THE Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain tackle Tchaikovsky to David Bowie and everything else in between – no wonder their Worcester Festival appearance is a sell-out.

The band – the late Beatle George Harrison wanted to play with them and former Monty Python star Michael Palin described them as a “unique musical phenomenon” – will perform at the Huntingdon Hall on Monday, the exciting final night of the festival.

When they last played in the city in July 2007, your Worcester News reviewer noted that the “whole joke works because it’s not supposed to” and that the Ukulele Orchestra have firmly found their niche.

Interpreting a wide variety of well-known pieces, which usually include David Bowie’s Life On Mars, the theme from the film The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK, the well-dressed string band perform – as the name suggests – on ukuleles, which was the instrument made famous by 1930s British film star George Formby, whose catchphrase was: “Turned out nice again”.

The orchestra consists of rhythm, bass, baritone, tenor, soprano and lead ukulele players and their act, which started in 1985, has become something of a national obsession.

The group’s first gig, intended as a one-off, was a sell-out, and there have been hundreds of appearances on national radio and television since.

The musicians’ website says: “A concert by the Ukulele Orchestra is a funny, virtuosic, twanging, singing, awesome, foot-stomping obituary of rock and roll and melodious light entertainment, featuring only the bonsai guitar and a menagerie of voices; no drums, no pianos, no backing tracks, and no banjos. A collision of post-punk performance and toe-tapping oldies. You may never think about music in the same way once you’ve been exposed to the ukes’ dep-raved musicology.”

For more information about the orchestra visit ukuleleorchestra.com.