Originally, concerts are regarded as gatherings that offer an opportunity of a live musical experience from musicians to their fans – an opportunity to delight pleasure in the magic of the music directly from the lips of the creator – a one-on-one exchange of sounds and energy.
But in recent years, this hasn’t exactly been the case, especially in the Nigerian music sphere. While a handful of musicians make a laudable attempt at providing their fans with a very-well-deserving live musical experience, the vast majority refers to miming as their ultimately resolve. More perplexing is the fact that many are even unable to mime their (own) songs correctly.
The Standard
When called upon to perform, more often than not, a typical Nigerian musician hops on the stage accompanied by a number of friends who play the role of hype-men leaning on the help of the DJ to guarantee transition and flow of the performance. The days of ear-soothing vocal flexing, electrifying choreography, a well-coordinated onstage backup and an overall cinematic experience are almost gone. And as it is known, many musicians feel zero obligations in this regard as mediocrity has become the new standard.
Pop star – Mr 2kay has however exempted himself from the craze of “track one from the DJ”. At his just-concluded headline event “The Elevated Concert” which held in his home-city Port Harcourt (June 17), the singer treated fans to an unforgettable live musical experience.
The singer’s opening set which spanned for nearly an hour was a total blow away as he made a filmic entrance donned in a white traditional attire with a befitting interlude by his band and dancers. He performed his prophetic single “Pray For Me” and went on to render an array of songs from his new and past projects putting his vocal prowess to good use whilst relying on the assistance of his backup singer’s and dancer’s who graced the stage intermittently to make his set an absolute delight.
After an impressive opening, the singer gave room for side attractions from comedians; Dan D Humorous and K.O Baba as well as guest acts; Duncan Mighty and Charles Okocha who held sway until he returned for another laudable set.
The concert themed after his recently-released sophomore “Elevated” album was his first headline show in many years and the singer sure made it worth the while for everyone who attended. His obvious attempt to provide fans with a top-notch live experience did pay off – Mr 2kay gave fans a run for their money and ultimately stamped his name in the league of top performers that only a few Nigerian musicians can boast of.