That’s how long Asa made Lagos- and
Nigeria,- the land of her birth,
wait for a
major headlining concert befitting her
status as Nigeria’s premiere vocalist and
performer.
From her Paris base, Nigeria’s biggest
music export not named Kuti touches
down once in a while to promote
whatever studio album she is selling at
the moment. There have been three of
them, so far. Three magnificent discs
that have kept her songs on the lips of
Nigerians and her artistic bonafides
untouchable among music lovers.
Sure, she’s been known to perform a
couple of songs at events like The
Future Awards Africa and the Etisalat
Prize for Literature ceremony, as well as
other private gigs that can afford her
services, but for the bulk of her
professional life, Asa is on the road,
touring the globe, performing, and
making new music.
Two hours, twenty minutes.
That’s how long Asa made Lagos wait to
see her live. The consensus among the
organisers seemed to be, ‘’If you can
wait 9 years, surely two more hours
should go by in a breeze.’’ Not exactly
so, especially for folks who came to the
Eko Hotel & Suites venue expecting world
class standards in everything from
planning to execution. To make up,
opening acts Bez Idakula, Kaline, Isaac
Geralds and Rachel Kerr were invited to
open for her. All fantastic artistes and
performers in their own right, but the
intermissions went on for way too long
with too much dead space in between.
The event, announced as the Lagos leg
of her Bed of stone tour was to be
recorded live for a DVD event and so
after waiting forever it seemed, for those
Lagos big boys and girls, the ones who
never come early for anything, to fill up
the front seats, lucky folks were
upgraded to VVIP status and soon it was
showtime.
All was forgotten (and forgiven) the
moment Asa was ushered on stage. The
sheer energy and star wattage she
brought with her was enough to send the
audience into volunteering a standing
ovation before she even opened her
mouth.
Dressed in one of those funky, wing
tipped Iconic Invanity outfits she likes to
wear, complete with high heels that she
was soon to lose in moments, Asa
opened with Awe , a spiritual mellow
evocation, off her debut album. The
impatient Lagos audience, for once was
not about to sit in their seats and act all
stuck up. No, these ones sang along and
worshipped with her word for word, note
for note.
The mesmeric trance of Satan be gone
followed shortly and anybody with
common sense knows the devil is not
exorcised while sitting disinterested on
concert seats. For the next two hours,
Asa zipped through her impressive
discography, starting with material from
her latest album Bed of stone, before
reaching far back to audience favourites
like Bibanke , Jailer and Fire on the
mountain. The crowd at this point was
ecstatic.
Asa started tentatively at first as she
studied her audience, each minute that
went by had her easing into her flow
even as she soaked up the pure joy and
love she was getting. Asa grew more
comfortable and more daring; singing,
dancing, emoting, and performing like the
crowd had every reason to expect.
The sound, put together by Reveal
sounds and acoustics was explosive,
perhaps too explosive as Asa’s vocals
were occasionally drowned by her 5 man
band- including backup singer/manager,
Janet Nwose. Asa played both guitar and
trumpet and sang the hell out of an
enveloping performance of Bamidele . You
know you have entered rarefied territory
as a Nigerian artiste when your entire
discography is instantly recognisable by
your audience and for Asa, every single
song was a hit, back to back, as her
audience gave as good as they got.
Some of the songs got a new lease, like
the fiery rock splash of Preacher man,
the dramatic soul of Society and the
traditional grove of So Beautiful . Plus
surely you haven’t lived yet until you
have joined an auditorium full of people
to sing along heartily to the timeless
state of the nation address that is Fire
on the mountain .
She called on regular contributor
Cobhams Asuquo to join her for an
understated cover of Beyonce’s Halo as
well as a duet of her 360 from her debut
album.
Asa’s voice came through clear but the
best thing about her set was her band;
the chemistry, the cohesion, the electric
guitar dude and the impeccable control
Asa exerted over everything and
everyone.
She did not give everything, no, there
was always something of her that was
held back but the audience took in as
much as she was willing to give and
gave her everything in return.
2 hours.
That’s how long Asa took to establish
her artistry as an experience, one to be
seen and branded as a lifetime event.
The French may have their Paris and the
rest of the world may own Asa for most
of the year, but for one night, she came
home to Lagos, where she will always
belong.
Forget Paris, see Asa live in concert, and
die.
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