For the Nigerian music industry 2017 resonated with series of melodramatic dynamics which eventually culminated in what could be described as a fun year.
And as it wraps up Showtime recalls with nostalgic feelings artiste concerts that rocked the industry.
While some artistes are basking in the euphoria of the success their concerts recorded, others count their losses while re-strategizing on how to do it right next time.
The piece below is a list of artiste concerts that rocked the music space in 2017.
Sit back & Enjoy!!!
1. Majek Fashek’s ‘30 years on stage concert’
September 10, 2017 was vintage Majek Fashek, at the Grand Ball Room, Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, where he dazzled reggae music lovers who yearned for more as he performed at his 30 years on stage concert; which also doubled as his album launch.
The concert which was believed to be a show that would transform the fortunes of the acclaimed ‘Rainmaker’ after many years of battling with alleged “Spiritual attacks” and his return to the Nigerian music space .
Besides 2face, Ushbebe, Maleke, I Go Save, Sound Sultan, Kenny Blaq, Ade Bantu and his band, the Ibru sisters, Akpororo, DJ Jimmy Jatt and a few others worthy of note, most invited artistes, entertainment stakeholders and corporate Nigeria were conspicuously absent.
Though the show commenced way behind schedule, Majek stunned the crowd with his stage craft. Many would have thought he was out of shape for obvious reasons, but he took everyone by surprise as he dazzled brilliantly on stage.
2. Phyno Fest
Indelible memories of the third edition of Phyno’s annual music concert, ‘PhynoFest’
The Shut Down Reloaded’, still resonate in the hearts of fans who attended the concert which attracted well over 50,000 fun lovers who came out to be thrilled by their favourite music acts.
The concert which held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, kicked off on Saturday 18th November, with a street party held in the Abakpa Nike area of Enugu State, the community where Phyno actually honed his musical skills while growing up.
Riding on the crest of past editions, the main concert held on Sunday 19th with brilliant musical performances from;
Phyno, D’banj, Yemi Alade, Runtown, Zoro, YCEE, Flavour, Timaya, Runtown, Rude Boy of the defunct P’Square, Lil Kesh, Mayorkun, Duncan Mighty and many others.
Hosted by top broadcaster, Olisa Adibua, with appearances from Nedu and hype-man Ehiz, and a post-concert after party, powered by Hennessey, PhynoFest will sure linger on the lips of music pundits for the first quarter of 2018.
3. Simi’s ‘See Me Live’ concert’
Known for her stage dexterity and musical prowess, X3M Ideas songstress, Simi, dazzled in her usual fashion as she crowned 2017 with the maiden edition of her music concert tagged ‘See Me Live’, at the Hard Rock Café, Oniru Estate.
With a conscious effort targeted at making her fans drool with expectation in 2018, the Jamb Question crooner serenaded guests with good music in a fashion never seen of her since her debut.
As expected, there was a flagrant display of musical chemistry between her, Falz and Adekunle Gold as they wowed guests during their duet performances.
Without an iota of bias, Showtime scores Simi a 100%, because for starters she did brilliantly and deserves to be applauded.
4. Five Star Music Fiesta
Led by self styled ‘Limpopo Master’, Kcee, the Five Star Music Fiesta held at the Ikeja City Mall, December 2nd, 2017, with an amazing list of star artistes including Simi, Timaya, Reekado Banks Kiss Daniel.
MI, Tekno, Small Doctor, Mayorkun, Patorankin, Niniola, DJ Consequence, just to mention a few.
It was an event of brilliant musical showmanship that culminated into what fun lovers have continued to describe as one of the most interesting and successful artiste concert of 2017.
Being a free for all show which is rare in the history of music concerts in Nigeria, Five Star Music Fiesta set the ball rolling for all other concerts in the months of December.
5. Maleek Berry’s ‘Last Daze of Summer’
Following the success of his hit singles ‘Eko Miami’ and ‘Been Calling’ to the release of his EP ‘Last Daze of Summer’ which received over 70 million hits on music streaming platforms,
to bagging two nominations at the MOBO Awards, British-Nigerian born music producer and singer, Maleek Berry, can boast of a phenomenal 2017.
