By Our Reporter
Lugogo Cricket Oval on Friday felt like a movie scene. Lydia Jazmine finally took the stage for her long-awaited ‘The One and Only’ concert, and Kampala came ready. From glam entrances and a fireworks show to an unexpected technical glitch, the night had all the ingredients of a memorable concert.
As Lydia performed one of her hits with Geosteady, the music suddenly stopped. For a second, there was confusion. Then, from somewhere in the crowd, came the chant: “Lydia… we wanna partee!”
What could have been an awkward pause quickly became another moment for the crowd to own. Lugogo Cricket Oval erupted, and ‘The One and Only’ concert carried on with the energy of a night that Kampala had clearly come ready for.
Powered by V&A Sherry in partnership with Abitex Promotions, the concert brought thousands of Lydia’s fans together for a night of music, friendship and a look back at the journey of one of Uganda’s most recognisable female voices.
By 3 pm, Lugogo Cricket Oval was already filling up. At the V&A backdrop, fans paused for photos and 360 videos as they made way to their seats, where the crowd slowly grew in anticipation of the night’s performances.
The lineup did not disappoint. The night featured artists including Sheebah Karungi, Lilian Mbabazi, Feffe Bussi, Ray G and Anknown, among others, who entertained guests alongside the DJs who kept the crowd moving between performances. And as the numbers grew, so did the social side of the evening.
Around the venue, V&A Sherry was a part of the rhythm of the night. Served neat and as Vangria, the sherry liqueur gave friends something to raise as they caught up, sang along, and settled into the concert. It became part of the experience, the conversations, the photographs, the shared jokes, and the moments that would last long after the concert was over.
“Lydia Jazmine has built a strong connection with her audience, and that was evident tonight. For us at V&A, that made ‘The One and Only’ concert a natural space for V&A to be,” said Roy Ronald Tumwizere, the Brand Manager for V&A.
“V&A is about those moments you want to enjoy and share with other people. Whether it is a big career milestone like Lydia’s second concert or simply a night out with friends, there is something special about having the people you care about there with you. That is what ‘Yours to Share’ means to us, and tonight we got to see that play out in a very real way,” he added.
When Lydia finally stepped onto the stage, the crowd needed no encouragement. They sang along to ‘Cherie’, ‘Same Way’, ‘Masuuka’ and ‘You and Me’, among many other songs, turning the concert into something bigger than a performance. At several points, thousands of voices joined Lydia word for word, proving just how deeply her music has stayed with her audience.
For an artist marking another significant point in her career, there was something almost full circle about the moment. Lydia sang the songs that had carried her through the years, and the very people who had listened to them returned every word to her.
The night was Lydia’s, but in the same spirit, it belonged to her fans too. They came with friends, met people they had not seen in years, made new memories and sang to songs that have soundtracked different chapters of their lives.
By the time the lights came up, the crowd had given Lydia what every performer hopes for — their voices, their energy and their time.