Ali Campbell is scheduled to jet into the country three days ahead of the concert that is being billed as “No Body Can Stop Reggae”, with the original lead singer of the iconic British reggae band expected to engaged in several pre-concert events, including tourism.
After clearing the throat and testing the MIC, the hiccup is gone and the reggae time is upon the nation with Ali Campbell confirmed to prove that “Nobody Can Stop Reggae.”
Next Media has announced the rescheduling of its mega concert for March 2 at Kololo Independence Grounds “With the additional time we used it to get things even better and no one can stop reggae and this time round it’s more exciting,” said Edwin Danze, chief marketing officer at Next Media.
Ali Campbell is scheduled to jet into the country three days ahead of the concert that is being billed as “No Body Can Stop Reggae”, with the original lead singer of the iconic British reggae band expected to engaged in several pre-concert events, including tourism.
The concert that is part of celebrations of the 15 years of Next Media’s premier brand, NBS Television, was originally scheduled for last December. It was put back after Next Media hit a wall at Kololo due to other State events at the time.
Tickets sales had been huge before the rescheduling last year and Danze says it is the organisers have already registered a 15 percent increase in sale of the ticket that has bene updated, which has encouraged them to even add more packages on the menu.
“We have seen a 15-percent increment of the people buying tickets, something that has showed us people’s trust and love for NBS and our products,” he added.
At the height of the original plan, Vision Group had jumped on board with sponsorship of the UB40 ft Ali Campbell concert, saying their involvement in the grand event reflected their commitment to fostering media collaboration and creating a more vibrant and engaging media landscape for Ugandan audiences.
“We are in touch with all our partners to put up all this together and we can assure the public and our fans that there will be no cancellation of this concert,” Danze said.
UB40, renowned for their international success with over 70 million albums sold worldwide, gave Kampala arguably its biggest concert ever as the band celebrated 30 years in the game. They filled Lugogo Cricket Oval to the rafters and gave out a show that remains the gold standard for Uganda’s entertainment history.
But shortly after the MTN-organised Kampala concert, the group that has given the world hits like Red Red Wine, I Got You Babe, Cherry Oh Baby, Many Rivers to Cross, and (I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You split, with unorthodox guitarist Ali leaving his brothers Duncan and Robin.
The terrific crooner, 65, would later form ‘UB40 ft Ali, Astro and Mickey’. Astro, real name Terence Wilson, died in 2021 at the age 64, and while Duncan was forced to retire from music after suffering a stroke, reconciliation has eluded the brothers.
But not their music. Ali Campbell’s 2007 solo album titled Running Free, entered the UK Albums Chart at number nine and went gold and the son of a Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell shows can only show signs of wrinkles but not one of stopping reggae.