Jake Shimabukuro – A Review - Grand Ukulele Tour 2013 - Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, San Rafael California

SCORE! Jake Shima USB key with
the night's concert download
included! Yay!

              

              I remember when I was young(er than I am now – and after this sentence you will know approximately how young I am not), my high school boyfriend and I contemplated buying tickets to Diana Ross’ one woman show at the (then) Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. I remember we had this conversation about seeing this one-woman show – how the could one woman hold a whole auditorium of roughly 4,000 occupied for 90 minutes or more? Will we lose interest and get bored? Will she NOT sell out so it will be weird playing to a half empty venue? In the end, we splurged – bought the tickets and we didn’t regret it. For 90 minutes, Diana Ross had us from the minute the lights went down and at the end of ninety minutes, the full house leaped out of their seats, getting her to do two encores and even after that, wanting more.

            Skip to so many years later….2013. Jake Shimabukuro, this kid with a ukulele, is coming through my backyard in Marin on his Grand Ukulele 2013 Tour one-man show.  Same thing – how can some kid with a ukulele keep the Marin Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium crowd of 2,000 seats occupied for 90 minutes – I mean, really? Jake is a Japanese-American, so in a weird way, I feel like he’s “my people”, my Mom & family friend are really into ukulele music right now, so hubby and I decide to spend our hard earned mega bucks to support Jake and in the meantime, hopefully be entertained.

            We decided to buy tickets – everyone decided we wanted “good seats” and I think I got lucky – I got the last four seats in the third row of the orchestra pit. Not too long after that, the whole venue sold out.

            Jake did not disappoint. From a stage sparsely decorated with some crinkled fabric runners and vibrant colored lights and a microphone perched center stage, Jake hit the stage strumming. This is not Tiny Tim's ukulele show. Jakes ukulele is jazzy, it’s full of rhythm and, well, damned entertaining. If the music doesn’t entertain, his sheer manual dexterity – gained from years of practice (since he was four years old) will amaze you. The kind of amazement that leaves you slack-jawed and in awe.

            Full disclosure, I previously saw Jake in San Diego at a fundraiser my rich uncle (doesn’t everyone have a rich uncle?  I figure everyone has at least a rich uncle, or a deadbeat uncle – and I lucked out) organized at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego. At this fundraiser, Jake was 2 years younger and catered to the “Japanese-American” community side of the audience. After the show, we were lucky to have a few words at a meet and greet at the Japanese Gardens in Balboa Park, another venue my uncle was running at the time.

            This time, Jake’s performance was a bit more “mainstream”. Highlights included making his trusty ukulele sound like an electric guitar (ala Jimi Hendrix & Van Halen), mandolin and even a little rendition of “Dueling Banjos” from the early ‘70’s kept toes tapping and heads bobbing  along to the familiar music (have to mention the “ala Hendrix” part was hubby’s favorite part). I firmly believe his use of sound engineering is brilliant and shares in making the magic of this show.

            This reviewer found nuggets of gold in his self-composed pieces, such as 5 Dollars Unleaded (a piece I run to) and a variation of  “Dragon”. I am crazy proud that in 2013, a Japanese-American can make it to the heights Jake has achieved, all the while remembering how difficult it was for prior generations. In this regard, his talent notwithstanding, this show for me was a marvel.

            After a two encore standing ovation, Jake retired to the lobby to sign autographs and chat a bit with his public. This reviewer was thrilled when this famous guy recognized me from the third row and shared a nice “Aloha”. Autograph scored and $50 worth of souvenirs later (poster, CD & ukulele USB with a soundtrack of the concert included (yeah!)) this reviewer went home happy!

            Can one person keep a whole audience entertained for 90 minutes? You betcha! If you enjoy jazzy music with some old familiar tunes mixed in, a little bit of island humor and unbelievable manual dexterity, than this is your ticket. Get yourself a third row seat and prepare to be entertained!