Azawi performing as the headlining act. Photo | Isaac Ssejjombwe
Starting a cover band in Uganda is one of the hardest things. Besides the equipment, finding the right people for those equipments is another hustle all together but once everything has been fitted in, there comes another hustle to get gigs.
Much as we know Abeeka, Janzi, Ivuga and MykoOuma and his friends, there are some cover bands that are quite impressive only that they are less known. An example is Vanessa and the band, who took over the Guinness match day event last Saturday at Design Hub.
Before the event, few people, especially first timers had ever heard about them but their execution might have opened more doors for business opportunities.
Most bands in Uganda sort of have a template on how they play their music but Vanessa and her band showed the crowd a totally new way of how things should be done. They did not need to segment their songs but just switched their playlist to suit the comfort of the crowd.
The songs they did had a different pattern. Imagine playing songs such as Jabulani by PJ Powers, following it up with Maurice Kirya’s Boda Boda and then I Love You Africa by Steve Kekana and then Wasibuka Wa by Bebe Cool followed by Buga, Bamutute by Azawi, Kenzo’s Weekend, Beyonce’s Single Ladies and then mixing in Influencer by Feffe Bussi, Busy Signal’s Reggae Music Again and Reasons by UB40 among others.
All the above songs have different flows but they managed to incorporate them in a seamless fusion. Football fans were seen dancing and singing along to songs whose lyrics they knew.
The band’s session lasted for close to two hours before Azawi, the headlining act of the evening took to the stage in a CD playback session doing songs such as My Year, Lo Fit, Repeat It, Quinamino and Bamutute among others.