The show, which many people thought will flop, turned out to be one of the highly successful shows held at the Sports Stadium. The show was postponed due to the hurriedly arranged friendly match between two of the most successful, decorated and glorious teams in the country, Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko.
Many, particularly people who had bought their advance tickets became worried. The organisers also panicked since they didn’t know of the repercussion of such an untimely decision, especially when they were not thoroughly informed of the decision earlier as expected.
Even at the press conference to formally announce the postponement of the show, the organisers were petrified because the new date means, they would have to clash with the annual Joy FM Old Skuul Reunion which happens on the same day at the Trade Fair Centre.
The fact that, the Old Skuul Reunion was free, I reckoned on the faces of some of the organisers that, they felt they were in some trouble.
“What then happens to their investment, if the people all decide to make their way to the Trade Fair Centre for the Old Skuul Reunion?” I asked one of the organisers. “Ebenezer, we will use the Old Skuul Reunion to get people to attend this program. All we have to do is to push the message hard”, was a replied that accompanied my worried question.
If I was to choose between the Old Skuul and the Samini/Movado gig, I would have opted for the latter since the former has lost it appeal from my perspective. But honestly, I was nervous for the organisers because the Old Skuul Reunion was free whiles the Samini/Mavado gig attracted 20 and 40 GHC.
But I knew MTN has been the heart of Ghana music for many years until recently when they had to hand over the sponsorship of the country’s music awards to Vodafone. I know they are still committed at projecting Ghana music. Fantasy Entertainment has done it before. They brought the American Hip Hop artiste Rick Ross to the country. Samini Music is a label headed by a very serious musician.
So with MTN, Fantasy Entertainment and Samini Music working closely, my nervousness subsided. And truly, the Samini/Mavado show was a sold out concert. Highly successful. Now here are my few observations.
The Weed Smoking:
If Accra Sports Stadium, the venue for the ‘MAVADO LIVE in 2011 Fantasy Jam Hosted By Samini’ musical concert was a venue for a ‘weed’ smoking competition to determine who is the best smoker, I can bet that, that would have been a perfect juncture.
There is no better caption for the concert like; ‘A Night Of ‘Weed’, Rains As Samini & Mavado ‘Lighted’ Accra Sports Stadium!’ Apart from Samini’s outstanding and Mavado’s thrilling performances, the night was a night for rains and ‘weed’ smoking.
‘Weed’ is mostly referred to as Indian hemp. Aside that, it has many aliases Ganja, Marijuana; in Ghana you can call it Ntampi, Abonsam Tawa and the likes.
It appeared that, the organisers legalised the smoking of ‘weed’ at the stadium. The manner it was smoked at all corners was very serious. It didn’t say good thing about a country that prides itself as a Christian state. A country that frowns on ‘weed’ smoking.
Over 90% of the people at the venue smoked the ‘weed’ in various sizes, weights, length and different designs. The remaining of the 10%, who had come to enjoy the show, was left to inhale the smoke to the detriment of their health.
From left to right to front and back, people smoked as if their life depended on it. Most of these smokers appear unintelligent with the way and manner they smoked the thing.
I don’t smoke and I don’t have a problem with people who smoke. I believe smoking is a CHOICE and not by FORCE, so if anyone has decided to kill himself with smoke, it is not my business but how it was done at the Accra Stadium paints a very gloomy picture.
There are two things about ‘weed’ smokers that I know of; its either you are extremely intelligent or hugely stupid. The people I saw smoking ‘weed’ falls into the second category. I have no apology for anyone who feels insulted by my words.
I know ‘weed’ unlike cigarette is smoked in isolation, so whoever allowed those unscrupulous beings to smoke in the midst of everybody should be questioned. It was a bad experience to anybody who was at the venue. I didn’t know some Ghanaians can be this reckless.
A great chunk of these smokers were the youth. It was unbelievable for me a as non-smoker, it was a horror experience seeing young handsome guys and nice looking ladies smoke the life out of themselves.
The Rains:
I got to the venue when Kwaw Kese was on stage doing his things. It was like a dream to me when I saw the crowd. The crowd was the biggest that I have seen at the stadium in recently times. Even the two most successful football team have not been witnessing such a support lately.
The crowd was so huge that, whenever they shouted, it nearly threatened the dead buried in the Osu Cemetery.
I can’t say much about his performance but then the excitement on the faces of the patrons confirms to me that, Kwaw Kese indeed didn’t disappoint. He shortly invited Dadie Opanka, an underground act who has managed to have an overnight hits.
Together on stage, they perform Kwaw Kese’s ‘Popping’, a track on his latest album. After which he left for Opanka to do one more song. The guy is not actually a delight to watch but then his song seems to be on the lips of everyone as the audience sing and rap with him.
It started drizzling – something many people will call showers of blessing. But it was far from that as it began to rain as the tempo increased – from drizzling to slow pouring to heavy downpour. By then, it was time for Sheriff Ghale, the Tamale based reggae artiste’s turn to perform.
