S- Concert: The high, the low & the outrageous

For the third straight year, Starr 103.5FM managed to put together another overly-hyped and very well-attended music concert, this time, at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Just like any major music concert in Ghana and beyond, there are always high and low points of the event and sometimes, there are some contemptible moments as well.

The High (s)

Turn-out

In a short spate of time, the S- Concert has been built to become one of the well-attended outdoor events held in the country and last Saturday’s turnout cemented that claim.

Close to 50,000 music lovers made their way to the stadium to watch a long list of artists, from the ‘underground’ to the ‘under-rated’ to mainstream all the way to super stars – perform for long hours.

The decision to move the show to the Stadium this year, considering the growing turn-out in previous editions, was one brilliant idea by the organizers.

Technical Detail

It takes very good organization and preparation to ensure that, there are less or no technical glitches in outdoor events and last Saturday, the organizers scored very high marks for ensuring that the show went on smoothly without any major technical setback.

The fluidity, continuity and coordination with regards to the running of the show, technically, were on point.

Performances

The S-Concert has turned out to be that stage which provides very little room for any exhibition of mediocrity. Every personnel billed to play any role on that stage brings his/her ‘A- Game’ on.

MC Giovanni was in his elements as he commandeered the show effortlessly with great support from Live FM presenters, Sheldon and Jason.

DJ Nii Ayi Tagoe, the Grandmaster, gave one of his all-time best performances and it seemed as though he was out to prove a point. He was ably supported by the likes of DJ Mono and DJ Lord of Starr FM and Live FM respectively.

Almost every headlining act did not disappoint, as they produced one energetic, fun-filled performance after the other and as predicted and expected, Sarkodie and Shatta Wale led the way in showcasing such commendable stage presence.

The Low (s)

Crowd Control

One of the biggest challenges for every event organizer, especially for an outdoor show is crowd control. For Starr FM, unfortunate events from last year’s event was supposed to serve as a caution on how well the crowd was going to contained but sadly, it didn’t work out.

The crowd that thronged the stadium could simply not be controlled effectively on all fronts; inside and outside the facility. It was evident that, the number of security personnel, both Military and Police, deployed to the venue was not enough to put a proper check on the huge crowd.

Security Lapses

The laxity in security was too glaring. The gates were most often than not, characterized by so much sloppiness by the security personnel who looked confused as to how to manage the entry and exit of patrons.

Again, security personnel exhibited such slackness at the perimeters that led to the main stage and at certain times, taser guns were being used indiscriminately.

Like many well-attended events in Ghana, it was obvious that, the security guys were not given a proper brief and did not embark on any dummy check on how to manage patrons with tickets for ordinary, VIP as well the performing artists and their respective entourage.

Stage Security

Security on the stage has been the bane of many event organizers and once again, organizers faltered in this department. How the heck everybody gets to be on the stage when some artists are performing beats all forms of proper thinking.

It was no wonder that, a frustrated Shatta Wale used some unprintable words and demanded that the stage be cleared before he commenced his set (He later apologized for such words).

When people are allowed on stage with impunity and when barricades warding off concert-goers from the stage are broken, anything can happen to any artist or member(s) of the entourage.

Artists Line-up

For heaven’s sake, no event can accommodate every artist in Ghana, so, the attempt by Starr FM to always inundate the show with so many artists makes little sense. If you want to put almost everybody on the bill, then organize a 2-day or 3-day event and flood it with anybody who says he/she can sing.

Yes, the idea of wanting to give the platform for ‘underground’ to the ‘not-too-known’ acts is a good idea, but don’t bore us with plenty of them on one stage. Quite annoyingly, some just came to waste the time of patrons for nothing!

Just structure the performance list: if it’s 10, put together 10 strong performers on the bill, let them come deliver, so we can go home and sleep!

Late Conclusion of the Show

Show started around 7pm and closed the next day at 6:30am, why? How do you put up a 12-hour show? For what?

Yes, the die-hard fans of Shatta Wale would have even stayed if their idol had stayed on for the next 20 hours, but that is surely not the way to go.

The show was not built for only the core fans of Shatta Wale or any other, and it came as no bewilderment when the VVIP section and some other sections were empty way before the show closed.

The Outrageous

It was quite outrageous to realize that the crowd that converged outside the stadium was almost as huge as that inside and their challenge was the fact that, they didn’t have 5Ghc as gate fee.

Why come all the way from your house, ‘dressed to kill’ and not have 5Ghc to enter and irritatingly succeed in creating human traffic at the venue? How outrageous is that!

It was quite outrageous to also notice that, some security personnel took the roles of gate keepers, collecting money from concert goers for access to the stadium. Security was shirked for ‘coins’. That’s outrageous!