Afrobeat music legend 'Broadway Musical Concert' kicks-off in Lagos

kehinde omotosho

April 14, 2017 12:54 PM

Fela! The broadway concert celebrates the songs of Fela Kuti, the founding father of Afrobeat.

Fela! The broadway concert celebrates the songs of Fela Kuti, the founding father of Afrobeat – a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies.

The concert started on a beautiful note with the arrival of the guests like Temi Dollface, Wole Ojo and others at the Eko Hotel and suites VI Lagos.

The cast of Fela wowed everyone with an awesome entrance of Fela's '69 seconds', a beautiful piece recorded back in New york and 'Original not artificiality' featuring members of the original cast from the highly acclaimed Broadway production FELA! The Musical, the concert is a full-on celebration of Fela’s most captivating songs.

Fela was a musical rebel with a political cause, known for his sensual sound with simple yet powerful lyrics that openly attacked the country's oppressors at the time. Little wonder, the crowd was more than happy to celebrate such legend.

Performing with about six singers and dancers in the courageous and passionate musical journey, The Afrobeat band thrilled the audience with a brilliant performance of Fela's music like 'Palava', 'Zombi'", 'Omi (water)', 'Yansh', 'Gbajagba' and lots more.

The dancers were just pretty amazing with their moves and flexibility, they were so interesting to watch and just get lost in their moves, so much that a good number of the crowd were inspired to participate in the Afrobeat dance.

The show, of course, wouldn't be complete without mentioning the incredible instrumental play of displayed by each member of the instrumentalist, from the saxophonist to the keyboardist down to the drummer. It was a beautiful show of talent and original African music.

Fela wasn't just any man in the country, he was an icon whose his life, music and passion lives on in the minds of many.

With day one of the event being this awesome and super dope, we can only imagine how super exciting day two is going to be for all.

kehinde omotosho