REVIEW
The last time I watched
and enjoyed a live concert like this in Nigeria was over ten years ago during
the era of Benson & Hedges Golden tones. Kudos to Guinness Nigeria.
Here's my assessment on
all the performers.
Comments are welcome.
CHIDINMA
It takes a lot of courage
to be the opening act for a concert of such magnitude; because the opening act,
most times, gives fans a hint on how the entire show will look like. Miss
Kedike did not disappoint; her rendition, first of one of Asa's hit songs and
then a fine mix of her own hit tracks ‘Kedike’ and ‘Emi Ni Baller’ successfully
‘appetized’ the crowd. The only minor sour point of her performance was when
she briefly vanished into the unnecessary stage smoke that 'in my own opinion’ succeeded
in distracting her rather than adding value to her stage craft. I doubt if the
smoke stuff was Chidinma's idea.
I'll grade Chidinma's
performance 8.5/10.
BURNA BOY
Burna boy’s outfit was
very nice, but he seemed to have lost his breath early on in his performance
after doing ‘run my race’. He ended up relying a bit too much on lip-syncing
and vocals from his tracks being played by the DJ on stage. For crowd control,
Burna Boy took advantage of the high energy level that still existed amongst
the crowd, being just the second act of the day and all.
Burna Boy's score 5/10.
PHYNO
I must confess, I was a
bit apprehensive over Phyno due to the fact that of all the big heavy weights headlining
the event, he was kind of like a green horn/new comer/least popular. But ‘Lo and
Behold’, Phyno exhibited a very reassuring high level on confidence which
eventually infected the crowd. His use of Igbo language notwithstanding, Phyno’s
performance was a very worthwhile experience; his inter change with Olamide was
the icing on an already delicious cake.
I'll give Phyno 8/10.
OLAMIDE
Badoo...Baddest guy ever
liveth, abeg collect 9/10.
Olamide impressed the
crowd, his stage craft was pure street and the fans identified with him every
second of the way. The part I liked most was when some dumb fan tossed a can of
Maltina on stage; Olamide picked and opened up the canned drink, spilling its
content all over himself, to the applause of fans. That's real showmanship, the
ability to turn a gaffe to your advantage.
I'd say it again, Olamide
scores 9/10.
WAJE
The only time I switched
(briefly) to another channel (Yes, I watched it all on Sound city) was when
Waje came on stage. Firstly I don't know why or how in the world Waje was
called up to headline a concert such as this. Waje has not had a chart popping
hit song in a very long while. Or were the organizers expecting her to come on
stage and perform 'Wish I never had a heart'?
This is not to say that
Waje is a bad artiste, NO, she is a very talented musician, and her performance
was not that bad either. But it would have made more sense if Waje was performing in
front of a crowd assembled by Dame Patience Jonathan for the launch of some new
women empowerment programme...not ‘colourful world of war’.
PS: She also needs to go
on a diet, quick.
For Waje, It’s 4/10.
ICE PRINCE
Ice Prince's performance
was like a Gym-class, he spent so much time jumping up and down that one wondered
when he would settle down and rap. When Ice prince finally decided to rap, you
could hear from his voice that he was struggling to catch his breath-after just
about 5 minutes on stage (Jumping). At a point he even had to sit down for a while,
telling fans, "I don tire o".
Thank God for Endia, the
upcoming artiste that supported Ice Prince on stage; Endia is one to look out
for...and he really supported Ice Prince.
I'll put my money on Endia
as one of the next big thing to look forward to in the Nigerian music scene...
...but for Ice Prince's
performance a generous 6/10 score would do.
WIZKID
The star boy did not disappoint;
Wizkid showed talent, style and class, like Olamide, he effectively carried the
crowd along and managed his energy level.
When Wizkid brought L.A.X
on stage, it seemed he (L.A.X) suffered at bit of stage fright and was
uncoordinated, but I'd still give him a pass mark.
Wizzy, kindly accept your
9/10.
FLAVOUR
After Waje, I believe
Flavour was the biggest disappointment for the night. His performance looked
rushed, shoddy and unplanned; no sexy female back up dancers?
