Not so Yori

By Crystal Okusa

It is 11pm and the anticipated Bracket show is yet begin. The Carnivore Simba Saloon is only half full and outside it’s raining cats and dogs. In attendance are a handful of journalists and a few local celebrities. You could count less than thirty patrons who had paid to come watch the show.

The Bracket duo are nowhere in sight, at the entrance is Nigerian promoter Mr Brant Hezekiel, vehemently blocking any more people wearing the Press V.I.P passes from coming in.

"I don’t care who you are or where you work, you can go report me to your papers that I am not allowing you in here. I can even give you my business card to get the full details," he shouted.

Due to the low turnout, Mr John was forced to let in for free the few who were trickling in.

After waiting awhile, a few patrons give up and left the venue. Shortly after, a white limo drives in and the Bracket duo step out in style, clad in matching red outfits and white shirts, topped with sunglasses. They quickly take their positions for the paparazzi’s to click away.

The curtain raisers are now preparing to get on stage the poor turnout had caused MR John to stall their performances earlier. The night begun to take off as more people strolled into Carnivore and the homeboyz DJ’s and hype man DNG psyched the crowd

First on stage, were Nameless and Habida with their song Sunshine. The two were colour coordinated in red and black and as they sung, the crowd chorused the popular song in unison. Nameless, backed by the Eclipse dancers, kept the crowd enthralled with electrifying moves. It was clear, judging from the crowd’s reaction that Nameless’s old school hits are still largely preferred over his new hits.

Up next was the Godfather of Genge, after releasing his two hottest and latest singles, Godfather and Kataa Hiyo; Nonini has since regained his popularity. The crowd screamed and danced, singing along to every word of the hits as he prepared the stage for the men of the night.

Earlier in the evening, the Bracket duo had told Pulse that they expected as good a reception as P-Square’s.

"We have heard about Kenya and how much they like to party. If our brothers P-square enjoyed themselves so will we and so we expect the best today, we have other great songs that you will enjoy apart from Yori Yori," said Vast — the more outspoken of the duo.

Though they did not enjoy the same turnout, it did not dampen their sprits and they gave riveting performance. They even gave the ladies a chance to express themselves through a dancing competition on stage.

The Iwo Ni Mofe song in particluar got one girl swooning on stage while she held on to Vast.

Despite the low turn out, the crowd supported them as much as they could, creating a dance floor in front of the stage to dance as they sang the other album hits.

The cheering that accompanied Yori Yori made it rather evident that it was the song most people were looking forward to hearing.

You could blame it on the publicity, the heavy rain, the time of the month or on the airwaves for being stuck on Yori Yori, but whatever the reason, it was the most poorly attended show in the history of ‘Naija Nights’. This raised the question as to whether their days are now numbered.

Local celebrities in attendance included Prezzo, Shaffie with his new girl on his arm, Nasty Thomas, Maina Kageni and others.

The half hour show was over by 1pm and the crowd quickly left the Carnivore for other clubs.