Some may want to say he wasn’t ripe enough to stage a concert, but trust me it was a good decision at the right time because with the enviable energy and admirable stage craft he wielded,
he took his audience on a rollercoaster ride of entertainment bliss laced with professionalism.
The concert tagged ‘Last Daze of Summer’, like his EP, which was his debut, brought his music tour to an end.
6. Mr Eazi’s ‘Detty Rave’ concert
After rumours went viral that he had lost favour with his Lagos fans as a result of unguided statements he made during interviews and on social media, Mr Eazi decided to try his luck outside Lagos.
After his mini concert at Sango Ota which held on the 2nd of December, his ‘Detty Rave’ concert held in Abuja on the 9th of December at the Harrow Park, and he reportedly held fans spellbound with his stage craft.
7. Brymo at Terra Kulture Arena Concert
As one of Nigeria’s most talented music acts, Brymo’s concert at the Terra Kulture Arena, Victoria Island was phenomenal.
With his band, ‘The Lagos Tout’ and an array of other talented performers, Brymo took elites on a ride of unpopular but beautiful sounds only lovers of good music can understand and appreciate.
Yes, you may argue that he does music for a select audience, mostly the rich and affluent, his concert, though attended by a minute fraction of the Nigerian music audience,
is worthy of note and Showtime gives it to him because despite the setbacks he suffered after parting ways with Chocolate City, he has been able to remain relevant on the Nigerian music scene.
8. ‘Mayor of Lagos’ concert
With Mayorkun’s ‘Eleko’, ‘Sade’ and ‘Mama’ hits, who would expect the DMW lead act to rest on his oars?
For the youngster who is revving up to take over the music scene, his debut concert ‘Mayor of Lagos’, which took place at the Hard Rock Cafe on December 14 was the starting point.
Anyone familiar with Mayorkun will agree he is a game changer who knows how to wow his audience, who in turn usually steal the show from him as they sing along word for word whenever he performs on stage.
This was the case at his ‘Mayor of Lagos’ concert which music pundits have described as one to look out for in 2018.
9. Olamide in Concert (OLIC4)
After three successful editions at the 6000 capacity Eko Hotels Convention Centre, on Sunday, December 17, YBNL henchman, Olamide, took the 4th edition to the main bowl of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, for lack of space.
The 24,000 capacity stadium experienced non-stop music from 12noon all through till 7pm when it ended.
As expected, his former signees, Adekunle Gold, Lil Kesh and Viktoh were on ground to support him, alongside Temmy Ovwasa and many other top Nigerian acts that graced the OLIC4 stage.
Love him; hate him, Olamide made history at OLIC4 with the success it recorded, little wonder Falz, Wizkid, Adekunle Gold and Davido made sure they impressed at their respective concerts which held after his historic OLIC4.
10. ‘The Falz Experience’
Penultimate December 20th, 2017, Falz announced the maiden edition of his concert themed ‘The Falz Experience’, and in a one-on-one chat with Showtime,
he boasted of how unique and different it was going to be since he was bringing on board something never seen in the history as far as artiste concerts in Nigeria goes.
Did he deliver on his promise to dazzle guests? It’s a yes. Guests couldn’t get enough of his vocal prowess, sound, good music, uniqueness, chemistry and all that came with the concert as they were just awesome.
Till date, the question on the lips of critics is how he was able to conceive and bring to fruition such feat.
Though journalists who attended the concert complained of ill treatment, but they all confessed with objectivity that he delivered on his promise to deliver entertainment extraordinaire.
11. Wizkid’s concert
After a successful year with major chart topping singles and videos, self styled ‘Star Boy’, Wizkid, decided to crown the year with a concert which has since been the talk of the town and on news headlines.
Besides the mouth gaping performances of his back-in-the-day hit songs and surprise stage appearances which left the Convention Centre of Eko Hotel bristling with ecstatic screams,
worthy of mention was the Child rapper, Hammed, whom Wizkid gave the rare opportunity to showcase his rap skills on stage.
Wizkid was so charmed by the rapper’s talent that he pledged to support the budding child rapper’s music career with the sum of 10-million naira.
