When I saw P-Square on stage during the RPF jubilee anniversary, I thought I was the only one who wasn’t satisfied with their performance. I was wrong. We are slowly but surely becoming accustomed to live music by our local artistes, so when a celebrity of a high status quo as that of P-Square steps on stage, we anticipate that they will be doing something extra special – at least if compared with our local musicians.
But seriously speaking, we have outgrown the times of using playback music. Chameleone did some few semi-live songs but I was craving to see a band standing right behind those celebrities or at least a set of musical instruments. With the kind of money that was used to entice the duo, it wouldn’t have hurt if they had come accompanied by their band. It was a raw deal.
So, let’s take the broader picture here. An overwhelming sum of 50,000 USD was paid to P-Square (according to unconfirmed reports) and still they couldn’t do a live performance. That is enough to pay at least ten local musicians and still get away with a good show and lots of entertainment.
Opting for the latter would have been more economical, pragmatic and sensible given the fact that our artistes need a lot of promotion and can do far much better. It would also send a strong signal that we are ready to embrace our own home-grown talent and take them to a higher level. If P-Square’s show is anything to go by, I would have to contend that upping the level of our music is miles behind.
