Madoxx Ssematimba thrills fans at Bayimba

Written by: 
Godfrey Ssali

It was probably the most anticipated act of the Bayimba International Festival of the Arts at National Theatre on 21st September 2014. Ssematimba did not disappoint.

The Reggae Legend who along Henry Tigan was the main artist impressed the fans that showed up at the final day of the Festival on Sunday evening.

The show started at midday with a couple of other international artists as curtain raisers. Hundreds of fans seemed rather bored as various artists tried their jig.

 Ecstatic Madoxx Ssematimba ascended on stage at 11:10pm upon a casual introduction by the emcees of the night Lady Bizzo of Spirit FM and Miles Rwamiti from NTV.

Dressed in a light blue Shirt and black jeans, the reggae superstar accompanied with Blood brothers band received a standing ovation.

The burly artist kick-started his performance with one of his oldest songs “Irene”. He went on to perform an acapella of his new song “Come Let’s Rock” in which he engaged his fans.

Ululations and excitement filled the Theatre grounds as Ssematimba belted out his memorable hits which hitherto receive massive airplay on Ugandan airwaves due to their popularity with many music fans.

The audience cheered on as Ssematimba crooned to songs such as Eddembe, Tukole,Okabiraki,Omuyimbi,Kankulage,Abato and Take it Easy.

In an emotive surrender, he delicately strummed his guitar with every string sounding as clear as the previous one proving that he is one of Uganda’s uniquely gifted artists though his last album “Abato” was released in 2006.

Perhaps a highlight of his performance came with his signature song “Namagembe.”  Released in 2000, the hit is without a doubt still a ladies favorite. It got the audience on their feet.

Nevertheless, at 1:00am when the show ended those who attended left satisfied that at least they were treated to good music even though they wanted more performances from the legend.