom Festival, Alexandra
Sunday 27 & Monday 28 September - Lake Wanaka Centre, Wanaka
Friday 2 October - Regent Theatre, Dunedin
Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 October - Harbour Light, Lyttelton
Tuesday 6 & Wednesday 7 October - The Boathouse, Nelson
Thursday 15 October - Martinborough Town Hall, Wairarapa
Saturday 17 October - Hawkes Bay Opera House, Hastings
Thursday 22 & Friday 23 October - Montecristo Room, Auckland
Saturday 24 October - Leigh Sawmill, Leigh

“Resistance is futile” – Sunday Star-Times
“They blew the roof off the place” – Hidden Track
“Near impossible not to dance to” – Rip It Up
“NZ could save a fortune on Prozac” – Audience member
For more info, contact ukemgmnt@gmail.com

ENDS

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