Rain destroyed it, but the Nigerian spirit and Diplo saved annual music concert

Fireworks exploded into the night. Gigantic speakers blared loud music. On stage, international DJs and producers, Diplo and Walshy Fire were choreographing a simple dance routine as they held the crowd spellbound.

Two symbolic flags graced the stage; the omnipresent Nigerian flag bearing the green-white-green of the proud West African nation, and the other was of Lagos, the host city and state of Gidi Fest 2017.

This was the 4th edition of the Gidi Fest series. Founded in 2014 by Chin Okeke of Eclipse Live, the concert had aimed to impress and connect. Where last year’s list of performers had South Africans K.O and Riky Rick, 2017 was taken a notch higher with the booking and confirmation of Diplo.

Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), better known by his stage name Diplo, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter and record executive based in Los Angeles, California. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project, Major Lazer, and along with producer and DJ Skrillex, formed the electronic duo Jack Ü.

The concert had a ton of promotion, with influential PR firms contracted to attract the biggest eyes to the venue and have people from all over the country pour in. And trust me, they were successful.

The open air atmosphere of Eko Atlantic was electric, vendors competed with each other to sell drinks, snacks and art, and numerous bars littered the sprawling sand, which led to a magnificent stage filled with colorful dancing lights, music, a live band, and attendants.

The performances came in thick and nice. Opening acts lined up to thrill the crowd, Mavin producer and disc jockey, DJ Altims was leading from the decks as artists showed up. There was a revolving roster of hosts, including Jimmie Akinsola, Folu Storm, Pasha and a few others. Which hindered the connection between the fans and the stage. Too many cooks sour the soup.

Things flowed smoothly at first, although DJ Altims went through a recurring personal struggle. He had occasional transition issues, where one record will stop, while a brief but embarrassing pause would linger in between, before he cues in a new one. Those stops marred what would otherwise have been a smooth opening period.

But that was little when compared with what came later.

You see, earlier in the day, the sun had taken an offence against mankind, and threatened to burn us all with sweltering heat. But as it inevitably crossed into the West, and cooler winds returned, there was a 30% chance of rain. The weather forecasts carried the threat, and it hung over the organizers as they forged ahead and hoped to beat the system.

That hope failed them. It failed them spectacularly.

Nneka performed to a responsive crowd, Falana did the same, and then came Simi. The X3M Music star arrived ready for a great performance. Dancers littered the stage, she had rehearsed extensively for that performance, and had spared no cost or effort to make sure it was perfect. But it wasn’t to be.

The rains came knocking on the doors of Gidi Fest 2017. And it collected more than anyone expected. Simi was left hanging after performing Tiff, Ori re, and Smile. While wowing the crowd with ‘Jamb Question’, a drizzle, accompanied by powerful winds swept across the venue, and swept the electricity and her sound away.

Stranded on stage, she hung on to her credit, and danced for another 10 long minutes, before she gave up, bowed to the crowd and walked (sorry, sashayed) off the stage gracefully, but disappointed.

The winds blew the rain into the elaborate sound systems, ruining everything as they came. The organizers biggest fear was happening. The rain was ruining a great concert. Everyone stayed without music for close for over 30 minutes. Attendees were left to fend for themselves, no communication happened, and the stage lost its lighting.

There were few shelters, no plan was made for the eventuality of rainfall. Everything crumbled with the drizzle, and the wind. The warmest entity in the venue were some sound equipment, which were protected with Polyethylene wraps.

It was embarrassing and bad. But the organizers battled on, and Nigerians braved the rain. They were promised Burna Boy, Davido and Diplo. So they waited, while the rain battered them, soaked their clothes and chilled their skins.

Sound was restored after a lengthy battle, but the live band was gone, and the mixing needed a lot of work. Some artists performed in the rain. Dremo, Mayorkun, Ckay, and BOJ rushed through their performances. They were as unfortunate as the fans. No part of the concert was spared.

DJ Obi was handed the reins, and although he played his part, his set was littered with strange songs, forced down the throat of angry, battered, and cold fans. They deserved better, honestly.

After over an hour of DJ Obi’s effort, things picked up when Burna Boy showed up on stage. The singer’s electric persona, and his string of hit songs, made fans grateful for the wait. Burna hit his zenith when he called on Skales for a riveting performance of hit record ‘Temper’ remix.

Davido was next. OBO took his screaming and wet fans through choice songs from his discography, although his performance was rather disjointed due to a lack of syncing between him and his DJ.

Turns out that the rain didn’t just take the sound and almost ruined the concert. It robbed the event of proper stage management. Everyone and anyone was on stage. Taking walks, chatting, cracking jokes, and setting up stages during performance. It was untidy and looked unprofessional.

Kenyan band Sauti Sol could not perform due to the lack of a live band. The 4-man group cannot play a set to a backing track supplied by the DJ. The rain robbed them of a chance to perform. Same as Tanzanian singer, Vanessa Mdee, who looked on, frustrated.

Setting up Diplo’s equipment took a long embarrassing process and numerous failures. But the fans didn’t mind. Thee evening could not get worse than it has already. Eventually everything was fixed,. Diplo was announced, and as he began his performance, the speakers failed.

“We tried, but the rain defeated us,” the DJ said with a hint of resignation. “One more try.”

That final try yielded success. And for the next hour, Gidi Culture Festival lit up in a way it has never done before. Diplo’s transition skill, and his ability to mix abstract sounds to create new beat patterns on stage held fans spellbound and dancing.

Diplo had done his research and learnt some terms. He gave a shout out to Efe Ejeba, the Big Brother Naija winner, and sued the popular term: “Based on logistics.” He also played run up, a song he created from studying and sampling Nigerian instrumentals.

Eventually, he invited his Major Lazer colleague, Walshy Fire, and together, they hit new heights with the performance. Local flags were waved high and flown, and Vanessa Mdee supplied her dancers to help the process along. Tekno and Mr Eazi had recorded new versions of ‘Pana’ and ‘Leg Over’ for Major Lazer. And as they played them out, the fans orgasmed.

In the end, the concert which was plagued by rain and no plan B from the organizers ended successfully, but it was a true test of the resilient Nigerian spirit. People were battered by the pouring rain, and a devilish wind. But they stayed on, confident in belief that the organizer will win the battle, and provide the entertainment that they were trusted to.

Nigerians held on, even when it looked hopeless, and as the final fireworks were released to signal the end of Gidi Fest 2017, the general feeling of the crowd was one of momentary satisfaction. The show promised and delivered, althought it took a hard, unforeseen, cold, long path to customer satisfaction.

May this never happen in Gidi Fest 2018. Amen.