Uganda: Kirk Franklin Concert Confirmed

Uganda: Kirk Franklin Concert Confirmed

The Monitor (Kampala)

28 April 2008
Posted to the web 28 April 2008

Moses Serugo

Imagine Kirk Franklin in Kampala. The US Contemporary Christian Music star is coming to Uganda after all and is set to stomp into our capital for two concerts.

Franklin, 38, will perform at Kampala Serena Hotel on Thursday May 22 at a VIP charity concert and at Lugogo Cricket Oval on May 24. Patrons at the Serena show will pay Shs150, 000 while those at Lugogo can buy tickets priced at Shs50, 000 or Shs25, 000. Uganda Telecom is headline sponsor of the tour that has been organised by Sleek Promotions.

The proceeds from the Serena show will fund an education project for the African Children's Choir. The young choristers have performed at a number of high profile global musical events including at the American Idol Gives Back initiative last year alongside classical pop star Josh Groban, the Live 8 concert alongside Mariah Carey in 2005 and more recently at this year's Commonwealth celebrations in London in front of Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

"We at African Children's Choir have just embarked on a major project along Entebbe Road where we are putting up a school, dormitories and staff quarters. The proceeds from the charity concert will go a long way in helping us realise this dream," said Mr Abraham Kiyingi, spokesperson for African Children's Choir in Uganda at a media conference held at Serena last Friday.

Franklin will arrive with an entourage of 17 musicians that constitute his latest urban contemporary gospel choir project, 1NC (One Nation Crew). Former Limit X member and show co-ordinator Isaac Rucci promised Franklin fans that the Kampala concerts will be at par with any of the gospel star's concerts elsewhere.

"We have given Franklin our word on providing 100 percent of the rider (a set of requests or demands that a performer will set as criteria for performance) and his Kampala concerts will be no different from the ones he has done at Madison Square Garden in the US," Rucci explains.

Franklin has collaborated with mainstream artistes such as Bono, Mary J. Blige, and R. Kelly on the hit single Lean on Me from his album The Nu Nation Project. He is a household name in Uganda where his songs like Stomp, You Are The Only One and Imagine Me wield crossover appeal.