CHAOS AT BURNA BOY SHOW. . .bouncers cash in on poor ticketing
PLANNING boobs, chaos and a late kick-off marred Burna Boy’s much-hyped show at Belgravia Sports Club last Friday.“““““““““““““““““““““““
The show, whose clientele were mainly big spenders and the elite hailing from the northern side of Samora Machel Avenue, had many shortcomings.
There were incessant technical glitches, a poor sound system and general lack of coordination by the show hosts.
South African multi award-winning TV host, Kim Jayde, lacked chemistry with the crowd.
Below are the major talking points of the show, where the artists were superb, but the organisation could have been better.
- LATE KICK-OFF
Initially, gates were supposed to be opened around 5pm with the first act – Jah Prayzah – performing at 7:30pm.
However, as Jah Prayzah only appeared on stage around 9pm.
The 34-year-old star put up a good show but was let down by a poor sound.
Lloyd “Mabla 10” Kurima even lashed out at the event organisers live on stage when he yelled that the sound needed to be rectified.
Whether Jah Prayzah had properly done the sound check or not remains a story of another day.
To his credit, Jah Prayzah braved the technical glitches and played on.
The energy and passion were impressive.
- BOUNCERS’ BIG PAY DAY
On a night when Hidden Culture, the event organisers were supposed to recoup the thousands they paid Burna Boy, it appears it was the bouncers who made a killing.
The poor ticketing system benefited bouncers who recycled tags that were never scanned at the entrance.
The bouncers, who were manning the gates, would collect tags from the fans at the entrance and give their peers to resale them at a low cost.
For instance, a tag which cost US$40, was sold for US$30 but it would be recycled since they were not being scanned and destroyed upon presenting it.
It meant that the bouncers were the biggest cashiers of the night as they went home richer.
How their tactic was not detected by event organisers remains a mystery.
- CURFEW TIME BREACH
It appears the usually “no nonsense” Belgravia community had a special waiver for Hidden Culture’s top brass as they allowed them to extend their show by more than two hours.
According to the event organisers’ itinerary, they were supposed to finish at 10pm but the main act Burna Boy was not yet on stage.
After Jah Prayzah’s act, Burna Boy was further delayed on stage, due to technical glitches.
At one point the big screen was blank for some minutes.
When he later appeared on stage, he sent the crowd into delirium with ladies drawing closer to the stage. Burna Boy’s mother-cum-manager could be seen barking instructions to the Nigerian superstar’s band members.
He made life simple for himself by playing mainly club-bangers, including his huge hit Kilometre.
He also played Jerusalema, which was originally penned by South African star, Master KG.
On a night that he was supposed to prove his worth, not only as a Grammy award-winning artist but as a guru, Burna Boy gave it his all.
Exuding confidence as ever, he showed the energy and zeal to win the hearts of the audience.
Burna Boy, who was returning to Zimbabwe for the first time after his 2015 visit, hailed fans for their loyalty.
However, his show ended way after midnight, in breach of curfew times.
According to the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, in line with the Government directive on curfew times, events must end an hour before curfew.
This is meant to enable fans to travel home early to ensure they are not in breach of the curfew times.
But it appears there is now a laxity among event organisers and artists who are taking this issue lightly.
Meanwhile, unlucky revellers lost their valuables such as cellphones and wallets while some motorists had their vehicles smashed by thieves.
For an event of this magnitude, a lot was expected from the event organisers when it comes to security as revellers’ needed protection.
-hmetro
