June 1, NPC Valley Road - The award-winning Voices United Choir (VUC) has been around for all of ten years! They chose the Madaraka Day weekend to celebrate this accomplishment with a concert at the Nairobi Pentecostal Church on Valley Road.

Fans started streaming in early and by the time doors opened at 3.30 pm, it was almost house-full. The NPC worship team kept everyone busy with a praise and worship session before giving way to the day’s curtain raisers, S.K. Blue and Maximum Melodies. Blue had a rough time with his act as the sound refused to work, and had to cut his performance short and pick it up later. Maximum Melodies fared a little better, cheering up the crowd with their energetic dance and song medleys.

VUC got on stage to a rapturous welcome, and proceeded to bring serious life to the party, starting with the Wa Milele medley. Reflecting the extensive musical journey the choir has had, their song repertoire ran the gamut from the ‘zilizopendwa’ Wimbo Mtamu, off their upcoming album, to the dance-wired Nina Furaha from their debut record. These two jams make a good case for what we all love about VUC, both the old and the new, and were the perfect way to begin.

Lead vocalist Lily Karanja was exceptional as usual, taking charge of Tumsifu Bwana, You Are and Yahweh as well as one of the new crowd favorites, Mzee Wa Kazi. Guitarist Peter Irungu’s vocal prowess found lead on the worshipful You Are Holy and Moyo Wangu Usichoke. VUC’s music arrangement is one of the country’s best, and this was evident this afternoon with the band - Asaph on bass, Timothy Riungu on sax, and Ken on drums – giving more than a great account of themselves.

Understandably, the day could not end without VUC dropping the jams that have defined the choir’s last decade. First up was Leo, for which Chris Adwar joined up with the ultra-energetic Jose Kivanguli, to the crowd’s delight. The dance continued on the other anthem, Lamo, ending the night on an appropriate high.

A good gig can easily be swift-boated by sound failure, and this one looked headed that way at the beginning. Its salvation lay in the infinitely patient fans and the creative MC-ing tactics of Peter Yiro, who kept everyone in stitches and made the gaps bearable. Thankfully, when VUC finally got on stage, they made up for all the hitches with top-notch performance worthy of their status.

One certainly looks forward to VUC’s next ten years!

The Boys

The Girls

The Dancing Begins...

And Goes On...

Everyone With His Style

Asaph & Ken Busy

MC Yiro

Maximum Melodies Dance

The NPC Worship Team

Pastor P Follows

Peter Irungu Gets On Lead

Timothy Doing His Stuff

SK Blue On The Mic

VUC Ladies Get Down

As Lily Leads

The Alliance Girls Crowd At It

One Step...

Two Step...

Whatever Your Style

Singing Out

VUC Boys Enjoy

Packed (Close) To Capacity

Moments of Dance

Moments of Laughter

Cathy Gets The Mic

Kivanguli Joins In

Chris Adwar Gets On

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