This archive report was first published on 7 July 2019.
On July 6, 2019, the Umoja Splash Festival at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi was expected to be a night of great reggae music, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment for fans of Jamaican king of lovers rock Jah Cure.
The main act's poor stage performance, a malfunctioning sound system, and a shortage of alcohol for the revelers summed up an underwhelming show.
When the supply of alcoholic drinks ran out at around 1:45 am, some revelers resorted to shisha puffing, but there wasn't enough of the banned substance to go around.
At the VIP section, many revelers kept themselves busy chewing miraa and 'jaba' until there was none left.
However, one thing that never seemed to run out was weed, as thick smoke formed clouds over the revelers' heads throughout the night.
Despite making a dramatic entrance at exactly 2:15 am in a full traditional Maasai attire, Jah Cure did not live up to his high billing.
Right from the start, Jah Cure got off on the wrong footing, with his mic malfunctioning for almost 10 minutes before the crowd got agitated.
Once the mic had been fixed, Jah Cure sent the crowd wild with his first words on the mic, but the night quickly took a turn for the worse as he left the stage to change clothes and took a long time to return.
When he got back, he resorted to letting the crowd sing to his hits as he took the role of a 'cheer leader', hardly finishing a song before moving on to the next one.
By 3:30 am, many revelers had had enough and started leaving.