The climax of this record breaking concert which still hasn’t left the lips of analysts was the reconciliatory moment when Wizkid shocked everyone by calling his alleged arch rival, Davido, on stage to perform with him.
This alone has been the talk of the town for days and trust me, it won’t end anytime soon.
12. ‘One Night Stand with Adekunle Gold & the 79th Element’
The city of Lagos experienced a magical ‘One Night Stand’ with Adekunle Gold at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, on Boxing Day.
Organized and powered by Bavent Street Live, the concert follows-up successful editions held at the 02 Academy in London and Button Factory in Dublin.
Hosted by Do2dtun, the show kicked off with a soul rending performance by Myoa, while Teni and Fumbi prepared the energy of fans for Adekunle Gold’s performance.
The audience quaked in frenzied excitement when Adekunle Gold stepped out in a black sequin jacket, crowned with his signature golden cap.
He gave a mesmerizing performance of Orente backed up by the eccentric display and dramatization from the dancers.
No one could get enough of the Beautiful Night as Adekunle Gold and the 79th Element brought the 1970’s vibe to the stage with the dancers in their old school outfits putting in the Work while portraying various professions.
Towards the end of the performance, the fans couldn’t be more grateful with Call on me, which was followed by a performance from Seyi Shay.
when Simi joined Adekunle Gold on the second stage to sing No forget; the audience was ecstatic about the breathtaking performance.
Adekunle Gold retreated from the stage to allow Simi deliver a mesmerizing rendition of Joromi and Owambe.
The night got better when a member of the audience proposed to his girlfriend which got the crowd excited. She said yes to the growing joy of the audience who exclaimed and took pictures.
Lufthansa, German Airlines, official sponsors of One Night Stand With Adekunle Gold presented a free ticket to Texas, USA, to a lucky winner.
13. Davido’s 30-Billion Concert
2017 has been Davido’s year and it is only right that the Best MTV EMA African Act was saved for the last.
After announcing the ‘30 Billion Concert’ a few months back, it effortlessly became the most talked about 2017 concert in Africa, and it is no surprise the concert attracted attendance and performances from the most celebrated names in Africa such as;
2baba, Falz, Olamide, Niniola, Daddy Showkey, Nasty C surprise appearance by WizKid and the defunct Mo Hits Crew including Don Jazzy, D’banj, Wande Coal, D’Prince, Naeto C and Dr. Sid, just to name a few.
Put together by TE Group, Achievas Entertainment and Pentagon, the concert also recorded a handful of rare feats that solidifies its position as 2017’s biggest concert;
such as the first ever reunion from Mo’ Hits Stars, which was undoubtedly one of the concert’s best highlights – a performance that saw the once label mates perform their hit songs ‘Booty Call’, ‘Closer’, Pere, among others.
Falz thrilled fans with energetic performance of his hit single ‘Bahd Baddo Baddest’ with Davido.
Olamide also added to the fiery ambience of the night, performing one of 2017’s biggest songs, ‘Wo’.
Another awe-inspiring highlight of the night was experienced as popular South African wordsmith, Nasty C graced the stage alongside Runtown; performing their club banger ‘Said’.
Davido went on to invite his newly declared best friend, Wizkid on stage, causing yet another uncontrolled frenzy as both stars embraced.
WizKid went on to perform his street anthem ‘Manya’ with Davido; creating what would be described as one of the rarest musical moments of 2017.
Another segment of the concert witnessed a rare performance from Akpako master; Terry G as he took fans down memory lane with his 2009 single ‘Free Madness’, spurring a sing-along session from the euphoric audience.
Fans experienced every segment of the concert on a high note; spawning hours of undiluted exhilaration as each performing act graced the stage.
The concert brought about the convergence of some of Nigeria’s most respected talents; spanning across an eclectic list of performers which include :-
Olamide, Nonso Amadi, Teniola, Niniola, Tjan, Patoranking, Ice Prince, Dice Ailes, Reminisce, Humble Smith, Wale Turner, Reekado Banks, Mayorkun, Dremo, Sexy Steel, and a host of others.
