Reliving the past with a taste of oldies
The Afrigo Band performing at Tugende Mukikadde. Photo by Eddie Chicco
What you need to know:
Matovu asked the crowd to choose two songs to close the night. They chose “Jim” and at exactly 12.20pm, they performed “Sikulimba”.
Tugende Mu Kikadde, according to organisers, seeks to honour Ugandan entertainers from yester-years who left a mark on the local scene. The first edition, held on Saturday at the Kampala Serena Hotel and sponsored by Uganda Waragi served a glimpse of the purpose, except for the Halima Namakula experience.
After 45 minutes, Namakula could barely breathe. She had just performed “Ekimbewo”, her eighth song after, among others “Amba”, “Cheza Cheza”. “Musaja wa taxi”, “Kibuga” and “Sambagala”. The veteran musician whose hit – but mostly meaningless – songs, received massive airplay several years ago, walked towards her backup singers and dancers and said her goodbyes amid laboured breathing. This had characterised her performance.
A few of her fans, and Rema Namakula, offered a lukewarm handclap.
The Afrigo Band performing at Tugende Mukikadde. Photo by Eddie Chicco
These were signs that the crowd was tired, especially after an engaging performance from the very gifted vocalist and lyricist, Kabuye Ssembogga earlier.
Ssembogga had kicked off the night’s performance at 9pm with “Sheila”, followed by “Faima”, “Bisanyi”, “Onyamba nga Mukama” and “Obufumbo ye Mwana”.
Dressed in a white shirt and brown pants, Ssembogga, an ultimate performer, pulled off strange dance moves and engaged the crowd, which sang and danced along. He has been in the business for close to 40 years, so his performance came off naturally.
Rachel Magoola entertaining the crowd during the Tugende Mukikadde concert. Photo by Eddie Chicco
But Namakula’s attempt at entertaining the now restless crowd was not yet over. She said she would sing one more song, one for which she won an award, again, several years ago. She urged the crowd to sing along. The crowd stared at her and her dancers in bemusement.
The song, “Africa Yettu” summed up her performance, which will probably be remembered for poor microphone handling, a clownish, uncoordinated performance by her dancers but above all a dampened crowd. She departed at 10.20pm.
Jack Pemba with friends enjoying the music at the Tugende Mukikadde concert. Photo by Eddie Chicco
Her performance was however, quickly forgotten when Mariam Ndagire stepped on stage. The mere sight of her as she walked up the stairs at 10.25pm, singing “Mama” had the largely female crowd on their feet. She was wildly received. Partiers sang along to “Abakazi Twalaba”, “Bamugamba”, “Ansisitila”, “Kiki Onvuma” as well as “Byona Twala”. She did not try too much to impress and used her strong stage presence and soulful voice to keep revellers on their feet throughout. She exited at exactly 11pm to thunderous applause, with some of her fans screaming “encore”.
The crowd was left in the able hands of DJ Alberto as the night’s headliners, Afrigo Band fine-tuned their instruments.
Is there competition for Afrigo Band? Your guess is as good as mine. The band, which celebrated four decades of music last year, kicked off their performance at 11.30pm with “Abana ba Afrigo”. Moses Matovu, Joanita Kawalya, Rachael Magoola and Eddie Yawe all took turns to perform “Olumbe Lwo’bwavu”, “Mp’edembe”, “Obangaina”, “Mukayembe” and “Kati Onoba”.
Matovu, who was visibly irked by the poor sound midway through their gig, also took time to caution young musicians on music that will last for ages. He then asked the crowd to choose two songs to close the night. They chose “Jim” and at exactly 12.20pm, they performed “Sikulimba”.
Now onto the next one.
