Bradley's show lifeless

By Sebidde Kiryowa It was supposed to be the time Tony Bradley carried the day. The day all those holiday making teen boppers would scream their voices hoarse over Tony Bradley's sounds. It was supposed to be the time the spacious Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC) would be packed to capacity with hysterical fans. But none of this happened. Tony Bradley's debut CD launch at KPC last Sunday fell short of falling flat on its face. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't that Bradley was this big star for whom the auditorium was supposed to fill. No. It was the lifelessness of the show. There was simply no splendour. Somebody should have told Tony about the use of lights and backstage dancers for a typically R&B act like him. Or better still he should have learnt a thing or two from First love's December launch. For the most part, Tony wailed away alone on the stage as the sparsely filled auditorium fought to cheer him on. Evidently, he pushed his vocals to the limit. Boy does he sound fresh! The whole time I could not help thinking he actually sounded better live than on record. But I never quite got into the heat of things. He was simply not stirring enough. Most of Tony's songs are ballads-praise and worship format. This did not do much to arouse the audience although they got up and hysterically cheered him on at intervals. The height of the excitement came though when Tony stepped on stage with the rap quartet, Klear Kut. The boys flavoured up his On & On remix with a dose of their rhymes and fancy footwork to the audience's maddening. His performance of the house version of the fast track Don't Give Up also attracted freestyle dancers from the audience. Another high moment of the concert came in the form of Bradley's performances with his curtain-raisers Evolution. Evolution is a group of five young gospel singers with incredibly harmony-laced vocals. When the group performed the accapella More Like You in one of their medleys, the audience could hardly contain their excitement. Another monumental performance was the rendition of the biblical hymn Amazing Grace which Bradley himself recorded as a single for Surrender. This performance played like a harmonies battle between the more refined Bradley and the army of the five youngsters. All to the thrill of the audience. Before the concert ended, people were moving out. It's safe not to draw conclusions here but I like to think it was more because the concert outstretched itself. Bearing in mind that First Love, with whom Bradley shares a significant number of fans, had just performed that evening, the low turn up at Bradley's show can probably be justified. ends