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David Lutalo gets full house
The crowd at David Lutalo’s concert on Friday night. PHOTO BY EDGAR R. BATTE
Backstage, artiste David Lutalo keeps smiling as fans and artistes take moments to take photos with him or exchange courtesies. His dress code is something of attraction, in neon lights blinking from head to toe.
Emcees Nimrod and Dougie announce the main performer of the night, Lutalo, who is summarising a television interview.
When Lutalo emerges from the stage staircase, he is greeted by a cheering crowd. It is a full house at Hotel Africana, a venue where established artistes have in the recent past attracted a handful of revellers.
Lutalo is here to launch his Akantu album, the seventh since he broke out in 2008.
On stage, Lutalo is no disappointment. Backed by UB5 Band, he proves he is a strong live performer, who hits both low and high notes.
His 90 minutes performance musically journeys across his career discography. The crowd cannot help but feel emotional as he does songs like Engumba Zange, which tackles the morbid topic of death, Batusosola which talks about society’s social divisions that breed hate and segregation and Nandikulese Mukyalo, on which he tackles hypocrisy.
David Lutalo and his mother on stage
But he also cheers up the crowd with love songs like Kapapala that celebrates women who are well endowed with bottoms, which introduced him on the scene in 2008. He also does Pretty, Helena, Mubbi Bubbi and Akantu, the title track to his latest album.
Interesting though, at the concert is a line-up of artistes that varies from new to old school. There are rare faces like Lord Fred Ssebatta, Betty Mpologoma, Willy Mukabya, and band musicians plus regulars like Bebe Cool, Lydia Jasmine, Bobi Wine, Pastor Wilson Bugembe, King Saha and Irene Ntale among others.
At three minutes to midnight, he bows for the crowd and rushes off stage, with a smile of satisfaction.
