Flopped Show? Low Attendance, Great Performances And All The Controversies At All Star Unity Concert

I have actually heard many people talk about last Tuesday’s All Star Unity Concert which happened at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Many of them are saying it was a flopped concert – I cannot confirm or deny it because I don’t know the angle they are taking it from. Is it from attendance or the performances from the artistes? I want you to be the judge so follow me as I review the show.

It was never in the plans of Becca to organise a concert on June 30 this year but the unfortunate incident that happened on June 3 in Accra made her plan on organising something to generate cash for the victims. Did Becca and the musicians who performed at the event get something which will help these victims of the flood as they planned? I kept asking myself this question as soon as I stepped foot at the Accra Sports Stadium on June 30.

This question hurriedly came in mind when I saw few people at the stadium who were there to witness the event. Truth be told, the crowd was very very discouraging. I didn’t make any counting but I’m certain those who took cash out of their pocket to buy ticket for the event will not be up to 200. It was very sad. I was even discouraged when I got there because Ghanaians didn’t turn up for the concert which was to raise funds for the flood victims. In fact, the attendance at the Accra Sports Stadium on June 30 was nothing to write home about, it was very poor!

Exactly at 10, gospel musician Ewura Abena got on stage to set the ball rolling. The new Youtube star Adomaa followed with a performance I cannot find the right words to qualify at the moment, maybe 10 years time. Some underground acts followed till DSP Kofi Sarpong mounted the stage to turn the show into a gospel event.

Cwesi Oteng, Ohemaa Mercy, O.J, Celestine Donkor and Nero X all came to continue the praises and worship session at the concert. Let me make it clear that this portion of the event was the best. Our gospel musicians are good on stage. Before DSP Kof Sarpong started his performance, Nana Asaase delivered a very nice but sorrowful poetry piece as a tribute to the flood and fire victims.

After Nero X who was the last to climax the gospel rock show session, then came the highlife giants in Ghana. Each of the legends who came on stage had the crowd singing their songs from A to Z. Rex Omar, Ben Brako, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Gena West did not fail to prove that they were the “oga” at the top those days.

After these old folks were the new breeds. Sorry I cannot remember all the artistes who came to perform and analyze their performances because time is not on our side. Kwabena Kwabena, Wiyaala, Efya, Keche, Trigmatic, Becca and others were just so on point when they hit the stage.

Please let’s give a standing ovation to Kwame Yeboah & the OBY BAND who played all the live instrumentation for all the artistes who came on stage. Kwame Yeboah is just a genius instrumentalist. Sitting behind 4 keyboards, the talented dude kept directing his instrumentalists on what to play next and how to make the show a success. The instrumentalist needs to be celebrated because he is exceptional. Oh wait, Akoo Nana was there some.

Mcs on the night, Commotion-Promotion, KOD, Sammy Forson and Stacy Amoateng as usual did what they always do best. It’s their job so there was no way they were going to disgrace themselves. The official DJ for the night, Nii Ayi some few minutes before the show ended, handed over to DJ Breezy to exhibit his skills but things didn’t go well as Breezy wanted. Maybe it’s been long since he stood behind the turntables because he’s been busy off late recording songs.

Sorry if you’ve not seen Irene Logan, Raquel and Tinny’s name since you started reading this. These three artistes disappointed us on the night. Irene Logan came on stage to perform but her performance was below standard. She actually came to scream into our ears but not to perform as she planned.

Raquel came to give us her new hiphop song but we didn’t embrace it because we do not know her for that. The person who put most people off at the venue was Tinny who was the last act. Tinny took about 20 minutes to come on stage to perform after his name was mentioned. He wanted his official DJ to be the man behind the turntables but DJ Breezy who was already in his element to entertain the crowd, was not ready to stop. Only God knows what DJ Breezy and Tinny’s DJ were talking about when they were there trying to figure out how Tinny will come and perform just his single song because all the artistes were entitled to just a song.

Away from the performances, Prince David Osei, Obour, Bola Ray, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Madam Abla Dzifa Gormashie, UNAIDS’ country director, Mr. Girmay Haile and other personalities who graced the occasion also entertained the crowd in their own way. Whilst the performances were on going, they took to the dance floor to show their dancing skills.

To me, the 2015 All Star Unity Concert was not a flop; it just had low attendance with great performances. Let me also state that it started 6 hours late and came to an end around 2 Am on Wednesday.