What is a Nigerian concert like?
What is a concert like for an average Nigerian?
But what is the experience like? What are the great things and not-so-great things about concerts in Nigeria?
Artistes always come late
The dreaded habit of showing up late, called ‘Nigerian time’, manifests itself at these concerts.
This is one of the most irritable things about the Nigerian concert tradition.
The musicians hardly ever arrive on time and many times, the attendees spend hours waiting for them for longer than their performance eventually last.
VIP tickets are not always VIP
VIP means very important person but most of these VIP tickets do not leave you feeling very important. You might still be standing somewhere close to the stage surrounded by a crowd of people who paid less.
Your favourite musician’s performance
This is perhaps the highlight of the entire experience. Seeing them live, singing along to their songs. A pure delight.
Some shows are not well-rehearsed
If a musician has time, they can rehearse but sometimes there is no proper rehearsal or soundcheck; the artiste is just shouting over the DJ’s recording of his song.
Some shows can be really good too, with excellent vocals and performances but those are usually concerts organised by the artistes themselves.
Lastly, there is the general issue of petty theft and safety around concert venues as they tend to attract all sorts of people with their own intentions.
