REVIEW

'COLORFUL WORLD OF MORE' CONCERT: 

ARTISTES’ SCORE CARD.

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