…And Tiwa Savage takes the day at ‘3 Thrones’ concert

When it seems people have forgotten about her, she knows how to remind us that she is not a mistake in the music industry. No wonder Jay Z did not have a second thought when the chance to sign her to Roc Nation presented itself.
For people who attended the ‘3 Thrones’ concert on Sunday, if there was nothing they enjoyed, it would be hard to forget about Tiwa Savage in a hurry.
Her performance on that night was the best of Tiwa I had seen in recent times. She sang and danced as if her life depended on it. For someone who is as big as she is on the music scene, it was amazing that she could still put in so much energy and life into her performance.
Coming on stage, she left no stone unturned, as a group of highly skilled dancers ushered her in. Together, they mesmerised the audience with slick dance moves, filled with uncontrolled energy. She performed songs like ‘Kele Kele’, ‘Wanted’, ‘Without my Heart’, ‘Standing Ovation’, ‘Bad’ and a host of others. She performed for an hour, without running out of steam. In another words, she enjoyed herself.
The struggle by the audience, most especially the male fun-seekers, to catch a glimpse of a half-naked female fan, who was painting Tiwa while on stage, worked for her, too.
But the show was not supposed to be about the Mavin first lady alone.
Aside from some artistes, who gave cameo appearances, there were also performances from top artistes like Davido, Phyno, Ycee, and Timaya at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre, Lagos.
Ycee, Davido and Tjan’s performances won the crowd over. Though Timaya had an impressive outing, too, he almost pushed his luck too far, when he wanted the crowd to dance and sing along by all means. Most of the people in the audience, going by their gestures, did not like the idea.
For some reasons, Phyno had the lowest mark on my report sheet. Though people still sang along, I expected much more from him on stage, being one of the headliners, and so were many people seated near me. Apart from his popular music, there was nothing in his performance that could be compared with that of Tiwa. He showed the signs of tiredness. Perhaps, he had no time to prepare well because of a busy schedule. On Friday, I heard he was in Calabar to be part of the Star Music Trek.
On stage too, Tiwa did not try to hide the trouble in her marriage and sent out a message in a way. While performing her song, ‘If I Start to Talk,’ featuring Dr. SID, she paused a bit, saying, “If I talk now I do not know what would happen. The last time I talked I saw myself on You- Tube.”
And her decision to call out the celebrity couple, Tunde and Wunmi Obe, to speak on the secrets of their successful married life was another prove that she did not try to shy away from the crisis in her marriage. She, perhaps, wanted herself and the audience to take a cue from their experience.
In her response, Wunmi said, “I married the man I love – he’s my friend and everything.” The couple further remarked, “Mutual respect is also very important in a marriage. Communication, patience, tolerance are also imperative. Most importantly; the only third party allowed in your life should be God and no one else.”
For the organisers, they would have wished the show came at a time when things were better in the country. Despite having a world-class touch, the recession obviously took its toll on the turnout. With the state of things, I am sure they knew that it would be hard for most people to part with N9, 000 for regular or N27, 000 for VIP. But I want to believe they recouped their investment one way or the other. And if they did not, they can always plan for the next edition, since this was a debut.
Though the organisers would have their reasons, the fact that the show started quite late did not favour some people. Some friends did not have the freedom to stay beyond 11pm. But at 11pm, the show was just taking shape. Tiwa, Davido and Phyno were yet to perform at 11pm.