Sean Paul Thrills Ugandan Fans
Apr 11, 2004
THE dancing started long before the actual show began. Long before Jamaican ragga star Sean Paul took to the stage in his ‘blazing’ show at the Nile Gardens on Friday night, all the corners of the gardens had been filled, and all the rooms in the hotel facing the stage had been taken.<br><br>
By Kalungi Kabuye
The dancing started long before the actual show began. Long before Jamaican ragga star Sean Paul took to the stage in his ‘blazing’ show at the Nile Gardens on Friday night, all the corners of the gardens had been filled, and all the rooms in the hotel facing the stage had been taken.
It did not matter that it took one of the longest sound checks we had ever seen, almost four hours long, to get the sound right. And it did not really matter that Red San’s music was not forthcoming, or that Jose Chameleone got pissed off with the DJ and walked off the stage.
All it took was Sean Paul’s appearance on stage, and everything went crazy. It was like one of these scenes we see so often on television, of fans swooning because they have caught a glimpse of their star, or that he is actually on stage, singing to them.
You say you never heard of Sean Paul, and that ragga is not really your thing? You had to be at the Nile Gardens on Friday to see that this Jamaican dancehall artist means almost everything to a whole lot of people.
We had not seen such crowds at the Nile since maybe Third World came to town on that very memorable New Year’s Eve in 1996. And given that some people had earlier been heard grumbling at the price of the tickets, surprise, surprise, the whole place was filled up by 8:00 o’clock!
And although the sound check took an awful long time, nobody booed, or heckled or asked for their money. Or even threw bottles, as would happen at events like these.
Maybe the high prices ensured that people who tend to do all those things could not afford to be present, and let everybody else have a good time. In the meantime we all danced to the sounds of Bob Marley’s reggae songs coming through the speaker system.
Is Sean Paul a star or not? Ask that very young girl (at most 10) who was almost crushed at the barrier, but would not agree to leave. Or ask the security guys and the kanyamas at the barrier who, after Sean Paul called the fans to the stage, were almost trampled under the feet of the crowd which surged forward, breaking through the metal barrier erected before the stage. They had to scamper very quickly to safety, as did the video camera man and the press photographers
Everyone just went crazy, and Sean Paul had to consistently appeal to them to relax, and enjoy the concert. They wouldn’t listen, though, and just wanted to touch him.
But he performed, and played all the songs his fans knew and loved. He did a few they did not know, but the tempo just did not let up. It is doubtful if everybody could understand what he was saying, but they danced and shouted and hollered and lit up lighters and had a whale of a time.
At times, the looks on the fans faces was of such wonderment and awe it was like they were in the presence of some kind of deity. And it went on and on till, at the end of two hours, Sean Paul said goodnight, his back up singer threw the microphones away, and the night of wonder had come to an end.
Dazed fans stood there for quite a while afterwards, some wondering if they had been on some roller-coaster dream, and not sure if it had ended. But it had ended, and they all quietly went away.
Ends
The dancing started long before the actual show began. Long before Jamaican ragga star Sean Paul took to the stage in his ‘blazing’ show at the Nile Gardens on Friday night, all the corners of the gardens had been filled, and all the rooms in the hotel facing the stage had been taken.
It did not matter that it took one of the longest sound checks we had ever seen, almost four hours long, to get the sound right. And it did not really matter that Red San’s music was not forthcoming, or that Jose Chameleone got pissed off with the DJ and walked off the stage.
All it took was Sean Paul’s appearance on stage, and everything went crazy. It was like one of these scenes we see so often on television, of fans swooning because they have caught a glimpse of their star, or that he is actually on stage, singing to them.
You say you never heard of Sean Paul, and that ragga is not really your thing? You had to be at the Nile Gardens on Friday to see that this Jamaican dancehall artist means almost everything to a whole lot of people.
We had not seen such crowds at the Nile since maybe Third World came to town on that very memorable New Year’s Eve in 1996. And given that some people had earlier been heard grumbling at the price of the tickets, surprise, surprise, the whole place was filled up by 8:00 o’clock!
And although the sound check took an awful long time, nobody booed, or heckled or asked for their money. Or even threw bottles, as would happen at events like these.
Maybe the high prices ensured that people who tend to do all those things could not afford to be present, and let everybody else have a good time. In the meantime we all danced to the sounds of Bob Marley’s reggae songs coming through the speaker system.
Is Sean Paul a star or not? Ask that very young girl (at most 10) who was almost crushed at the barrier, but would not agree to leave. Or ask the security guys and the kanyamas at the barrier who, after Sean Paul called the fans to the stage, were almost trampled under the feet of the crowd which surged forward, breaking through the metal barrier erected before the stage. They had to scamper very quickly to safety, as did the video camera man and the press photographers
Everyone just went crazy, and Sean Paul had to consistently appeal to them to relax, and enjoy the concert. They wouldn’t listen, though, and just wanted to touch him.
But he performed, and played all the songs his fans knew and loved. He did a few they did not know, but the tempo just did not let up. It is doubtful if everybody could understand what he was saying, but they danced and shouted and hollered and lit up lighters and had a whale of a time.
At times, the looks on the fans faces was of such wonderment and awe it was like they were in the presence of some kind of deity. And it went on and on till, at the end of two hours, Sean Paul said goodnight, his back up singer threw the microphones away, and the night of wonder had come to an end.
Dazed fans stood there for quite a while afterwards, some wondering if they had been on some roller-coaster dream, and not sure if it had ended. But it had ended, and they all quietly went away.
Ends