WAYNE WONDER AND DEMARCO SET KAMPALA ABLAZE

THE much-hyped Demarco and Wayne Wonder concert, organised by KFM, finally went down last weekend at the Lugogo Cricket Oval. And boy, oh boy, what a major flop it was! We could perhaps blame the handful of revellers on the rain, for it was a wet affair all day and into the night. We had a sort of “am I at the wrong concert?” moment when Emperor Orlando and later, Mega Dee, if you remember them, got on stage as part of the curtain raisers. We did not see that coming! The KCCA advert encouraging everyone to clean up and beautify our Kampala, which had revellers booing, was another of the low points.It just went to show how more lessons need to be drilled in the minds of Ugandans if they are to become civilised and feel comfortable living in a clean and beautiful environment. I mean, who says no to cleanliness? Really? Well, back to the concert, most of the earlier opening acts were a drag untill the likes of Aziz Azion, Ragga Dee, Lilian Mbabazi and Jackie Chandiru graced the stage. They had amazing performances, but perhaps to crown it all, Bobi Wine’s Bad By Far gig took the night, for it sort of injected adrenaline into the handful crowd.The Goodlyfe boys were the last Ugandan act. They did not disappoint though someone should tell Weasel to stay away from skinny Jeans. Then came fireworks in honour of Uganda’s 50th birthday. Finally, Kenya’s Madtrax hit the stage. The hype man to the Get Down singer, a Mr Rosso, did what emcee Kats and some local artistes had failed to do all night. Alongside Deejay BK, this hype man worked the crowd to an overkill of frenzy with snippets of Kenyan songs from the past and now, a thing that gave Madtrax a joy ride. Somebody should have thrown MC Katts off the stage! Madtraxx lived to his billing with an energetic performance though the microphone and the sound did a good job at curtailing his act. Luckily, Wayne Wonder finally got on amidst screams. He braved the rain and delivered starling vocals. His Heal the World rendition was moving and stage presence was on point. Then finally, as time was inching towards 1:00am, Demarco, the man everyone was waiting for, hit the stage. Diehards braved the rain and loved every moment of the I Love My Life singer’s performance.The show, unfortunately, had more hype than crowds; more wait than hands in the air and the VIP area had more empty chairs in attendance. The visiting stars did not disappoint one bit, but they were let down by the sound which was, mercifully put, awful! Of course they also did not love the little crowd!