Nigerian music star Burna Boy, has apologised for the disappointing turn of events at his Love Damini concert, which was held at the Eko Energy City, Lagos, on Sunday night.
Angry fans of the Afrobeats singer took to social media pages in the last 24 hours to lament their ordeal- having to wait over nine hours for their favourite musician to show up.
Burna Boy did not come on stage until 3:00am on Monday for a show that was supposed to start at 7:00pm on Sunday.
In a video circulating on the internet, the singer, who finally took the stage around 3:00am with his band, did not apologise.
Instead, he said he was performing out of goodwill because his colleague, Seyi Vibez, pleaded with them.
The Grammy award-winning singer, during his short time on stage, told his fans that despite all the hurtful and mean things said about him and his family, he still loves them but that God will punish them if they do not also love him.
He said in pidgin English, “to show you I still love una, I no go even lie for you. If no be Seyi Vibez sef I for don dey go house, but I dey here with una after una don talk say I kill a person for Cubana(sic).”
“After una don talk say my mama is dancing for Fela. I still love you na why I dey here, so if you like no love me, na God go punish you (sic),” he added.
Late apology
On Tuesday evening, the international artiste finally shared the story behind the event’s unfortunate occurrences and apologised in an Instagram post on his stories.
He wrote “Lagos, I love you, but I can’t do this again. The organisational structure and infrastructure are not there for the complexities of my audio and production needs.”
The 31-year-old artiste stated that he and his team were at the event early and was supposed to come up by 11:00pm but he did not want to embarrass the organisers.
“Let’s be clear. I wasn’t late; my band wasn’t late. We pride ourselves on being highly professional, especially with our stagecraft. There were three options available to me; wait for the audio to be fixed and delay the show, come out at 11 pm as planned with no sound or call a breach of contract and pull the plug.”
In the future, Burna Boy said he is working with some investors to fix this old problem for Nigerian concerts.
“I know I can’t go all over the world and neglect by taking matters into my own hands! I’m gathering the troops to work on building world-class infrastructure in the Nigerian entertainment business.”
He added that he also invited those investors and stakeholders interested to connect with him as he needs to make changes in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Tendering the long-awaited apology, he said, “I apologise to my fans for how hectic it was; thank you for staying and weathering the storm with me.
He also thanked his band, the event centre and others who helped make the concert go on.
He wrote: “I commend my band @fromtheoutsiders for making lemonade with the worst lemons we’ve ever seen! Wonder X, KC Kennedy Olisa Adibua and Creative Economy (EC) did an abysmal job of executing anything, and my fans should never have to go through that.”
Ending the message with a promise, he wrote: “I’ll see you all again, on spaceship time! No one else’s. Love, Damini,”
Organisers react
Despite the lapses, the organisers, Wonder X, in a statement on Monday, maintained the show was successful.
“Burna Boy, leading a 30- man band, took the over 30,000 Lagos crowd through an eclectic set which drove the crowds to a frenzy, making them forget the initial technical glitches which led to a late start,” it said.
The organisers also apologised for the technical glitches which led to the late start of the show.
“We understand the frustration the fans must have felt for the unusual delay and do sincerely apologise even as we express our commitment to providing only the best and timely experiences for subsequent events.
“We like to send special thanks to Burna Boy and his team for showing stupendous professionalism amid the confusion,” the statement said.
The Wonder X team also appreciated the over 30,000 fans who attended the show and still kept the faith and eventually witnessed the most electrifying musical performance ever.
The Lagos Love Damini concert witnessed over 30,000 fans in attendance and a car lot with an unprecedented 11,000 cars.
“The adjoining Ahmadu Bello, Akin Adesola and Adetokunbo Ademola Streets all jammed with traffic, biggest and biggest attended musical concert in recent history,” the statement read.
Source: myjoyonline.com