Formed in 1985 as the antidote to mindless pop and the indulgent bluster of the music business, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain donned black tuxedos and began giving “concerts” in tiny rooms above old pubs.

Four decades later they’re still thrilling audiences with their off-beat humour and four-stringed virtuosity from Tasmania to the Arctic Circle, Windsor Castle to Carnegie Hall. There are no drums, pianos, guitars or banjos, no pitch shifters or electronic trickery – just an astonishing revelation of the rich palette of orchestration afforded by ukuleles and a menagerie of voices in a collision of post-punk performance and old classics.

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of this much-loved institution on a white-knuckle shopping trolley dash through every kind of musical genre – from ABBA to ZZ Top, Tchaikovsky to Nirvana – all played on the “bonsai guitar”.

‘The best musical entertainment in the country’ (The Independent)