By FRANK MUCHUGU—
Reggae fans in Kenya were on Saturday night treated to over two good hours of a live performance by visiting Jamaican dance hall star Reanno Devon Gordon, alias Busy Signal, at the KICC in Nairobi.
The artist lived to the fans’ expectations with back-to-back performances without even a water break, and to top it up, he performed covers of other reggae songs. A fan at the beginning of the performance sneaked on stage and grabbed Busy Signal’s cap. Security moved fast to reprimand the fan, but the singer pleaded with security not to hurt the young man, citing the concert was for peace. This sent chants of celebration from the fans, before Busy went ahead to perform his hits.
Many previous concerts have gone south, with fans claiming they did not receive quality performances, despite paying huge amounts of money. At some, like the Omarion concert, Wizkid’s concert and the just-concluded Koroga festival, the headlining artists ended up performing very few of their songs.
“I do not eat my fans’ money. I give quality performance wherever I go,” Busy said during the concert.
“I let my fans experience me and enjoy my music. I did not come here to rob my fans.”
Another difference with Busy Signal is that he arrived at the venue early to watch other Kenyan acts and actually have a feel of how the Kenyan reggae industry is faring.
Local acts also offered some great performances to the hundreds of fans who flocked the venue. Necessary Noize duo Nazizi and Wyre the Love Child brought the house down with some of their old-school hits. Other local performance acts were Vivian, new dancehall reggae sensation Lutta, music by Dohty family DJ’s among others.
“I enjoyed the concert to the fullest. I believe Kenyan promoters ought to borrow a leaf or two from the organizers of the Free Up concert so that at the end of the day, you leave a good name for yourself and also don’t make the artist look like the devil. For once, my money did not go to waste for a concert,” said attendee Fridah Moraa.
The concert aimed to promote peace during and after the elections, and also celebrate the 33rd anniversary of Shashamane International.
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