One of the most important parts of the show was Greene praying for Uganda. Photos/Andrew Kaggwa
The weekend was long… concerts, comedy shows and art exhibitions – many of them celebrating the girlchild were thrown around town. But then there was the Travis Greene concert at Lugogo Cricket Oval – this was shocking on many levels. He is one of the biggest gospel performers, a preacher, and the founder of The Forward City Church. Such big names rarely come to Uganda. Many believers made it to the grounds early enough, but unlike other shows where revellers show up and get drunk, these were in worship most of the time.
Performances from Sandra Suubi, Gabi Ntaate, K!mera and Brian Lubega were all prayers and it was only Levixone who did not lead the audience into some sort of prayer with his time on stage. His was a show, vibes, screaming and dancing; he even attempted Amapiano.
But the man most people were waiting for was Travis Greene, so much so that when his drummer and guitarist started setting up, the crowd went hysterical; they had not even played anything yet.
Aptly titled Make a Joyful Noise, the organisers intend to bring to Uganda more international gospel artistes and went ahead to ask the audience to make suggestions on who they would want to see perform in Uganda next.
Names such as Maverick City, Tasha Cobbs, Cece Winans and Mary Mary, among others, were mentioned, though little is known about when or who will be brought next. It is also not known how often the shows will be held.
Travis Greene took to the stage with a Ugandan flag, which he later hung onto the mic stand. Greene is a preacher, so when he performs, there are chances he will delve into worship and ask his audience to leave it all to God.
This has happened a number of times. And of course, even when he is the person that is on the posters, you always get more than him at the shows; his backup artistes are more than background people; they collaborate with him and he features them on some of the songs; they have verses.
Songs such as Put Your Name on Me were totally performed by Tony Fresh, his pianist, while on other songs, his three background artistes took turns.
From songs such as Be Still, Intentional, and Made a Way, he had the audience not only eating out of his palms, but he had them praise and worship.
One of the most important parts of the show was Greene praying for Uganda and reassuring the audience that Uganda is such a beautiful country with the best audience he has ever seen.
By 11pm, he had led a successful praise and worship and when he left the stage, he left a satisfied audience who still had their hands in the air.
The concert was possible in conjunction with Power FM and NMG Uganda
