LAST weekend’s Progressive Highlife concert at the National Theatre featuring Burger Highlife King George Darko, the adventurous Rex Omar and hiplife giants Buk Bak, had all the trappings of a good show except one thing — an audience.

The few who had come, it appeared, came not to jam but to relax away the night, and so when the three main performers and their supporting artistes performed one favourite track after another in vibrating sounds that shook the auditorium, the response they received was a rather chilly one.The four-hour show took off with solo guitarist Ralph Karikari doing three cool curtain-raisers in a brand of music he referred to as “authentic highlife”.

The next performance was by Assana and Fuseina, two young and energetic female twins who set the auditorium alight with their throbbing songs and robust dance patterns. They were followed by the Dance Factory and then Buk Bak. When George Darko (pictured) took the reins the crowd responded with real gusto and it looked like it was him the small crowd had been waiting for.

Supported by Ken Asomaning on guitar, Joe Tetteh on keyboards, Carlos Ayitey on congas, Ray Allen on sax, Bright Osei on trumpet, and Paa Kow on drums, George Darko got the audience to join in and sing-along, as one smash hit followed the other ..Moni Palaver, Akoo Tse Brofo, Naomi, Odo Colour. Assisted by four vocalists and a group of vigorous dancers, George Darko poured out the jazzy instrumental form of burger highlife music in upbeat sounds which brought into the auditorium, that ‘oldies-music’ kind of feeling.

Rex Omar and his Nu-Ashanty band were the ones to close the show and did they do it in a true African fashion! Rex and the band performed Afi, Born Free, Lady, Konka and many others in that ‘aboriginal’ brand of highlife that many local musicians seem to have departed from.

At the end of the show, it was quite clear that the different forms in which highlife music was presented pointed to the fact that highlife — far away from being a dying form of music in Ghana — would continue to evolve into many different styles.