The celebrations are over, but the memories of one of the most spectacular inaugurations will remain fresh for Joshua Zacheus, drummer of Lira’s The Love Band.

The band performed with Lira at the 2013 Ambassadors Inaugural Ball held in honour of Barack Obama’s second inauguration.

Joshua spoke to us about why he thinks Lira was chosen to entertain for the popular president.

“Lira fits into any situation. The people just feed off the energy that she has, the world celebrates her. Wherever we play, we’ve never had a bad turn out, we’ve never had a bad response,” he said.

“I think Lira was chosen on the basis that she knows what people need to hear. She has a positive energy and a positive message is always in her music. More than anything, it’s just that the person she is comes through in her music.”

On arrival in Washington DC, the dream began to materialize for the the group. At the ball, they mingled with representatives from over 200 countries.

Joshua was amazed at the splendor of the event and the detailed manner in which it was carried out: “I’ve never been to something like that. It was so proper and ‘on-point’,” he said.

“I think Americans are such perfectionists, that even if something had to go wrong [at the ball], they would find a way to show that nothing went wrong.”

Lira performed in a leopard print dress by South African designer, David Tlale. It was made especially for her after the unexpected invitation. They performed to over 2 000 guests.

Joshua says that they unfortunately did not meet Obama himself, but the night was exceptional.

“It was amazing knowing that we are on the other side of the world and we make people dance,” he said.

He also joked that even though Lira sang South African songs with Zulu or Xhosa lyrics, people still enjoyed their set: “They didn’t know what Lira is saying in some of the songs, but they were going mad.”

The night was a considerable step for Lira and the band; a step which has placed them firmly on the US map.

Article via ECR Newswatch