Top 5 events of the season

There were so many shows that took place in Accra during the season and I had the privilege of attending a few of them. This piece will look at what I consider as my top five events during the period and in order of appearance.

1. THE JOY FM 90S JAM: One of the best events I attended during the 2014 holiday season was the 90s Jam organised by Joy FM. The music was good with DJs Nii Ayi Tagoe and Black on rotation with MCs Bola Ray and other Joy FM presenters on hand to hype the show.

Nii Ayi Tagoe left Joy FM during the course of the year and so did Bola Ray and so both were obviously not going to be part of the show. DJ Black was always going to be a constant factor in the scheme of things and his partner on the night was Andy Dosty.

Andy Dosty’s legend has not been strongly established in Accra as it has for many years in Kumasi hence, folks here do not know that the guy with the funny voice on Hitz FM is one of the “dopest” DJs anywhere in this country.

If there is one Ghanaian DJ who knows his music and cues and can talk to the turntable to do whatever he wants it to do it must be Andy Dosty and so I was aware of what he could do on the night when his name came up in pre-promos as one of the DJs on the night.

Up on the open air venue of the event, the teeming crowd was a sight to behold. There in the semi-darkness where hundreds of people – male, female, young, old – gyrating to music of the 1990s and obviously enjoying every bit of it.

It was going to be a long night with Andy Dosty and Black playing the best songs of the 90s (and more than occasionally cheating by playing some 2,000 era songsJ) and Lexis Bill serving as the hypeman along with Mike Gizo and the DJs themselves.

As much as it was very good, I hope, however, that the DJs will stick to 90s music and play a lot more hiphop and R&B of that era.

2. GHANA ROCKS: This concert was the only Charterhouse event that I had never attended. For me, it was always positioned as that ultimate party for young people to close Christmas and since I am not your typical young person I stayed away.

But I was convinced to attend the show this year to see how it was and hope that I would enjoy it. That’s how come I ended up at the Accra International Conference Centre on December for my maiden Ghana Rocks show.

There were several artistes lined up for this show and they all showed up to deliver their performances on the night. The hit list included Joey B and Pappy Kojo (those two have ended up as a kind of duo), Kaakie, Mz Vee, Stonebwoy, Edem, EL, Sarkodie and Samini.

I should say there were amazing performances all round. Kaakie impressed me for the first time, EL I wasn’t too impressed with, MzVee was perfect and so were Edem and Sarkodie. Stonebwoy was the best on the night for me as someone who could perform his song and not just sing over it to his audience. Nothing less than 10/10 performance is expected of Samini whenever he is on a bill and he delivered just that.

The one challenge I had with the show was the sound. It could have been better and it was from midway towards the end of the show. Otherwise it was a grand show.

3. 020 LIVE: Vodafone’s own bespoke event that is used to celebrate its customers every year. The 020 Live concert has seen some of the biggest names in music the world over showing up in Ghana to perform on the same stage with some of the local artistes.

The first three editions were big concerts that featured the likes of P-Suare, D’banj, Trey Songz and Ludacris, while the fourth edition held December 2013 at the Labadi Beach Hotel was a party for a few selected customers of the services of Vodafone.

The last one was held at the Polo Gardens for two categories of customers: Vodafone Red subscribers and Vodafone X subscribers. It was scheduled for December 30th and billed as the last party to end all parties in the year 2014.

It was a party with one VJ (Xphlip), four DJs (DJ Black, DJ Mic Smith, DJ Vyrosky, DJ E-Nyce) on rotation and four music acts on the night namely 4×4, VVIP, Mz Vee and Stonebwoy. There were no MCs but there were hypemen in Mercury Quaye and Sheldon.

The event delayed unduly. Some of the people who got tickets to attend had showed up on time and were prepared to party as promised. However, the setting up had not been completed and some had to wait for a while for the show to commence.

When it did kick off, the 2014 020 Live was a big party. The VJ started with songs with videos playing on screens hanged about 18 feet from the ground on a spectacular stage designed as X to portray Vodafone X. DJ Black took over and played some good tunes to the admiration of the audience both standing and sitting.

I must say in all honesty that the DJ that impressed me the most on the night was DJ Vyrosky of Starr FM. He knew his turntable, knew his music and above all knew his audience. His selections were sleek, slick and his transitions from one song to the other were crisp and seamless. The female DJ E-Nice did well and so did Mic Smith.

Every artiste was immense on the night. The sound could have been better and so could the lights at the open air event. But as party Vodafone gave the customers a good deal with abundant music, free drinks and a good amount of nibbles and meat to last the night.

4. DECEMBA TO REMEMBA: When Citi FM introduced Music of Ghanaian Origin or MOGO during their earlier days of broadcasting in Accra, they realised that the type of artistes that appeared on MOGO and the kind of music they played were to the type that would appeal to their young audience.

In view of that, the station introduced another event they called Decemba to Rememba and it was meant to be a show that would feature young artistes in the hip category who will perform much more contemporary songs for it to be attended by a young audience.

This Christmas period was no exception when Citi FM lined up some of the big names in contemporary Ghanaian music to rock the Accra International Conference Centre.

Akoo Nana opened the show and it was in my humble view the worst performance I had seen throughout the holiday period. But there was a good performance from Keche to wipe off the earlier performance.

Kontihene was amazing on the night just as he was at the last two Ghana Music Awards. Manifest did well, especially as he used video to perform his collaboration with Obrafuor effectively.

Guru was good on the night and Stonebwoy, who for me was the most consistent performer during the season put another stupendous performance that endeared him to the audience.

Shatta Wale arrived on the stage standing atop a raised platform before descending to the main stage. With his army of bodyguards standing all over the stage, he performed his hit songs for over an hour.

DKB and Afia Schwarzenegger brought comedy to the stage adding a good dose of laughter to the event.

5. NITE OF 1019 LAUGHS: My fifth and final show of the festive season has got to be the comedy event that Charterhouse organises every 26th December. It was for me an ordinary comedy show with no sparks or flames.

DKB had appeared on the same stage earlier in the year and wowed all of us to heaven and back.

He did well once again and most especially he got the crowd with him. Most of the jokes were still ethnic toned and well executed as well. He also directed a few digs at Nigerians and knowing our neighbours, they “no dey carry last” at all. I, however, loved his earlier performance, his performance at the movie awards and at D2R to this one.

When it got to his turn, Gordons who didn’t take kindly to DKB’s digs at his country and people, had wanted to retaliate only to stop when DKB pleaded with him. He went on to deliver his jokes in a typical Gordons style and though some were funny, others were too rehashed to be.

Akpororo was on the bill, however, like most other people, Amanda Jissih, the host on the night confused her with Akpos. He corrected it and went on to present his material as the audience laughed along with him throughout.

I have seen Akpororo almost collapse the Dome with his performance at one of the laugh series and subsequently seen him done same. This time his performance was good, but it was not phenomenal from where I was sitting and watching from the first floor.

Odogwu, who opened the show was just okay. However, the Ugandan Salvador was amazing on the night. No Tribe never disappoints and they didn’t on 26th December. M.anifest and the versatile man, Okyeame Kwame, were also present to perform very well on the night.