Most Ugandans thought Joshua’s concert would flop, because the concert didn’t apparently have vibe (ebugumu), then he had no posters or banners around the city (not any that I saw)… And didn’t do a drive or a downtown activation and neither did he visit Bobi Wine or the Katikiro.
In Uganda, there’s a template for our entertainment industry, music to be precise; A song is promoted through bars, TV and radio stations and these days an album roll out is incomplete if one doesn’t go to Nairobi.
Much as these things work for some people, the template can’t work for all. For instance, Bebe Cool had a smooth run of a Nairobi media tour because he started out from there and has a history with the city. The same can be said about Chameleone, the week he chooses to go for a media tour in Nairobi, he will have a field day.
Now the same can’t be said about Karole Kasita or Lydia Jasmine, yet the two will still make a rigorous trip to Nairobi, go to the same stations the last person went, same presenters and shows.
So in the same way, for many Ugandans, Into The B’Raka Land was going to flop because….. well, Kibuye football pitch things.
The concert was a success both in attendance and execution. I don’t know if there were people from Kibuye… But well, we were many.
Joshua Baraka’s team curated a show where all his curtain raisers were urban and from across the spectrum, I learnt one of them came from Arua, and he has maad talent, then there was a small woman who had a voice, oba Mbewo, I think that’s her name. Girl is amazing.
Joshua took to the stage almost a half past nine.
This show is one of the best things Talent Africa has executed; let’s face it, it’s been hard showing up for a show produced by Talent Africa and something doesn’t go terribly wrong.
So, it was either stage, time management, curating, or sound, they always found a way of inviting shabby.
Then Joshua Baraka’s concert happened; something throughout the show worked, sound was neat and the show was beautifully curated. Joshua started at about 9:30 and left stage at about 11:50 or something… I’ve not seen that kind of time management at their shows.
Mind you Blu*3, even with their heavy catalogue took to the stage a few minutes to 11pm.
Anyway, Joshua showed up on time, his wasn’t just a show but a story, he celebrated his Day One fans with songs from his first EP Watershed and the people he looked up to on his journey.
Joshua has never been shy about his admiration for Maurice Kirya, so it was special seeing these two performing Misuubawatogether.
There’s something that Joshua gets from Maurice, they both have a fan base that listens to their songs whether they are on radio or not.
Most of the songs people sang, by Joshua Baraka on Saturday have never played on TVs or Radio, some of the songs were only a day old, considering his album had dropped the previous night.
Once again, like Maurice Kirya, Joshua Baraka helped us understand why to thrive in the industry, you always need the Day-Ones, they love your music not because they are hits, but because it’s you.
The show proved that a lot has changed over the years, but we refused to acknowledge things were changing; it proved that the local industry needs to change how it’s working, posters, banners, and forced media appearances may have moved the needle then but are not cutting it anymore.
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