Mr Dudley appeared at the above venue at an all day show case held to re-launch the South Wimbledon venue.
There were many acts, mainly tuneless, over-amplified guitar bands. The day was split into alternate sections of sound check and performance. John, the stage manager and sound engineer for the day did his best to keep the acts smoothly flowing at about one every half an hour but performer’s inexperience will always show when they over-fuss leading to overlong (and loud!) sound checks.
Mr Dudley took to the stage at about 9 pm with Rich Jones. Mr Dudley sang and played a variety of ukuleles, Mr Jones played synthetic piano.
They kicked off with a song written by Laurence Mack the exiled Ivor Abiks. It was called “Happy Ending (I Want To See A)”. Mr Dudley utilized the baritone ukulele for this song (tuned DGBE- non-re-entrant tuning: low D).
Secondly came a Dudley original called “I Like My Hair Long”. This was originally composed in 1971 and has some lyrics updated for the modern audience. He played his Carlo Ricordo treble ukulele (tuned GCEA- re-entrant- high G) and Mr Jones extemporized an excellent solo on his synthetic pianoforte. A humourous paean to long-haired-ness which includes the line, “I don’t get the short haired men, I think they must be nuts. They get cold ears in winter and spend a fortune on hair cuts!”
Another Abiks song was performed next: “Powercut Song”. This is a poignant tune in three four (waltz time). It opens with Dudley simply strumming the chords of its minor key on his Ashbury Tenor ukulele (tuned GCAE- non-re-entrant tuning: low G). The second time round, over the strummed ukulele, he sang Ivor Abik’s simple yet moving lyrics. During the third reiteration, the ukulele continued and Mr Jones joined in and played a lush/ dense synthesizer part reminiscent of Hammond Organ and/ or Fender Rhodes piano. The last time through blend all three elements: ukulele, voice & keyboard.
Dudley & Jones finished off with the inevitable “Expect A Laugh”. Both of them trading solos during the middle section. It was a good bouncy and uplifting end to a very well received well balanced set.