This Day Music and Fashion Festival 2008 - The K! True Nollywood Story

I hate to be the one to burst the bubble but I haven't seen a full account or much publicity on the highlights of the This Day Fashion & Music Festival 2008 that took place in Nigeria on the 13th of July. I happened to be in Lagos Nigeria at the time and was at the event so I'm gonna blow the lid off the joint since I have a bone to pick with the organisers of the event. However, there's always a prelude to any event so read on.

I took off for a two-week holiday in Nigeria with my English friend. I hadn't been home in a few years and hadn't gotten a whole lot of fun the last time, so I was hoping for a fabulous time especially since I had a friend in tow, who also needed to see Africa in reality and not via the horrific reports in the media.

We landed and didn't have too much problems getting out of the airport (except for the woman barking orders at the passengers trying to get through passport control, like a headmistress at some school. Someone needs to tell her to get a grip). We stayed at a nice place called 'Villa Sofia' located in Omole Estate Ikeja (didn't fall for the usual cliche of staying on 'the island'). Loved the hotel so I gotta give some kudos to the owner for his hard work and efforts (it ain't easy running hospitality in Nigeria).

It was good to be back in Nigeria and catching Rhythm 93.7 and Cool F.M radio stations on the airwaves cos that's one of the things I missed the most whilst away, true talk. We caught wind of the 'This Day Fashion & Music Festival - Africa Arising' about to be held on Sunday and thought it would be a good idea to catch it (can't pass up the opportunity to catch Mary J. Blige) especially since it was for a good cause (trust me, I should have smelt a rat).

On the day of the event, we went fishing for tickets and it took a lot of phone calls and contacts to find out where the tickets were being sold (since when did it become the survival of the fittest to get concert tickets especially one that is meant to be for a good cause). We arrived at 'The Palms' (do you sense the dripping sarcasm in my tone) the sole venue for the sale of the tickets (which automatically sets the tone for the class/elitist profiling intended for the attendance of the event) and we were offered three ranges of tickets N10k (£42), N50k, N60k (okay I started choking after N10k). Who pays N50k/N60k a ticket (£211/£254) to see a show meant to raise the profile of the country? (believe me a lot of people bought these tickets) I couldn't even comprehend that entire families bought these tickets (and we know which families these are). Would the ticket salesperson have collected my money even if I had offered it without her being struck by lightening (I doubt she would have survived getting that money out of me).

Anyway, I survived the shock of the prices and stuck to cutting my coat according to my size (N10k tickets, especially since my friend was on hand to remind me the equivalent value in pounds) and thought I had managed to bag myself tickets to a concert at a convenient time (seeing as I hardly have time to indulge in such pleasures whilst in the UK). We arrived early to the venue of the concert and was greeted with a clear field and a marquee being set up at a far end of the Polo Club (I should have sensed the dodgy fact that the venue was an open field). An event scheduled for 7.00pm didn't make a move to start until 10.00pm (thank God for my smart move of sticking to vest top and flat sandals, I shudder to think how uncomfortable the wait would have been). At 10.00pm, we find that the attendees are being sorted into ticket types and the N10k are not worthy of getting into the Marquee and will be seeing the show (hearing the music is the operative word) outside the tent on the grass. I sat out on the field thinking it was a joke because there were no screens to view the performances on and there was a 10sec time delay on the speakers erected outside the tent. The evidence is right here before your very eyes:


We eventually get into the Marquee after some dubious and sneaky moves (see, they made me revert back to Nigerian form) and I get comfortable somewhere near the front enough to see what was going on (everyone was standing on chairs throughout the show). By the time the show got underway, N10K/N50K/N60K were rubbing shoulders and catching the same show (how ironic).

Mary.J.Blige rocked the crowd and I loved her gig (which lasted a long while, to be honest).

However, it got sloppy afterwards (as if the late start wasn't a signal) even with the tons of expatriates and foreign nationals teeming around trying to set up the stage. Basketmouth covered for the time delay but made it abundantly clear that he hadn't expected to compere for a long period of time hence some ensuing silence for another amount of time. It still took forever to get Chris Brown set up and performing. I wasn't impressed by the time he showed and I certainly wasn't bowled over by his gig. Moving on:






Chris Brown completes his set and we expected the Fashion show to begin as the interlude to the third performer (yet unconfirmed at this point). but another hour of inactivity goes by with sporadic spates of introductions and acknowledgements. Suddenly, a burst of activity and we get introduced to a designer, the American 'King of Bling' Chris Aire who is well-known for jewelry, showing us his clothing collection (he is Nigerian-born but we never knew until the event, how weird). I loved his all-white collection each item having an accent/detail of crystals and semi-precious stones (not sure if they are diamonds or diamante etc), very simple yet wearable. Covered the entire season of ruffles, pencil skirts, shirt dresses, studded bras/bikini tops (something for everyone really).

I got a little upbeat after that and came down with a slam when it took another hour to get anything to happen on-stage, and then Fat Joe arrives to take the trophy for the night in terms of entertainment and crowd control (absolutely smashed it). The Fashion show continued in the middle of the performance and even though I saw every collection that came out, I couldn't tell who was who at that point. It was hilarious that they tried to get him off the stage to continue the fashion show but he ignored whatever the plan was (thanks to him, he was the highlight of my N10k night).


At this point, it's 2.00am and my ancient bones start to ring the curfew bell so we decide to head off home. We hadn't seen any Nigerian acts as promoted at the start of the event and we certainly hadn't so much as heard anything about Tyson Beckford (my real reason for being there) or Naomi Campbell, both of whom had been touted for the event.

So these are my questions:

• Should tickets have been sold at an astronomical price given the average earnings of a middle-class Nigerian? I can get over the N50K/N60K prices, it is beyond imagination cos even in UK and American, no-one pays £200 for tickets to a concert unless they are loaded and it is for charity (non of which apply in this case).
  
• Should the event have been so poorly organised given the price of the ticket, and the number of foreign nationals running the event? In this case, no-one can say Nigerians ruined it cos the gig was being handled mainly by expatriates.
  
• Should we have believed the event would have been any good considering the fact that the fashion show for the Abuja event was cancelled? The press kept that bit quiet until a few days after the Lagos show.
• Who paid N50K/N60K for 3-16 year old kids to watch a fashion & music show at 10.00pm on a Sunday night (cos there were lots of very young kids in the audience)?
• Why were there no new/upcoming talents promoted either for music or fashion to show the prospects in Nigeria. Why were the organisers touting established and successful designers (who can afford to pay for their own PR) as the face of Africa/Nigerian, we would have preferred fresh blood (and frankly affordable designers too). There was no Nigerian musician on stage until the wee hours of the morning because American musicians were given the key time slots where the audience were still awake.
  
• The venue was appalling given the rainy season and the propensity for mosquitoes to feed on all and sundry during such weather conditions. The Polo club didn't quite make the cut.
  

I need to take a deep breathe and get off my high horse right now cos I got a lot for my N10k ticket, I wish I could say the same for the N50k/N60k ticket holders.


The Fashion was good but could be better with an injection of new talent and new names, there are designers out there who are making beautiful clothing. One of them is 'Tae' based in GRA Lagos, whose I just discovered and love for her contemporary style and attention to detail on African prints. Kudos to her and thumbs up.

I wish I had waited around to see 9ice but alas, it was not too be. My bed was calling.

Basketmouth was funny as usual so he gets the full thumbs up.

I might not survive the onslaught from this post so if you don't hear from me for a while, you know why. I am the voice of the streets.

ciao