Organized by Next Media Services to climax the activities to mark 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 has 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.
Plugged has since established that there are two events scheduled to take place at Kololo Independence Grounds on Wednesday, a day prior to 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.
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. Which is set for 3pm.
The two events notwithstanding, the UB40 feat. Ali Campbell faced other setbacks the biggest being low appetite for the tickets. In the weeks leading up to the show, it had been apparent that the organizers were not 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, Next Media’s deputy CEO, Joe Kigozi promised that NBS TV and Sanyuka TV would go heavy on the UB40 catalogue to ensure even the millenials that 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.
Marketing teams at Next Media had been stretched thin in an 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, Capital FM and Radio One, all of which appeal to the 50+ age bracket. This was so the campaign would get a wider and lounder buzz.
But going by the latest development, it is clear the 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 that had intentions to buy tickets.
Up until that point, majority of Ugandans were ignorant about the fact that UB40 separated in 2008 after Ali Campbell quit the band.
Naive Ugandans, compounded by equally misinformation by the media, have been made to think UB40 is returning to Uganda which isn’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 statement released on their website in October.
“Former vocalist Ali Campbell, who left UB40 over 15 years ago in 2008, is currently slated to perform in Ugamda, 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.
But the misunderstanding between Ali and the original group, Next Media is just one among the growing number of event organizers who have had to contend with concert fatigue and bad 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.
Many events organizers who have staged concerts have not broken even, among them Boyz II Men, Diamond Platnumz, Blankets & Wine (August Edition), Gwanga Mujje, Sheebah’s two-day concert at Kampala Serena Hotel among many other smaller ones.
