The highly billed concert that was to be headlined by former UB40 frontman, Ali Campbell has been called off by the organizers.
Organized by Next Media Services to climax the activities marking NBS TV’s 15 years, the concert was scheduled for December 21.
On Tuesday, just a day to the event, Next Media announced that the show had been postponed. They attributed the decision to push the show to a later date, to an “unforeseen event to be held at the same venue” which they claim was beyond their control.
“This unexpected event has left us all disheartened and we extend our sincere apologies to our stakeholders, partners and customers for any inconvenience this may have caused,” reads a statement issued by Next Media and Talent Africa, the event manager.
Organizers did not specify a new date for the concert.
RELATED: UB40’s ex-frontman, Ali Campbell returns to Kampala for a concert 15 years after the band split
Plugged has since established that there are two events scheduled to take place at Kololo Independence Grounds on Wednesday, a day before the initial date for the NBS TV concert.
One is organized by the national leadership of the Ghetto Structures and it will be presided over by President Yoweri Museveni. The event will see the President launch saving schemes (SACCOs) for the ghetto dwellers.
The second event is organized by former Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga to launch her book The Pathway to Greatness. This particular one will start at 3pm.
In justifying the decision to push the show, Next Media’s deputy CEO, Joe Kigozi said: “These (UB40 feat. Ali Campbell) are singing icons, they need top-notch production. Given these other events at the venue, it was going to be difficult and an inconvenience for suppliers to bring in the necessary logistics given that these events will end in the night.”
“We would need ample time to do sound testing and to make sure the stage is well set. That’s why we decided to push this event forward. Whoever bought a ticket, please keep it, we shall notify you about the new date. We can’t say when but we’ll have to find an appropriate date,” Kigozi added.
He said they (Next Media) only got to know about the two other events on Monday.
Adding that the fleet of vehicles for the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77 summits, have occupied a lot of the space at Kololo which space would have served as parking for showgoers.
“What matters most for us is that we are organized. And that we get ample time to organize to the standards expected of us as NBS TV”.
The two events notwithstanding, the ‘UB40 feat. Ali Campbell’ show had faced other setbacks the biggest being low appetite for the tickets. In the weeks leading up to the show, it had become apparent that the organizers weren’t going to be able to hit their targets in terms of sales.
This was despite an aggressive campaign across all Next Media properties – TV, radio and digital – that adopted a UB40-first approach to achieve the highest visibility for the concert. On TV and radio, UB40 songs enjoyed massive rotation with almost 5 songs playing each hour.
At the start of the campaign, Kigozi promised that NBS TV and Sanyuka TV would go heavy on the UB40 catalog to ensure even millennials who aren’t familiar with the English reggae and pop band that won global acclamation in the 80s and 90s, would inadvertently warm up to the sound and subsequently attend the show.
As the concert date drew closer, marketing teams at Next Media had been stretched thin in their attempt to salvage the situation and turn their fortunes around.
A week to the concert date, Next Media had made a last-minute switch in marketing strategy by partnering with other media entities such as NTV Uganda, Vision Group, Capital FM and Radio One, all of which appeal to the 50+ age bracket. This was so the campaign would get a wider and louder buzz.
But going by the latest development, it would appear ticket sales remained low.
Key among the factors that poured water on what began as a firey campaign was a statement at the end of October by the original UB40 band, distancing themselves from the Kampala show. Which confused those who had intentions to buy tickets.
Up until that point, the majority of Ugandans were ignorant about the fact that UB40 separated in 2008 after Ali Campbell quit the band.
Naive Ugandans, coupled with misinformation by the media, created an impression that UB40 was returning to Uganda which wasn’t the case.
“UB40 sincerely apologizes to fans in Uganda and clarifies that we will NOT be performing in the upcoming concert which is falsely billed as ‘UB40’ or ‘UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell’,” UB40 wrote in an October statement posted on their website.
“Former vocalist Ali Campbell, who left UB40 over 15 years ago in 2008, is currently slated to perform in Uganda, purporting to feature the original band. He is touring with the name ‘UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell’. However, there are in fact no members of UB40 in this group and ex-member Ali Campbell is misleading fans and the general public by billing the tour as UB40 Featuring Ali Cambell,” added the statement.
UB40 went on to clarify that there is no single member of UB40 in Ali’s backing group and that none of his band members has ever performed with UB40 or contributed to a UB40 record.
READ MORE: “We are not performing in Uganda” – UB40 clarifies, as Next Media faces false advertising crisis
The misunderstanding between Ali and the original group aside, the Dec 21 show, like many others that happened in Uganda this year, was never close to utopia.
Next Media and Talent Africa are just one among a growing number of event organizers who have had to contend with concert fatigue and poor economic conditions that have had showgoers tighten their spending on entertainment.
Since the beginning of last year, Uganda’s entertainment industry has been on its knees following the huge blow it took as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation which pushed commodity prices up subduing demand for entertainment. Not to mention a harsh tax regime imposed on events organizers which at the start of the year forced the Association that brings together events organizers to take a break for four months.
Many organizers who have staged concerts have not broken even, among them Diamond Platnumz, Blankets & Wine (August Edition), Gwanga Mujje, the Sheebah-Cindy music battle, among many other smaller ones.
