Ngoma thrills the royals
Apr 25, 2003
Not even the incessant drizzle that came down on Friday night could dampen the show that was Oliver Ngoma’s third visit to Uganda. As chairs became umbrellas at the parking lot of the Hotel Equatoria, the diminutive Gabonese musician gave it his all, and nobody missed a step.
By Kalungi Kabuye
Not even the incessant drizzle that came down on Friday night could dampen the show that was Oliver Ngoma’s third visit to Uganda. As chairs became umbrellas at the parking lot of the Hotel Equatoria, the diminutive Gabonese musician gave it his all, and nobody missed a step.
No one has ever described Ngoma as a dynamo on stage, and his rather shy demeanour does not lend itself to an explosive performance. But his music is good, his voice still sounds fresh after fifty-something years, and of course we knew all his songs. So what more did we want?
And in any case, Uganda has been rather starved of international musicians, and the previous fiascos have not encouraged promoters into venturing into the business. But Sabrina’s Hope Mukasa and his wife Sheena have been in the business a while, and know the ropes.
And it was Easter time, and Kabaka Mutebi II’s birthday, so they decided to combine the two, invite the Kabaka as guest of honour and pull off one of the smoothest shows in recent times.
Holding the concert in the Equatoria parking lot was another first, and although the hotel’s caterers at first fumbled service, causing several ‘VIPs’ to struggle for chicken, they soon got the hang of it, and everything went smooth after that.
The only blight were the local artists that were supposed to curtain raise for Ngoma. According to organisers, these were supposed to start their performances at 6:00, but by 7:30 none of them had appeared.
By the time CBS’s Abdu Kawenja appeared on stage and started cracking jokes, Oliver Ngoma was already in the house awaiting his allotted starting time of 9:00pm. And by the time the Diamond Ensemble started performing, the Kabaka was already seated. So by the time they did their bit, and after Ragga Dee and Chameleon had done their ‘curtain raising,’ it was after 10:00pm. Local artists just don’t get it, do they?
But eventually, Oliver Ngoma came on, and did not stop till after midnight. He did all his favourite songs, and a few new ones, and everyone was happy. Even the Kabaka stayed till the end. Wonder how many times he gets to ‘go out’ to a concert? He apparently had a very good time along with his Nabagereka.
Although the dancers were vigorous in their movements, no ‘Shadow’s Angels’ antics took place.
One thing about a VIP show is that everybody is seated on chairs, making it hard for the artist to raise some real steam. That is how it started out. But some brave souls started dancing, and soon a good part of the capacity crowd joined in, and it was a greatly relieved Ngoma that extended his show for several songs. And after special requests for Adia, Lusa and Bane, he did those too, and we went home happy.
Not even the incessant drizzle that came down on Friday night could dampen the show that was Oliver Ngoma’s third visit to Uganda. As chairs became umbrellas at the parking lot of the Hotel Equatoria, the diminutive Gabonese musician gave it his all, and nobody missed a step.
No one has ever described Ngoma as a dynamo on stage, and his rather shy demeanour does not lend itself to an explosive performance. But his music is good, his voice still sounds fresh after fifty-something years, and of course we knew all his songs. So what more did we want?
And in any case, Uganda has been rather starved of international musicians, and the previous fiascos have not encouraged promoters into venturing into the business. But Sabrina’s Hope Mukasa and his wife Sheena have been in the business a while, and know the ropes.
And it was Easter time, and Kabaka Mutebi II’s birthday, so they decided to combine the two, invite the Kabaka as guest of honour and pull off one of the smoothest shows in recent times.
Holding the concert in the Equatoria parking lot was another first, and although the hotel’s caterers at first fumbled service, causing several ‘VIPs’ to struggle for chicken, they soon got the hang of it, and everything went smooth after that.
The only blight were the local artists that were supposed to curtain raise for Ngoma. According to organisers, these were supposed to start their performances at 6:00, but by 7:30 none of them had appeared.
By the time CBS’s Abdu Kawenja appeared on stage and started cracking jokes, Oliver Ngoma was already in the house awaiting his allotted starting time of 9:00pm. And by the time the Diamond Ensemble started performing, the Kabaka was already seated. So by the time they did their bit, and after Ragga Dee and Chameleon had done their ‘curtain raising,’ it was after 10:00pm. Local artists just don’t get it, do they?
But eventually, Oliver Ngoma came on, and did not stop till after midnight. He did all his favourite songs, and a few new ones, and everyone was happy. Even the Kabaka stayed till the end. Wonder how many times he gets to ‘go out’ to a concert? He apparently had a very good time along with his Nabagereka.
Although the dancers were vigorous in their movements, no ‘Shadow’s Angels’ antics took place.
One thing about a VIP show is that everybody is seated on chairs, making it hard for the artist to raise some real steam. That is how it started out. But some brave souls started dancing, and soon a good part of the capacity crowd joined in, and it was a greatly relieved Ngoma that extended his show for several songs. And after special requests for Adia, Lusa and Bane, he did those too, and we went home happy.