DJ Pius’s concert Friday night was to launch Iwacu, his first album since going solo a few years ago. Remember Two4Real?

The following day, the two-in-one concert headed to Musanze in the Northern Province for a stadium show.

Pius kept his word about flying in a bunch of regional artists with who he has collaborations on the Iwacu album. The most notable of these were the three singing Mayanjas from Uganda – Jose Chamelone and his younger siblings, Weasel and Pallaso. Ray Signature, another Ugandan singer who collaborated with Pius on a song called Toobad was however a no show.

The album features a string of collabos, all with regional and continental artists from Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana.

It was the first time Weasel was performing in Rwanda after the death of his singing partner Moze Radio. Similarly, many fans of Pallaso were seeing him for the first time.

As earlier promised, Friday’s show had a limited number of local curtain raising acts, as these were reserved for the stadium show in Musanze.

The night opened to DJ entertainment from the Nep DJs and the Neptunez Band, which later played for Jodi Phibi, Uncle Austin, and Charlyna Nina.

The show in the Virunga Hall at Camp Kigali fell on National Harvest Day –umuganura, and attracted a decent crowd.

Pius stepped onto stage at 11:00 pm accompanied by traditional dancers clad in Rwandan traditional dress and regalia. Backed by the Neptunez Band, he launched into his performance with the title track, Iwacu, following it with Wabulilawa. It was DJ Pius’s usual laid back performance and he did not seem to be in a hurry to get the crowd on its feet.

Comedian Arthur Nkusi, the event MC did more than just MC-ing, occasionally putting his singing and dancing skills to use.

The show assumed a new energy when Pallaso burst onto stage. Many in the crowd that were seeing him for the first time mistook Pallaso for Weasel, as the two look closely alike.

Pallaso brought the kind of fire and energy reminiscent of his elder brother Jose Chameleone in his musical heyday.

The energy on stage even went a notch higher when Weasel joined Pallaso on stage, and the two hit it off instantly. The chemistry between the two brought back memories of the good old days of Radio and Weasel.

Although he died early this year, Radio’s legend loomed large at the concert, with slides of his music videos running on the projector screens accompanied by the words RIP Moze Radio.

When Weasel eventually asked ‘Are you ready for Radio and Weasel?’, the crowd went wild. With Pallaso singing Radio’s verses, Weasel took the house down Good Life lane, belting out Radio and Weasel classics like Talk and talk, Magnetic, Ngenda maaso, and Neera. The crowd sung along effortlessly.

Weasel and Pallaso set the bar so high that when their older and musically more experienced brother Chameleone eventually took to the stage at 1:00 am, he had to pull all the tricks in the bag to keep the crowd on its feet.

Amidst a chaotic sound, he belted out some of his classics like Valuvalu, Kipepeo and Naumia.

The show’s climactic moment eventually came when DJ Pius returned to the stage to sing Agatako, his collabo with Chameleone. 

After the show, MC Nkusi revealed that there was an after party at Gusto Italian Restaurant and Bar in Kimihurura, but Chameleone and his siblings never showed up.

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