Morgan heritage give an amazing show in Kenya

There is a widely held belief that attending reggae music concerts in Kenya is a risk because of the type of people one is likely to meet there.  Those who hold this belief believe that reggae music fans who attend the concerts come, not only  to enjoy the music, but also to relieve other concert goers of their phones, money and other valuables.

Apparently well aware of this, the organisers of the Morgan Heritage concert held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, led by Tru Blaq,  took every precaution to ensure the venue was safe. Indeed, the warning “Hakuna mbuzi inaruka kamba leo! (Loosely translated; No one who does anything bad will escape),” by the bouncers must have stopped anyone with evil intentions.

For starters, City Hall Way was closed to the public and only VIP guests were allowed to use that entrance. Security check points were manned by armed policemen from outside the gates, right through to the venue, which they continued to patrol, keenly looking out for any mischief makers.

Anyone who might have been worried that suspicious characters in skinny jeans and “Gideon boots” could see through their pockets quickly put their minds at ease at the sight of the heavy police presence.

DIVERSE CROWD

Although the assurance of safety might have played a major part in fans enjoying the three-hour live show, it seems the reggae crowd has somewhat become diverse and receptive to non-reggae musicians.

Some of the artistes in the line-up who performed before the Morgan family got on stage were Vivian, Kristoff, Timmy, Avril, Gravity, Victoria Kimani, Nameless, Mr Lenny and Wyre.

As much as Avril is not known to do reggae music, she was given a rousing applause when she got up on stage  and  as she sang some of her hits like "Nikimwona" and "Hakuna Yule". She later gave renditions with reggae beats and Bob Marley songs, which the fans seemed to appreciate.

Although at one point she tripped and almost fell on stage, she quickly recovered and went on to deliver a teasing and entertaining performance of "Chokoza".

Singer Victoria Kimani was joined on stage by her brother, Bamboo, and Abbas, who took the crowd back in time with their smash hits from their days in K-South. And what kind of a show would it have been if the Prokoto singer had not thrown money at the crowd?

The number of reggae musicians in the country might be small, but those who saw Gravity perform might concur that his performance, with his three-woman band, was phenomenal.

Most often that not, it’s not until during live concerts that Kenyan celebrities’ appeal like Willy Tuva and actor and radio presenter Nancy Wanjiku, popularly known as Shiks Kapyenga, is seen and felt.

The two were instrumental in working up the crowd as they anticipated more performances.

It has been a long time since Mr Lenny was the cool kid on the block but courtesy of Nameless, he got another 15 minutes in the limelight, and they reminded people of how great songs like "Juju", "Ninanoki" and "Megarider" were.

Performing collaborations he did  with the late E-sir and doing his regular grinding with a random fan from the audience, Nameless had a good vibe going as people easily sang along to his songs.

But perhaps the most entertaining Kenyan artiste was Wyre, who gave a brilliant, live, back-to-back performance. Even when problems with the sound arose, he graciously waited for it to be fixed and went back to giving a fantastic show with hits like "She Say Dat", "Chuki" and "Uprising".

There’s something about Morgan Heritage that draws a mature crowd that just wants to listen to good, calming music by refined musicians who have been in the game for a long time. Morgan Heritage’s interaction with the crowd was superb as their nephew, Jemere Morgan, Gramps Morgan’s son, took the stage to warm up the fans before Peetah, Gramps and Mojo got started.

Although they began a little bit late, they more than made up for it by giving a great performance as they performed songs from their new album, as well as  some from their previous ones like "Don’t Haffi Dread".

In the middle of  their performance, they gave a special mention to President Uhuru Kenyatta and praised him for his leadership. They also praised Kenya as the best country they have been to, second to their native Jamaica.