Shouts of ‘Amen oooh!’ filled the studio as members of the Amen Band
threw themselves on the floor in excitement after being declared
winners at the final show of the Bands Alive contest.

Twelve bands started off 13 weeks ago chasing the title of the best live act in the reality show organised by GAMA Films and TV3.
 
The Amen Band eventually shrugged off Liberty, BIB and M1 in the final lap to take home a set of music equipment and GH¢2,000.

The runners-up, Liberty, got a set of music equipment and GH¢1,000. The third place winners, BIB, got GH¢3,000 whilst the fourth band, M1, received GH¢2,000.

A large crowd turned up for the final showdown between the four bands. The studio for the programme could not accommodate everyone and it took a lot of cajoling before some of the people agreed to watch the programme on a big screen at TV3’s Executive Theatre. That venue also filled up very quickly and late comers had to be turned away.

There was a sense of expectation in the studio as the judges: Rex Omar, Nana Nkrumah and Mac Tontoh settled in and sections of the audience rooted for the various bands they supported.

Meanwhile, an atmosphere of friendship existed backstage as the musicians from the different bands cracked jokes, danced and teased each other.

Maybe all that was just to mask the tension they felt inside as they got ready to go on stage to each play a cover version of a popular song and an original composition.

Liberty were the first to come on followed by M1, BIB and Amen. For the cover versions, they played materials by Bob Marley, Alhaji K Frimpong and Sidney.

They all seemed to have learnt a bit more about approaches to composition as the contest progressed. That was evident in the well-structured pieces they offered to the studio judges and the general public to hear and decide who would win the competition.

Unlike the ratio that had existed since the start of the programme, public voting on the final day accounted for 50 per cent of the verdict. The other 50 per cent belonged to the three judges.

An idea of who could eventually emerge tops started to emerge by the time the judges finished commenting on the presentation by the Amen Band.
 
Rex Omar said he was highly impressed by the improved sound of the band and wished they were declared winners.
Mac Tontoh said he liked the challenge the band imposed on itself in terms of selection of songs and that as a trumpeter himself, he was crazy about the lady trumpeter in the band.

Nana Nkrumah stated clearly that he would have declared them the winners if he were a sole judge.

Amen won but the overall jubilant mood in the studio and the broad smiles on the faces of all the musicians, audience as well as technical and production staff of TV3 and GAMA indicated that all were very happy with what had happened to live band music on Bands Alive over the past 13 weeks.

Special jury prizes were awarded to M1 for being the Most Disciplined Band and Amen being the Most Innovative Band. BIB walked away as the Most Exciting Band in the competition.

Four of the bands that had been knocked out earlier- CAF, Kakra, Trinity and Warriors- were on the show as guests.
Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) President, Diana Hopeson, performed with Trinity, Rex Omar sang with CAF whilst Nana Nkrumah, Mac Tontoh and Sol Amarfio also jammed with the Warriors.

Kofi Nyantakyi, GAMA’s Director of Operations told Showbiz that auditions for the next edition would start around the end of the year to enable the Bands Alive Season Two take off early next year.

“From all the comments we have received, we think Bands Alive has been a phenomenal success. Everybody thought live music had totally collapsed and there was no way it was going to be revived.” Nyantakyi added.

“When we started, a lot of people thought we were going to get older people coming in to play but many have been shocked to see such talented youngsters competiting against each other. Now everybody realises our youth have something to offer in terms of creativity and I’m glad we have contributed to that realisation.”

Charles Amoah, Music Director for the programme, however, thinks the producers should not wait till next year before they get another edition of Bands Alive on the screen.

“TV3 and GAMA should not wait at all. They should keep the fire burning. They should come back with the programme within three or four months.”

He said I didn’t care who won because what matters is to get young musicians interested in learning to play instruments and playing them live to audiences.

“For me, grooming them from little creatures into big monsters has been an interesting journey. In terms of creativity, they all did extremely well. If you look at the songs we chose for them, pieces like Mr Magic, Just The Two Of Us, KyenKyen Bi, Serwa Akoto and others are classics.

It has been amazing what they have learnt within the short period in terms of vocal dynamics, instrumentation, arrangements, comportment on stage and other relevant attitudes.”

One of the judges, Mac Tontoh, said: “I refer to all of the bands as the new music kids on the block. They all did very well but as a contest, one must win. Anyone who can help the bands stay together and move on must do so. They are national treasures.”

Looking at the size of audience that turned up for the final show, Mark Gilbert Coleman, a co-producer of the contest said a bigger venue would be considered for the next Bands Alive final show.

Bands Alive was sponsored by MTN and supported by Smart Energy Drink.

Story by Nii Laryea Korley