There was a rush hour as patrons rush to find shield for their heads. The stadium is not roofed. When the rains started, it became evident that, an enclosed place likes the Dome at the Accra International Centre still remains very important. Though in terms of the numbers, the Dome is small, it still would have served a good purpose in times like this.
After The Rains:
The concert was put on hold as the uninvited rains kept pouring down. It continued for close to 30 minutes after which it stopped totally. Okomfour Kwaadee was the first artiste to open the second part of the show. From track to track, the once favourite story-teller welcomed himself to the hearts of the patrons. Many were excited to see him again after launching his comeback concert on October 2009.
He performed couple of his old songs as well as a new one. From the cheers he got on stage, it appeared the audience enjoyed his stay on the stage. Oh and I did too. He performed with a live band.
Now to the turn of Tema based R2Bees. What were they up to? These two guys are a delight to watch [notably Muggez] but then I think they should put their house in order. Seriously, I didn’t understand these chaps on the night. They had come to do some free-styling as their DJ swap the laptop used to dish out tunes to the patrons on their own laptop.
Why can’t they just give out their CD to the DJ to play from the main laptop? How important is their laptop to the one being used? What would have changed about their performance if they use the main laptop instead of their own? So how will the show go if every artiste wants to use their own laptop to play their songs? Is anyone there to answer my questions?
People were in anticipation for their newest hit track ‘Agyeiii’ but it wasn’t forthcoming.
For close to 15 minutes or maybe more, the two were on stage free-styling whiles their people struggle to connect their laptop to the main feed and you know how they call it, don’t you? We have a technical problem. Awful.
R2Bees should be disappointed in themselves. What would have happened if the DJ had played their songs from the main laptop? Wouldn’t it have saved them from being tagged as the ‘flop on the night’? Come on, someone must be serious.
They should not feel disappointed for not being able to perform. Who is to be blamed? Certainly not the organisers. They should be disappointed in themselves for not being able to do the reason why their name and picture was advertised. Well, the guys have a song called ‘I dey mad oh’ – ‘I dey go crazy’ so what do you expect from them? Laughs!
4×4 were called to perform instead. They were followed by Sarkodie.
Security:
Yet again, security at a major concert was terrible. To put it in plain language, the security men brought to the venue were nothing but bunch of business men who had been mistakenly approached to protect the gate.
It was terrible when security men instead of manning the gates and checking for recalcitrant behaviours were seen doing brisk business. They had a field day selling VIP, regular tickets outside the main gate.
It appears, new sets of ticket were printed because I happened to be at the main gate and there was no machine or any device available there to check out for fake tickets. If security men sell a ticket to you, will they get the time to check if it’s fake?
There wasn’t any proper coordination at the main gate; the same entrance for the VIPs. There wasn’t any single queue. Security men just stood there and gossiped to each other. Even media men with press tags were heckled and delayed before entering for no apparent reasons.
Samini/Mavado:
His performance on the night was simply a top notch.
I was one of the few people at the show not because of Samini. I was there mainly to catch a glimpse of Buk Bak and Okomfour Kwaadee.
After all, what else is there to see about him? Samini has proven himself on almost every stage he’s been on. He never disappoints. Ghanaians know his capacity. They know his exploits. They know what he can do when given a stage.
There was no dull moment when Samini was on stage. He started slowly and the tempo went up bit by bit till he got to the zenith of it all. Samini is a genius. He involved the audience in his performance, they in turn responded to whatever he asked.
When he asked the lights to be put off and everybody to either light their lighters or put up their phones; the stadium became a beautiful place. When he performed his ‘Samini’ track, he removed his shirt and asked everyone to do the same.
As he waved his shirt in the air in ecstasy, the guys who had done the same followed him. I thought I would get a free show, since I was standing by four nice ladies. They wished to remove their blouses too but naturally, they were restricted.
Midway through his performance, there was a little scuffle on the other side of the stage. They want him out of the stage to make way for Movado. An angry Samini took a swipe at them by asking the audience to shout ‘kpoooi’, his known trademark to warn the people who wanted him out. I think it was absurd for anyone to want him out at that moment.
At 2:27am, the headline artiste Mavado welcome himself on stage with one of Samini’s lines ‘Akye saaa’. When he started performing tracks after tracks, it came to light that, indeed the man Mavado is not really familiar to Ghanaians yet his songs are doing pretty well down here.
Did Samini beat him? Was there any competition at all? Mavado didn’t disappoint but his performance as compared to Samini’s was an average. He looked on stage like someone who was jaded, as he paused in between. Another SUCCESSFUL show!
MAVADO LIVE IN GHANA, HOSTED BY SAMINI was sponsored by MTN with support from Melcom, where Ghana shops; Royal Richester Hotel and Delta Airline.
Media partners: Y-FM, Happy FM and ETV, Hitz FM, Pluzz FM, Hi Newspaper and Face-2-face Africa, News One, Graphic Showbiz, GhanaCelebrities.Com, GhanaMusic.Com, Ameyawdebrah.com, Flex Newspaper.
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