Sixties classics in an acoustic setting

Welcome and thank you for visiting our website! (Liever in het Nederlands? Klik Hier)

We’re THE TICKETS, a multi-instrumental and multi-tasking duo consisting of Dave Hardy on vocals, guitar and some rather unique foot percussion, and Nigel Hubée combining his vocals with bass, mandolin, dobro, ukulele, guitar and harmonicas. We love arranging and performing Sixties (and occasionally Fifties) classics on acoustic instruments and there are so many memorable tunes from this wonderful era of creativity that even our 100+ repertoire still has room for expansion.

Our joint musical journey started way back in 1982 with a live performance at a private house party, and 40 years later we were very fortunate to mark that occasion with a gig on the exact same date. See photos from both events below!

Other news about our current or more recent activities can be found on our live performances page and our Facebook page will also keep you up to date.

Whenever they occur we try to use gaps in our performance schedule to record and publish new videos on our YouTube channel, making it up to 41 videos for you to enjoy so far. We’ve already welcomed more than 135,000 visitors from across the globe on our channel and we’d love you to join the fun!

Below is a selection of our most watched, liked and commented on recordings for each of the instrument combinations we arrange and play. Let us know what you think, we’d love to hear from you! The complete annotated list of our videos is also conveniently presented on our recordings page, so you can enjoy our music without leaving our website. Happy listening!

A CROSS-INSTRUMENT SELECTION FROM OUR MOST POPULAR YOUTUBE VIDEOS

This classic Stones composition and Chris Farlowe hit has been our most watched video in 2022, the year in which we celebrated the 40th anniversary of our musical partnership!
Our balalaika inspired mandolin arrangement of this 1968 global hit continues to be popular with both our global YouTube audience and with our local live audiences
Our version of this 1966 Rolling Stones hit has Nigel playing the original Brian Jones marimba part on the bass, adding some harmonica and vocal harmony parts, while Dave gives it his lead vocal treatment and foot percussion groove – this video still holds the record for most viewed overall on our channel and it may well be the reason you’ve come to our website to find out more
A little step back into the fifties, where we’ve arranged Buddy Holly’s first global hit for the ukulele – watch it alternate between rock ‘n roll licks and solos to fingerpicking style in the verses
This 1962 Bruce Channel hit is our most performed number and usually our gig or set finisher, with the multi-tasking maxed out with five instruments being played simultaneously by just the two of us throughout most of the song
One of our popular 2023 recordings takes us back a little further in time to the slide guitar Delta Blues of the early 20th century, with a harmonica solo added to the original version(s) as laid down by Eric Clapton and his great source of inspiration Robert Johnson
Recorded by The Beatles and The Shirelles, we love the early Sixties feel of this number, with Nigel taking the bass solo as well as adding a few extra Tickets riffs leading into the verses
Guitar instrumentals are an integral and popular part of our live repertoire, and this one is known for being the theme tune for the BBC radio Sound of the 60s programme for 34 years
We love this Kinks tune with its iconic opening riff and laid back feel, perfectly suited for some real life lazing on a sunny afternoon

We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to us so far! As well as the videos above, we’d love to entertain you with more of our popular or fast growing videos alongside this page (or below if you’re on a vertical screen). If you want to see them all, don’t forget to go to our YouTube channel and subscribe. As well as all the lovely comments on our YouTube videos, you can also read what others thought when they messaged us on our reviews page, or take a look at our more distant past on our history page.

We’d love to see you at one of our live performances!