Chaos mars Kireka show

By Cynthia Nankumba IT is a pity that poor time management always catches up with organisers of local music shows. However, indisciplined audiences will not sit back and watch their time slip away with no action and explanation. In Kireka, a city suburb where multitudes earn a living by selling roasted sweet potatoes at sh200 a piece, paying sh4,000 for a five-hour musical show means they expect a quality performance staged on time. This was, however, not the case at the Kireka Y2K theatre on December 7, where a fullly-packed theatre sat for over two hours, staring at an empty stage, waiting for the much-hyped Eagles Production show. The show was slated for 8.00pm. The long wait caused some uneasiness. The audience began galloping their drinks. Pots of Mwenge bigere (local beer) in and around the area were emptied. Next came the waragi, sodas and eventually the beers. Frequent trips to the two toilets resulted in a foul stench akin to that of dead rats. The audience had now waited for over an hour and their patience was wearing thin. The waragi and beer bottles were dry and it was time to put them to dangerous use. One by one the bottles were hurled on stage, forming a pile of broken China. The instruments lined up on stage, suffered most. The strings of the two guitars were broken. The keyboard was left toothless as its buttons popped out, falling on the stage. A five-month-old baby who was breastfeeding had his face injured when a bottle accidentally landed in its face. Good Samaritans had to rush the baby to hospital. To curb the situation, Ronald Mayinja a musician, came on stage and announced that the show would begin in a few minutes. A boy who rushed on stage to sweep away the broken bottle pieces, sent a cloud of dust polluting the already cigarette-chocked environment.The ladies complained about their hair now in dissary. Shortly, the technicians who had fled from the raucous audience returned, more instruments were brought in, wirings were done, and three queen dancers came on stage and the show started. However, the dancers spent half the time plucking unswept broken bottle pieces from their bare feet, to the audience’s annoyance. The broom boy had to return for another round of cleaning. When Mesach Semakula came on stage with Wampangula, the crowd went wild, clapping their hands fast like rattling dustbin lids. Then came the silky-voiced Fred Maiso, accompanied by a male dancer who twisted every bone in his body. Many thought he would leave some of his body parts on stage. Fred Selugga was applauded for his Jimmy Katumba-like voice. His Gwenalonda, waved off disgust from the audience’s minds. Mayinja was a darling. His songs Nsasila and Clare, moved the mammoth crowd. Then came the heavy weight Geoffrey Lutaaya who sent pockets dry. The crowd went loose at his Ojila okyamudaaza It was a penniless but excited audience that left the theatre at 3.00 pm. However, some were still complaining about the poor time management. ends