A number of the Performing BUMS group braved the trip to the deep north to attend and perform at the inaugural Cairns Ukulele Festival. As to be expected with a first time event there were a few teething problems. However overall the festival was a great ukulele experience with some big local and international performers that made us more humble players feel very inadequate – or more positively gave us new benchmarks to strive for. The workshops were good and those of us who attended have come away with some new skills.
Our BUMS performance was a bit stressful as we were moved from an afternoon spot performing on the Esplanade to the last spot of the night on the beer garden stage at the Court House Hotel. Of course we loved the opportunity to have all those support acts performing before us, but it did mean we had to remain sober!!!
Maybe we had just enough alcohol to loosen us up as we managed to put in our best performance to date! By our second number we had a Conga line dancing around the beer garden led by the girls from the Dukes (Darwin Ukulele Kollective). 

The Conga Line (courtesy of Marg Renwood)

At the end of our set we experienced our first Encore call! It was a real buzz. 
As someone from the audience said to me the next day ”You BUMS really nailed it last night!!!” it was all worth it just for that. Roll on next year!
If you would like to be a Performing BUM, come along to our practice gigs on Wednesday nights at the Bowls Club. It is a great way to challenge yourself and lift your playing skills – it’s also a lot of fun. Be brave and join us!!!

–
Bruce

Brisbane Ukulele Musicians Society (B.U.M.S.) is a casual gathering of ukulele players, from beginners to advanced to people who just appreciate the joy of uke! We meet at 7pm on the first Wednesday of each month for a casual jam session, skills sharing and musical fun.

EXTRA! EXTRA! B.U.M.S. just keeps getting bigger! Some say this is an inevitable fact of life, but the fact is we are a victim of our success in helping people experience the joy of ukulele and have outgrown the studio @ Hook.

So, we have now relocated to the Coorparoo Bowls Club. Because this venue does not open on Mondays, we will now hold our monthly Big Uke Jams on the first Wednesday of each month. Our next scheduled meeting is Wednesday 4 August.

Please note, a gold coin donation is requested from all members to go to the Coorparoo Bowls Club to cover the venue hire. Thank you in advance for your support.

We’ll be (loosely) following this agenda for the evening:

• We play a couple of “standards” – download a copy from our Standards page.
• Monthly songs – suggestions from any BUMS member or guest are welcome. Send song suggestions to Kahiwa; be warned though, you’ll be expected to lead it.
• Individual showcase – individuals will have the opportunity to showcase a pet project, e.g. an original, an interpretation, new favourite songs, piece they’re learning/developing

Where: Upstairs at the Coorparoo Bowls Club, 32 Riddings Street, Coorparoo. See a map in Where is B.U.M.S.? Feel free to stop by the bar and grab a drink on your way upstairs.

When: 7pm until 9.30-ish

Bring: A smile and a ukulele. We also ask for a gold coin donation to help cover overheads.

Download a copy of the jam songs for August and a copy of our “standard” songs. You can send song suggestions to Kahiwa. Be warned though, if you suggest a song you’ll be asked to lead it – so make sure you have the chords and can teach it to us if no one else knows it!