It was one of those pre-Christmas disappointments, as the much publicised concert that was set to take place at Hill-Top Hotel in Remera, didn’t materialise as Urban Boys, the key performers, failed to turn up.
It was one of those pre-Christmas disappointments, as the much publicised concert that was set to take place at Hill-Top Hotel in Remera, didn’t materialise as Urban Boys, the key performers, failed to turn up.According to the hotel’s management, the group was scheduled to perform on Friday night. When this writer arrived there some few minutes before the concert was scheduled to kick off, the club supervisor Innocent Mugabe, said that the Urban Boys group would be arriving shortly to perform.But that was the last time we heard of them. Instead, fans and patrons were entertained by Surboum Melomane live band, led by Nathanael Utuka Onaembo, that performed a number of popular songs including the popular late Franco’s song "Mamou”, among other greatest hits from east and central Africa.The hotel management were non-committal on why Urban Boys didn’t show up as subsequent efforts to reach the manager were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.The artistes could also not be reached for comment.However, Onaembo and his band didn’t disappoint as the group entertained revellers with some of the greatest hits ever to grace East Africa music scene. Singing Franco’s song as if coming from the late Rumba maestro himself, the live band brought back memories of a time when music was music, transporting you back to the pristine days when Franco and his band reigned East and Central Africa with their Lingala tunes that took the regional music by storm.Apart from "Mamou”, they also sang a number of Kiswahili and Lingala songs that ruled the airwaves in the 80’s including, "Nakeyi Nairobi” by Mailia, "Espoir Itou” by Tabu Ley and "Phaseur” by Koffi Olomide.The band nowadays performs at Hill-top, Classic and Umubano hotels throughout the week except on Mondays.