There were no curtain raisers, no posters reminding us of who had sponsored the concert, no parents being hurled up to stage by the artiste, apparently to be thanked for their input in their son’s music career, no host boring us with eulogies about the artiste in a bid to kill time as the organisers wait for the crowds to swell. And oh… there were no publicity stunts for the concert involving religious conversions, no. The Maurice Kirya Live concert on Friday didn’t have that nonsense. It was simply all about music.
He walked onto stage at 8.15pm at Victoria Hall in Kampala Serena Hall and went straight into his set with the soulful, I will sing to the applause of the crowd. It was Kirya unplugged. It was Kirya shedding off the skin of “yeah he’s alright”, putting one a more tougher skin that signaled his arrival as one of the most accomplished East African artistes.
The way Kirya approached his concert in terms of preparation and concept also spoke volumes about the kind of artiste he wants to portray but better still, his knowledge about how music concerts in the West are run in terms of advertising. He for example didn’t have the traditional approach of using FM stations to announce the concert, but rather relied on the social media in avenues like Facebook to get his message out. He used Twitter to do auditions of those who wanted to participate in the concert. He actually had the concert shot live (in a documentary form) in HD (High Definition). Now, Ugandan artistes don’t do that.
The show didn’t disappoint and had a few surprises like former Tusker Project Fame contestant, Valerie Kimani having a duet with Kirya entitled Village Girl. His other duet was with his brother Vampino at the end of the show. Kirya fused his brother’s hit Sika Chapati with his own hit Boda Boda. Everything worked out well for Kirya right from his constant cheeky engagement with the fans, to issues like time-keeping. He started on time and ended on time. It was a perfect show.
The show was wrapped up by 10.30pm and going by the huge diverse crowd, Maurice Kirya had managed to convince his fans that he had moved a gear in his journey as an artiste.
Guitar star Maurice Kirya of the 'Nanaagira' fame is all smiles after getting information that he will be performing on the same stage that American rapper J. Cole performed three weeks back in South Africa.
