Coke Studio 2014: Louder, Clearer and Better

Coke studio hit us with a storm last season but what we just saw in the new season is quite different: they just hit us with a freakin tsunami!

They have not only changed a lot of the musicians on the show but also how things are done. The opening sequence for season 1 was a bad replica of major shows in the US and the UK, followed by a not so good hosting by some of the artists. That has changed with the current opening sequence which is more creative in terms of the choice of visual elements and their presentation. The artists introduce themselves by selfies and pop ups that look like twitter chats making it almost real. The sound effects are equally good and match the visuals.

The stage arrangement has changed a little bit with the drummer set on a pedestal just like it should be. The stage has a new design with a small pit for a live audience making the show more realistic. This also makes the musicians feel like they are actually performing and not practicing.

Last season was full of bad dressing, make up and all manner of wardrobe malfunctions. In season two this has tremendously been reduced. Generally the main acts are dressed well but the background vocalists are dressed even better. They didn’t try too much to make the artists look a certain way. What stands out is the simplicity of most of them. Flavour’s Maasai shuka draped over his bare body with simple black jeans looked badass as was Victoria Kimani sporting her Shuka dress although she could have left that purple weave at home. All in all, the accessories really worked out except for Vanessa Mdee’s super huge Maasai pendant that almost looked like a napkin.

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, so let’s stop with all the fashion stuff and get on with music. The performances were brilliant to say the least. Every artist did well except Burner Boy who obviously wasn’t happy with the remix of his track right from when he listened to it. Lilian Mbabazi and her Nigerian counterpart also didn’t do justice to Saida Karoli’s classic hit “Maria Salome” but it just ends there. Though not a full band performance, Navio and Waje’s performance was the most energetic and it was purely powered by Silvastone. The best overall performance however, goes to Omawumi and VJ’s acoustic performance of her gospel style song “Into the Music” backed by Obuya on percussion.

Good music performance doesn’t happen without good sound quality. Season 2 extremely improved on this and everything sounds and looks crisp and clean. The video direction and camera work is equally good. There are no bad angles apart from a few shots of the drummer that come from a bad angled camera on the drumset.

Besides the background vocalists looking better than the main acts, they also sounded heavenly. Lisa, Trina and Mayonde are just the truth. Everyone seemed to have upped their game as both the instrumentalists and the DJs didn’t try to outshine each other and the singers.

That was a good start and here at UP we only hope that it gets better and better.

You can watch the whole season 2 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bsAd6NH-sM