February 14 drew reclusive songbird Naava Grey out of her comfort zone to give her fans a Valentine’s day to remember.
In her maiden concert at Kampala Serena hotel, there wasn’t a more befitting day for Naava to share love with her fans. By midday on Friday, the tickets were sold out. At 6pm, couples were strolling into the venue.
Powered by I&M Bank, the show kicked off at 8pm with a DJ playing love ballads. Thirty minutes later, the host Isaac Ruccibigango welcomed the audience and prepared them for the magic ahead.
Naava started off her show with the song that introduced her to the industry, Aliba Waani. She seemed emotional and overwhelmed upon seeing the full Victoria hall; see, she is not your contemporary singer. Her genre is a fusion of World Music and soft afrobeat, which you will not find blaring out of every radio station.
She then sang I Do, a fast-paced wedding song, which got many dancing along. Due to her laidback nature and soft voice, Naava did not have to dance too impressively and jump all over the stage, yet she held her audience captive from the word go. After a few of her less-popular songs, Naava performed Love Eyo, a ballad with a touch of zouk.
By this time, the lovers in the house had already started feeling like it was, indeed, Valentine’s day. After 9pm, Naava was joined by Bruno K for Aliwa and the two complemented each other very well. After Bruno K, the crowd was surprised with rapper Mun-G, who performed Champion with Naava, an inspirational song they released nine years ago.
The two then performed an even more popular song of theirs, Sejjusa, from 10 years ago. Every reveller was dancing and cheering Mun-G and Naava on. Naava then took a break, leaving Mun-G on stage to entertain the crowd with Kankunganye, Big Bumper, Fati Fati, among others.
Lately, for every concert that Steve Jean and his Fenon curates, he finds a slot for his new girl group, Warafiki, to perform. The trio showed off how vocally good they were, with covers of songs such as Don’t Let Go by En Vogue, and the trio perfectly kicked off Naava’s second session. Set two was for the lovers in attendance.
It was a chilled, acoustic session as Naava sang Alibeera Omu, a song many considered their favourite, and she performed it twice, with the audience singing along from beginning to the end.
When she performed Soka Lami, one of her most popular songs, even those who had sat down for a while stood up again to sing and dance along, including Captain Mike Mukula, who could not hide his love for the song.
After Soka Lami, Naava took another break and left the audience in the able hands of Kenneth Mugabi, who was welcomed with deafening screams. He came on with Wamanyiiza, following it up with a high-tempo Sanyu, a soundtrack to Uganda’s hit TV series Sanyu. However, it is never a Mugabi performance until he sings his breakthrough hit, Naki, and he did not disappoint at Serena.
Naava returned to the stage at 11:30pm, kicking off the final session with her most popular song, Ninga Omuloge. The shocker, however, was when Joshua Baraka joined her on stage to sing the love anthem with her.
Ninga Omuloge was the reason many had paid for Naava’s concert; the rest was the worthwhile bonus. With eyes closed, arms raised, the ladies, notably comedian Anne Kansiime, sang the song like a worship hymn in church. Even Naava was taken aback by how fluently her fans spoke the Ninga Omuloge language.
Naava joined Baraka in singing his Dalilah. Beautiful, classy stuff!
Naava closed her night at midnight, with Nteredde. From celebrities like Kansiime, Lillian Mbabazi, Lydia Jazmine, A Pass to the general audience, everyone seemed happy and quite satisfied with Naava’s show.
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