At the beginning of this year, an announcement was made that the House of DJs, a production house that has been hosting Blankets and Wine, was not organising another one. That was after organising more than 30 editions.
But then there was another communication that Blankets and Wine was coming back, all revamped. On Sunday, it went down at Lugogo Grounds, unlike the past editions, this did not have the buzz that usually follow the festivals. There was not a big Nigerian artiste headlining and much of the show was about the experience more than people thought to be on stage.
The organiser, Hafsa Umutoni had earlier noted that Blankets and Wine is a festival and it was something they hoped to remind the public. The focus was on the art, from the kind of artists curated to the way they were set up. This edition had more artists than all those that have been organised because of the two stage factor.
This year’s edition also avoided being a skimpy fashion show and people actually showed up with blankets and mats; talk about publicity attracting an audience. Probably it was the line up or the lack of influencers, the anticipation from the usual socialites was not there.
The audience was mainly ordinary music fans, who came out to have a good day with their families. Some of these were at the venue as early as midday, taking over the children’s play area.
What was new
Over the years, Blankets and Wine has been held at Kyadondo, Uganda Museum and Lugogo Cricket Oval. There was an edition that took place at Lugogo Grounds after rains destroyed the cricket oval, but that was it.
Most of the editions of the show took place at the cricket oval. The new venue is meant for the new form of Blankets and Wine. It is wide enough for a food court, children’s play area, photo area, bars, crafts market and above it all, two stages.
The two stages were some of the craziest things that ware introduced; one of the stages, the Onja Onja stage, is adopted from the Nairobi edition of the festival.
It is a DJ’s stage, which was carefully placed near the food court and mostly active during breaks of the mainstage.
This stage had DJs such as Decay, Gaba Cannal, AO the Walker, Crazy Mind, DJ Vanss and Binghi. The Onja Onja stage was curated by Nyege Nyege Festival and for most of the time, it felt like one of the famous stages such as Boiler Room and Dark Star. Since the stage was near the food court, it was never empty, even during performances of acts such as Nameless and Eddy Kenzo.
The performances
The day’s performances mainly took place on the live stage, a walkable distance from both the food court and the Onja Onja stage. Performers this year included Rachel Magoola, A-Pass, Sumthing Soweto, Nameless and Eddy Kenzo. But these were just part of the long list of performers, who did it later in the evening.
Still, this edition framed itself as a family event and there was something for everyone. There was another long line of performers that entertained revellers, especially those who came with their children.
Most of these artistes are not your mainstream radio hit performers, they bring the new sound Uganda is yet to tap into, with ethno music, poetry and soul, among others. From Sandra Kay, Ebrahim Soul’O and Julius Sese, these artistes brought a different feel to the festival, including choreography, the vocals or stories they shared.
But it was A Ka Dope Band that must have carried the day, playing for all the artistes that performed. There were just a few things that separated the sets, for instance, Nameless had Ugandan dancers and singer Tonya Michelle of Black Roots backing him up. She did the vocals of songs he did with Mr Lenny such as Juju and Githurai and on other songs such as Ninanoki, she took the lead at times.
Tonya was amazing that at one point Nameless had to acknowledge her prowess.
This year, they also did away with the MCs, most of the time performances were announced by a pre-recording, which was also used to acknowledge the sponsors.
Of course, Deedan has done a good job as the official MC of the show for the past decade, although the change seemed to make the performance transitions much easier.
Most of the performers of the day had their homework done, from an engaging A-Pass performance, improved and polished, he works the crowd better and always has his moments, especially when he brags about operating at 60 percent.
The discovery of the show for many was Sumthing Soweto, a former member of the acapella group, The Soil, a blend of RnB and House.
However, since today, the sound is Amapiano, he has a blend of the sound, but his soulfulness is something that cannot be underestimated. He had the audience eating out of his palms even when some people were just learning about his music. He is the only artiste of the night, who was asked for at least one more song.
This was Nameless’ first live band performance in Uganda and he made it count, paying tribute to Kenyans that died in Githurai during the protests and later to E-Sir who died in 2003. Kenyan rapper Muthoni The Drama Queen and founder of Blankets and Wine later came on stage to thank people that showed up for the show. This next edition is on September 29.
