Since Qwela Junction made a comeback last year, they have redefined live performance especially with the way they pay special attention to a number of elements in a show.
They celebrated the unique guitar sound in Guitar Maestros, followed by the Sax Aces, Divas and then Crooners, introducing Ugandans to acts such as Kenneth Mugabi and Rita Sabiti, among others. Then Qwanza Music, the producers of Qwela Junction, held the Christmas edition on Sunday.
This time, all the lined up artistes were making a return to the Junction, and the average patron went expecting nothing special. How wrong! Qwela Junction: Christmas Edition was a blast.
Combining some of the memorable acts hosted through the other editions, the show brought together Charmant Mushaga, Rita Sabiti – both fantastic guitarists – Kenneth Mugabi and Sam K!mera, Sandra Suubi and Solome Basuuta, as well as Mo Roots and brothers Happy Kyazze and Michael Kitanda.
It was a summary of the past four thrilling editions, just that this had a cause: to put the merry back in Christmas.
“As time has goes on, it seems many of us are forgetting the spirit of Christmas. This edition is to get that spirit back,” said Joe Kahirimbanyi as he introduced the edition.
It was a celebration of Christmas the way we knew it, before Twitter, Facebook and Instagram turned the day into emojis and notifications; even the selection of songs suggested so.
The show started with a Christmas medley performed by Kitanda, who would later be joined by his big brother Happy K to set the mood. The two, probably the highlight of the night, have not done many songs together but they clearly understand each other’s style.
Earlier this year, the brothers lost their mother to cancer and besides them performing on the same stage at Pearl Rhythm festival, they had never addressed the situation musically. But during the Sunday show, they collaborated on Ntwala, an emotional song Happy K wrote requesting God to relieve their mother of the pain.
How these two do it, it is hard to imagine, but they perfectly know how to blow emotions into a saxophone. The song was so heavy on emotions that Kitanda only managed to play half of it and Happy excused himself too once he was done.
But the night also had merry offerings; like Mugabi played some Philly Lutaaya Christmas songs or K!mera and Suubi mesmerizing on the Little Drummer Boy.
To make the night more than just Christmas, a few of their songs were done including Stay by Basuuta, Suubi’s Nsiimye and Kitanda’s Shine, among others.
The group was backed by an amazing band that had Roy Kasika on the drums, Sam Bisaso on the bass guitar and Rogatien Milord on a backup guitar. With that serving from Qwanza Music and House of DJs, Christmas is truly here.