Tekno performing for his fans at Lugogo Cricket oval on Friday night. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
When adverts started running about Mr Eazi and Tekno performing in Uganda, everyone was excited because Nigerian music is perhaps the most listened and danced to in Uganda. What would be better than the musicians singing live on the Ugandan stage?
The well-attended show dubbed “Tekno and Mr Eazi Live in Kampala” came to pass on Friday evening at Lugogo Cricket Oval but was not as exciting as we had hoped.
At a few minutes to 10pm, MC Kats who hosted the event with Anita Fabiola introduced Mr Eazi on stage. But many complained Fabiola’s MCing skills. In fact, some were heard saying she should stick to only acting and slaying.
Fabiola aside, the Nigerian singer based in Ghana came on stage performing Sample You, a song that is well known by Ugandans, and they did nothing but scream and dance to it. After that though, the mood went low when Mr Eazi followed with songs that are barely known by most Ugandans. The mood improved somewhat when he continued with songs like Dance for Me, Fire Burn, Feelings and finished his performance with Leg Over before he left the stage. However, he wasted 15 minutes doing nothing but miming other popular songs by different musicians.
Cindy Sanyu (centre) performed alongside her dancers. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Many were surprised to see Mr Eazi come on stage at 9.45pm before Bebe Cool especially because the Nigerian artiste was one of the headliners but that decision by the organisers was the right one as the Gagamel boss showed experience on the stage. Having done this for many years, he knew exactly what the audience wanted and his choice of songs that included Katono, Nananana, Kabulengane and Mbozi Zamalwa kept everyone on their feet. Other local musicians that performed included Fille, Bruno K, Ykee Benda, Fik Fameika, Sheebah and Cindy who was perhaps the best performer before Bebe Cool stole her shine.
The night’s MCs Anita Fabiola (left) and MC Kats (right). PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Tekno, the most anticipated artiste took to the stage at 15 minutes past 11pm. The ladies screamed while the guys watched on to see what was coming next. He’s known for his dance skills going by his videos but during the show, he proved otherwise as people waited for them in vain. Tekno’s first song was not known by the crowd as they kept cold until he switched to Samantha that rang a bell then continued with popular songs like Pana, Duro, Where, Yawa, Tender, Wash and finally closed the show 5 minutes to midnight with Rara. The show was ended prematurely as he just left the stage, leaving many wondering whether he was still coming back for another session. Their question was answered when Fabiola called it a night.
Besides all that, the poor sound was the lowlight of the show. It was so bad in that the artistes had to switch from live to CD playbacks and it was still terrible. Some speakers at one end of the venue kept going on and off while the screens were not visible to people in the general area.