Akon impresses fans at Guinness show
The big name star and headline artiste at the Guinness Big Eruption Concert at the Accra Sports Stadium was Akon and all through the days preceding the show, many pundits and the public had said they would expect nothing less from him than a good performance to match his world-acclaimed status.
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When the top R&B star mounted the stage along with his band and Benny-Demus, his official DJ, it was all mayhem from the first performance to the last.
Akon hit the teeming and cheering audience with one sweet song after another. At a point when he was not getting the needed response, he screamed and chided those in front that he didn’t want VIPs at his concerts and that they should join in his party.
That goading must have animated the audience who went to party with him and responded even well to the first part of his show. When he took a break, Benny-Deemus took over and did his best to animate the crowd with his selection of Ghanaian, Nigerian and other hiphop tracks.
When he came back, Akon did so with the best and most surprising act the Ghanaian music fan would have seen. He appeared in a huge balloon and with that as his protection, he jumped into the crowd.
As the crowd rolled the balloon with him in it from one side to the other, he kept singing till that bit ended and he went back on stage to continue where he and Benny-Demus danced, sang and moved the crowd.
Akon actually brought this huge robot-like character on stage to spray some smoke lights on the stage and into the crowd. In a nutshell, he gave the crowd their time’s worth and the orgainsers their money’s worth as the best performer on the night.
Before ending his time on stage, he introduced Nigerian star, Wizkid to the cheering crowd. Some pundits had predicted before the show that Wizkid would not be able to live up to the billing and he didn’t.
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The young Nigerian star had hardly crossed the 10- minute mark when he showed tiredness and a lot of strain in his voice. He managed to recover and relying on songs that were already popular with Ghanaians, he managed to go through his time on stage.
Before Akon and Wizkid performed, American hiphop artsite Big Sean offered some of his popular songs to the fans. Ghanaian star, EL also performed a few of his well-known songs.
The security and orderlies on the stage had had up to this time had a nightmare controlling the fans who kept jumping on the stage to embrace the artistes. Many also crowded the front of the stage.
Emcee for the night Bola Ray had to plead with them to go back to enable the show to continue. After a lot of pushing, showing, heckling and pleading, some temporary space was created for the show to flow.
Guinness needs to be commended for organising one of the biggest outdoor music concerts in living memory. The stadium was packed to the rafters with what I estimate to be about 30,000 to 35,000 people. It was indeed a big eruption by the morning of Sunday.
