Pound for Pound Goodlyf is Still Better On Stage



 

 

 

 

We started the year on a high in more ways than one. You know how Moze Radio and Weasel TV do it. Neera Neera concert was smoking! Being the first Ugandan gig of the year, it will probably be hidden at the bottom of the pile and forgotten in the next few months (what with the likes of Afrigo Band and Jose Chameleon all lined up in the next few months) but the Goodlyf boys kicked off our year in real style. The Manchester leg of the tour (the promoters chose to refer to their 2-date gigs in just two of UK's cities as a UK tour) was overshadowed by reports that they performed to just sixty people but who cares about such statistics if the sixty people limped home at sunrise after dancing themselves lame? We of London polished our dancing shoes regardless.

Much as their erratic behaviour sometimes seems to attract a bigger fanbase than their music, all their fiery behaviour seems to be forgotten when these boys step on stage. They started with songs as old as Nyambura and on their journey to their latest, Neera Neera, every song only re-ignited the crowd excitement. Their new collabo, Julayina, with UK-based VJ OJ along the way was also another way for them to identify more with the locals. Radio's intros are all that anyone who has any familiarity with the group needs to go wild. Suddenly Boleyn Banqueting Suite was too small,

You may say there is nothing special about but I'll just take a quick comparison with the other 'big 3'; Jose Chameleon has got the music and the repute but I've seen him struggle to sustain a crowd on his last visit to UK even when he returned after a change of clothes. Bebe Cool's love for himself on stage is enviable. So is that of his very loyal army of fans but let's face it, his name is bigger than his music. Does he really have the his to sustain an audience for over half an hour with his own music though? That's very questionable. Bobi Wine? He has got a few 'edutainment' hits but how far can they take him? I won't even get started on our divas.

Radio & Weasel were here last September performing with theatre group The Ebonies. You would have thought that would affect the turn out this time round. Maybe it did. The point here is that those who turned up had a swell time. You may say it is the double act advantage but we have seen cases of complete bands failing to lift a crowd. I reckon you could bring those boys back in three-months time and get a full house. That's how much they rocked Boleyn Banqueting Hall