Irene Ntale on stage. PHOTOS BY ISAAC SSEJJOMBWE
It has been a year and a half since Irene Ntale had her maiden concert at Sheraton hotel gardens. It was a successful event but it was also the last event she did as an artiste signed to Swangz Avenue.
Last Friday evening at Serena Hotel Victoria hall, Irene Ntale had her second concert titled Ntale unchained, a concert that she and her sister who also doubles as her manager organized themselves. With this concert the song bird had to prove that she could stand on her own without a big label and at the end of it all she excelled. She proved the doubters wrong as everyone who left the venue gave her a thumbs up for an amazing show.
A few days to the show, Irene told us that there was no way her show would flop because she doesn’t believe in failure and this confidence was enough for her to pull it off.
READ: Irene Ntale speaks out after cutting loose from Swangz Avenue
She owned the stage from the moment she stepped onto it at 9.30pm, clad in a red outfit with backup dancers. She performed Go down low, Ono Omwana, a cover of Chronixx’s Smile for me, Kabugo and promise you alongside Zulanda and Ray Signature.
She then took her first break before returning in a different attire. She picked up her guitar and kicked off her second session with Langi empya off her album before doing Obudde and Sembera which was a turning point for the audience as most stood up, danced and sang along with her. She instantly kicked in with Keith Sweat’s Twisted after which she did Nkubukinze and then another cover.
The back to back mixture of her original songs and covers was something of interest to the audience as it showed that she had been doing rehearsals. The band including Michael Ouma, Emma Dragu, Joseph Sax knew what they were doing as well as the backup vocalists.
Irene’s third session was perhaps the best as she invited Bebe Cool on stage to do Love letter. Bebe turned the heat up with his vigorous movement and this set the show a little bit higher. Irene then did Weasel and Radio’s Ngenda maaso with the crowd singing the chorus before she performed Bikoola their collaboration, She ended her three-hours performance with songs like Stamina daddy, Kyolowoza and Nzena among others.
Credit also goes to Steve Jean’s Fenon records as they yet again proved that they are a force to reckon with when it comes to stage, lighting and sound especially at indoor events.