Guma Guma concert attracts 27,000 in Muhanga

Fresh from a successful concert in Karongi the day before, the nine remaining contestants of Primus Guma Guma Superstar Season 2 brought the party to Muhanga, treating an audience of more than 27,000 to an afternoon of music and entertainment. Jay Polly hit the mic first yet, despite initial cheers, his hip hop swagger didn’t work its usual magic and the crowd was relatively subdued as he ran through his tracks “Akanyarirajisho”, “Umwami uganje”, and “You and I” with Priscilla.Just like Jay Polly, Riderman chalked up his tepid reception that the crowd wasn’t sufficiently warmed up. “It’s always hard to perform in the first place and the second place because people are not in the mood for dancing yet”, he explained. “I think that maybe they were a little bit cold because we were among the first to perform”.Nevertheless, he was satisfied with his performance. “In the end it was okay”, he concluded.“They were jumping like me, they were singing like me… Not like in Rusizi and not like in Karongi, but it was okay”.In addition to pledging to wow audiences at the upcoming roadshows, Riderman told The New Times that his fans can expect big things from him this year. “I’m preparing my fourth album and I performed one of the new songs on the fourth album today”, he said, referring to “Igitangaza”, which had just been released the week before. The music continued with Just Family, although they, too, seemed to have difficulty rousing the crowd. Yet when Jay Polly joined them onstage for “Nyorohereza”, the mood in the audience seemed to turn. When Young Grace took the mic next, fans threw their hands in the air, with one fan even waving a homemade “Young Grace” sign. The female rapper breezed through her songs “Ikimenyane”, “Hip hop”, “Uri Final”, and, to the delight of the crowd, was joined onstage by Jay Polly for “Umusada”. Fellow rapper Danny followed, and his enthusiastic performance kept the crowd swaying.It was only when Knowles strutted onstage that the audience really went wild. She was clearly the crowd favourite, with loyal fans waving handwritten signs for the chanteuse inscribed with messages such as “Knowless 7 Superstar Wacu” and “Knowless 7 We Love U!”She confidently gave her fans what they wanted, performing “Ibidashoboka”, “Adelphina”, “Byemere” (with MC Tino standing in for Vampos), and “Baravuga”.After her stirring performance, the crowd was ready for Bull Dog, who was the standout hip hop artiste of the event. With his usual bravado, he treated the audience to his freestyling talents and, when Fireman, Jay Polly, Danny, and M Izzo joined him on stage for “Jalousie”, hip hop fans in the audience were overjoyed, pumping their fists in the air. As dusk began to set in, the audience was finally hot, and Dream Boys were welcomed to the stage with thunderous cheers and applause. They sang and danced their way through their hits, with the track “No one like me” proving to be a new audience favourite. It was “Mumutashye” with Jay Polly, however, that got everyone in to the audience moving, even those watching from the stadium’s bleachers far in the distance. Just like in Karongi the evening before, King James closed the show with his energetic and danceable Afro beat melodies. His final song “Buhorobuhoro” once again proved to be the perfect way to end the evening.According to Jean-Pierrre Uwizera, brand manager of Primus, the concert had been a resounding success. “People are very excited”, he commented after the show. “With every roadshow we are raising the bar. We started in Rusizi; then in Karongi, we went up; and now in Muhanga, we went up again. So it’s very promising. We hope that Rwandans are ready to enjoy, to have fun, and enjoy their favourite beer, Primus”.

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Guma Guma concert attracts 27,000 in Muhanga