Mr Flavour, exposing your
torso and doing the sexy whine dance on a stage where front row sections of the
audience closer to you are filled with Nigerian men is not a good idea, except
for gay folks. The only high point of Flavour's performance was when he
switched to ‘Ada-Ada’ which again was not properly executed as he did not take full advantage of the popularity of that song to boost his stage performance.
Flavour should not allow
the 'god-like' status he commands in some other African countries to get into his
head-this is Nigeria.
I score him 3/10 - Flavour
still remains one of my favourite Naija artistes.
TIWA SAVAGE
The girl's got class, very
professional and she proved to everyone on stage that for now, she remains the
most bankable female artist in Nigeria.
No long story Tiwa,
collect 7/10 (with honours)
DAVIDO
Davido should just thank
God for his wonderful live band and the large dude that sustained the pace,
aura and 'swagga' of his performance.
Davido's actual performance was slightly
above average though; energy level was quite good. But I don't know why Davido
disobeyed the organizers’ rule by inviting fans on stage. This action almost
ruined his performance especially when he offered $1,000 to the best ‘Skelewu’
dancer; it became a distasteful rowdy scene that was eventually curtailed, with
his performance ending almost abruptly.
My question is, who finally got the $1,000? Cos I heard they all followed him back stage.
It's 6/10 for Davido.
D'BANJ
For the first time in a
long while I was proud of the ‘koko master’, as he made a deliberate attempt to
focus more on his post-Don Jazzy materials...and it worked.
Let me just add here (off topic) that I remain
one of those that felt and still feel that D'banj's association with Kanye
West/Good music was a bloody waste of time and money. I think D'banj has now realized his mistake ever since he witnessed his mentor (Kanye West) transform into
Kim Kardashian's domestic appendage.
Unlike last year when D'banj, after
signing the 'Good music deal' spent most of his time in the United States
loitering around Big Sean, Pusha T,Jay Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian-Today
we see a D’banj spending more time in Nigeria/Africa and aggressively working
on his music career. From what we saw at the 'colourful world of more' concert,
it’s paying off.
Koko Master aka Eja nla,
it's 8/10 for you.
P-SQUARE
Firstly, I did not quite
understand Peter Okoye's trousers...but other than that, the duo of Psquare has
once again shown us why they are the most sort after entertainers in Africa.
Considering the fact that they were the last act on stage and most of the fans
were probably experiencing various levels of fatigue; Psquare brought them back
to life. Quite frankly, I did not expect anything less.
Psquare, surely a 9/10.
CONCLUSION:
It's about time Nigerian artistes,
event-mangers, sponsors and all other music stakeholders learn to start
investing heavily on live concerts and its aesthetic value. Not just on stage equipments,
audio and lights but on content as well. ‘Content’ here includes: choreography,
stage designs, illusionary visual effects, fireworks, costumes and so on.
Nigerian musicians should
understand that when fans come to watch them live on stage, they shouldn't
always subject fans to energy consuming routines such as, "Put your hands
up”...”Two fingers in the air”...”Jump jump jump” etc, e dey tire persin na.
I think fans would like to
attend concerts where they are swept off their feet by what happens on stage and not by the compulsory exercises Nigerian artistes put them through.
Other than that, 'Colorful world of more' was a
very good concert, I dare say World Class.
Once again, well done to Guinness
Nigeria.
PS: My 10/10 goes to the
comedian Bovi, managing a crowd like that and actually making them laugh was
not an easy task. The Tonto Dikeh joke was classic.
STANLEY NWABIA
stanley.nwabia@gmail.com
Tel: 08038834f....(just send me an email,aight?)
@MrStanleyNwabia
GBAM!
ReplyDeleteHow can u give my dear Flavour 3/10? Abeg u biased man...biff biff
ReplyDeleteWho dash Davido 6/10? The guy was just displayin trash on stage....
ReplyDeleteThis is a balanced assessment but i would give flavor like 5/10..he wasnt that bad
ReplyDeleteOlamide badoooo was 10/10,shikena?
ReplyDelete