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May 25, 2008
THOUSANDS of people swaying, twisting, waving, yelling, screaming, getting wild for the Lord! Such was the vista at Kirk Franklin’s Stomp Live Family Show at the Lugogo Cricket Oval last Saturday evening.
By Joseph Ssemutooke and Jude Katende
THOUSANDS of people swaying, twisting, waving, yelling, screaming, getting wild for the Lord! Such was the vista at Kirk Franklin’s Stomp Live Family Show at the Lugogo Cricket Oval last Saturday evening.
The contemporary American gospel icon’s pervasive energy could not leave anyone seated and the relatively mammoth crowd that turned up for the show were all sucked into the ‘holy ghost party’.
But they did not match the multitudes that throng secular concerts in size. People had already begun flocking to the venue by the time darkness claimed the skies, and they were not to be disappointed when stage action kicked off a few minutes past 7:00pm.
A long chain of curtain-raisers comprising both local and Kenyan gospel stars set the pace. Judith Babirye got the crowd chorusing word for word on Beera Nange, as did Wilson Bugembe on Njagala Kumanya and his latest, Komawo Eka, while Martin Sseku ushered in the dance energy with Leero Dance.
Others included US-based First Love, Kenyan-based Ambassador, who excited with Kunjane and Kenyan group Mavuno Gospel Project who taught Ugandans the Kenyan dance moves of Motoka, Wipers and Indicators. The African Children’s Choir were simply engaging.
Then there was ethics and integrity minister Nsaba Buturo who when asked to say a word seized the opportunity to declare Kirk the best artiste Uganda has hosted so far, arguing that he is ‘better than those who come to teach Ugandans how to smoke bhangi and marijuana.’
With such a high recommendation, a chest-thumping Franklin, clad in a white sleeveless top and blue jeans, stormed the stage at 9.45pm accompanied by six back-up singers. The crowd greeted him with resounding ululations.
He immediately asked everybody to stand up and dance. But it was like preaching to the already converted because most of the crowd was already up, including Buturo and UPDF’s Gen. Katumba Wamala.
To kick-start the show, Franklin put up a five-minute dance performance, gyrating, sliding, jumping, twisting, before he let the music loose with impressive showmanship on such songs as Lovely Day, My Life is in Your Hands, Lean on me, among others. With engaging vitality, he implored the crowd to join in the celebration.
The beauty of live music is that it allows for a lot of activity, and it helped Franklin to engage his diverse musicianship. For six tracks, he played at the piano while a solo vocalist sang.
At other times he silenced the instruments and engaged the crowd in acapella. If there is one thing those first moments proved, it was what we knew along — that Franklin is not just an energy powerhouse on stage, but knows how to draw the audience in.
Thereafter, in between songs, were solemn moments in which Franklin preached and testified with soft instrumental sounds playing in the background.
He told them of his being adopted at four by an old woman when his mother abandoned him, how at one time three of his family members were in jail at the same time, and how God had risen him from the dust to touch many lives. Many in the crowd were moved to tears.
Towards the end of the show Stomp, the crowd’s favourite and perhaps his biggest, drove the people crazy as they frantically waved blue bandanas.
Revolution saw people from the crowd try to teach the star a Ugandan dance to take back to the US. One lady evoked Nankasa, but it was the traditional Kinyankole dance done by some young man that intrigued Franklin — perhaps owing to its high energy.
At 11:25pm, he closed the show with This is it (Fight of My Life). He blew innumerable goodbyes to see off a crowd that did not want the party to end. uganda telecom sponsored the show.
THOUSANDS of people swaying, twisting, waving, yelling, screaming, getting wild for the Lord! Such was the vista at Kirk Franklin’s Stomp Live Family Show at the Lugogo Cricket Oval last Saturday evening.
The contemporary American gospel icon’s pervasive energy could not leave anyone seated and the relatively mammoth crowd that turned up for the show were all sucked into the ‘holy ghost party’.
But they did not match the multitudes that throng secular concerts in size. People had already begun flocking to the venue by the time darkness claimed the skies, and they were not to be disappointed when stage action kicked off a few minutes past 7:00pm.
A long chain of curtain-raisers comprising both local and Kenyan gospel stars set the pace. Judith Babirye got the crowd chorusing word for word on Beera Nange, as did Wilson Bugembe on Njagala Kumanya and his latest, Komawo Eka, while Martin Sseku ushered in the dance energy with Leero Dance.
Others included US-based First Love, Kenyan-based Ambassador, who excited with Kunjane and Kenyan group Mavuno Gospel Project who taught Ugandans the Kenyan dance moves of Motoka, Wipers and Indicators. The African Children’s Choir were simply engaging.
Then there was ethics and integrity minister Nsaba Buturo who when asked to say a word seized the opportunity to declare Kirk the best artiste Uganda has hosted so far, arguing that he is ‘better than those who come to teach Ugandans how to smoke bhangi and marijuana.’
With such a high recommendation, a chest-thumping Franklin, clad in a white sleeveless top and blue jeans, stormed the stage at 9.45pm accompanied by six back-up singers. The crowd greeted him with resounding ululations.
He immediately asked everybody to stand up and dance. But it was like preaching to the already converted because most of the crowd was already up, including Buturo and UPDF’s Gen. Katumba Wamala.
To kick-start the show, Franklin put up a five-minute dance performance, gyrating, sliding, jumping, twisting, before he let the music loose with impressive showmanship on such songs as Lovely Day, My Life is in Your Hands, Lean on me, among others. With engaging vitality, he implored the crowd to join in the celebration.
The beauty of live music is that it allows for a lot of activity, and it helped Franklin to engage his diverse musicianship. For six tracks, he played at the piano while a solo vocalist sang.
At other times he silenced the instruments and engaged the crowd in acapella. If there is one thing those first moments proved, it was what we knew along — that Franklin is not just an energy powerhouse on stage, but knows how to draw the audience in.
Thereafter, in between songs, were solemn moments in which Franklin preached and testified with soft instrumental sounds playing in the background.
He told them of his being adopted at four by an old woman when his mother abandoned him, how at one time three of his family members were in jail at the same time, and how God had risen him from the dust to touch many lives. Many in the crowd were moved to tears.
Towards the end of the show Stomp, the crowd’s favourite and perhaps his biggest, drove the people crazy as they frantically waved blue bandanas.
Revolution saw people from the crowd try to teach the star a Ugandan dance to take back to the US. One lady evoked Nankasa, but it was the traditional Kinyankole dance done by some young man that intrigued Franklin — perhaps owing to its high energy.
At 11:25pm, he closed the show with This is it (Fight of My Life). He blew innumerable goodbyes to see off a crowd that did not want the party to end. uganda telecom sponsored the show.