Wizkid was the first afrobeat artist to sell out London’s 63,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – and it had plenty of highs, but a few lows, too…
Wizkid’s headlining concert on 29th Sat 2023 was met with much anticipation. And initially, he delivered.
The evening opened with a set from Mo’ Hits alumni Wande Coal, which got the audience eating out of his hands with old hits like Rotate and other classics from his 2009 offering, Mushin 2 Mo’Hits.
Ghanaian star King Promise then took to the stage (he collaborated on the hit Sugarcane with Camidoh and Mayorkun), with numbers like Terminator.
And so, when one of the giants of afrobeats took to the stage at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the expectant crowd at the sold-out gig was ready for an electric night.
The Nigerian star, who has collaborated with Drake, Beyonce and Dave and, like Rema and Davido, decided to open with relatively new song Reckless, from 2020 album, Made In Lagos.
And his fans were with him. But after a couple of further tracks, the energy in the vast stadium noticeable dropped – which it soon became clear was in part down to pretty bad acoustics.
It might have been a different story if you were one of the concert-goers standing close to the stage, but for anyone on the stands, you could hear acoustic echoes and a volume so low that you felt detached from the proceedings.
The star sang a few songs from last year’s album, More Love and Less Ego – fair enough, you might say, but the crowd just weren’t familiar enough with them yet. And that lack of connection was palpable – evidence of how the album itself didn’t hit home with the the loyal Wizkid fanbase the way previous efforts have.
Wizkid also made a huge deal out of the ‘big surprise’ that would be coming later, which never actually materialised. We were thinking Drake, Burna Boy? Who might come out on stage?! But this ‘surprise’ never came.
In hindsight, was it the fact that after a brief break, he came back on for the last section of the show in an all-white outfit, and a sailor’s hat? We’re still at sea about that one.
The second half was the hottest part of the show. Whether it was planned or no, Wizkid knew he had to dig deep into his back catalogue, and get the crowd going again with numbers like Ojuelegba, Holler At Your Boy, One Dance, Energy and global hit Essence.
Wizkid took a deep dive into his first album, Superstar, Sounds from the Other Side, which many would argue was far ahead of its time, Ayo and Made In Lagos – it was a rollercoaster of nostalgic sounds.
The five-piece backing band (special mention for the sax player) did a sterling job, as did the sensuous backing dancers throughout – and Wizkid, offering his usual feelgood party music, sashayed up and down the runway with the swagger of Mick Jagger. But there was just something missing – despite the lush stage sets and, towards the end, some impressive pyrotechnics.
Wizkid hit the stage at around 9.20pm – and left, with little fanfare or special messages to fans, at 10.30pm. As the lights came up, some waited for an encore which never happened. Others left, wondering if they’d just seen an amazing gig by one of their afrobeats heroes, or they’d just been a little shortchanged.
Perhaps with national train-strikes, he was being sensitive to fans who had travelled from across the UK to see him live (including actress Laetitia Wright, DJ Maphorisa, Seyi Vibes and Bukayo Saka)? Who knows.
But word to the wise, Wizkid – an incredible show in many ways, sometimes touching on greatness. Next time, make sure that your venue has better acoustics. And maybe just push the boat out a little more with fans that paid a lot of money to come and see you.
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