Femi Kuti Concert

Femi Kuti is currently touring the United States and as soon as my sister (number one Femi fan) heard he was around, she hounded me at work by calling me and e-mailing me about buying my ticket. A co-worker asked me if I knew about Femi Kuti sometime last year. I looked at him like he was crazy. He goes on and asks me, “Femi keeps saying Waka, Waka in his songs, what does that mean?” I translated and told him it meant to walk (please correct me if I’m wrong). He then gave me Femi’s CD to listen to and told me he was at the last Femi show and it was the best one he had been to. I was kinda impressed because this guy did not seem like he knew anything but crunk music, them walk it out kinda songs.

I’m not a huge Femi fan, I know some of his mainstream music; songs like beng, beng, beng because they make me want to move. Don’t hate, a sister can break it down. I'm more of a Fela girl. I didn’t grow up listening to his music but I kinda picked up on some songs along the past few years and his style struck a chord in me. His sound is so raw and original. And the lyrical content of some of his songs wants me to march to Aso Rock and demand some changes in the Nigerian economy. He seemed fearless because some of his songs criticized the government and their policies. That was unheard of because this was a time when Nigeria was still ruled under the military regime and anyone who wasn’t joining the bandwagon was gotten rid off somehow.

The concert was not to start until 9pm but knowing my shopaholic sister who decided to go shopping right before the concert, we make it to the venue at 9.30pm. The whole Nigerian community was in the house I tell you. The first half hour was spent saying hello to friends, acquaintances, and foes (just kidding). The show starts around 10am; I’m thinking this is not bad at all compared to Nigerian standards. My people, you know how we do, if you’re invited to a party that starts at 9p.m, you know we don’t show up till 12 midnight, appearing fashionably late. Am I lying? I’m sure you too, you can testify.

The opening act jumps on stage. The duo consists of Kenyan females in skimpy clothes. I’m thinking they are about to just shake their booties and leave the stage. But one of the sisters belts out a note, and I’m thinking to myself, this girl can saiinggggg. They did a good job getting the crowd hyped up for Femi. Femi finally walks up on the stage after his band and dancers and I must say he’s aged a little bit but still cute. He starts performing and I start feeling this music so much that I leave my sister and friends and work my way up to the front of the stage. The crowd is 50% Nigerian and the other 50% consisted of people from all over the world, which was quite impressive. There was this white guy that was moving like he was in a trance. I fear oh, before he transferred whatever possessed him to me, I just moved to the left, to the left. Another guy, who was definitely not Nigerian, kept going Ase, Ase, ha ha!!! I’m like, what the hell. What is he going on about?

While Femi was performing, we locked eyes for a brief moment and I felt like he was singing to me. I’m not kidding people, we had some kinda connection. Yeah right, the same connection he had with like all the other females in the front row. The dancers were something else; they danced for like 3 hours straight with smiles on their faces.

I must say this is one of the best concerts I have been to. I danced till my feet ached. Femi is a true performer, he sings, dances, plays the piano, and the saxophone. He’s definitely acquired one more fan and if he’s in your neighborhood make sure you check him out and support a Nigerian brother.