What you missed at Davido's concert in Kigali

A downpour that persisted throughout the day cast a shadow of uncertainty on Davido’s ‘30 Billion Africa Tour’ concert on Saturday. However, music fans braved the bad weather and filled the parking space of Amahoro national stadium, which was the venue to see Nigerian superstar Davido, real names David Adedeji Adeleke, perform. Those who endured the cold evening enjoyed a remarkable and memorable music experience. The If star put up a spectacular show. Davido’s tour was organized by Sony Music, a global music label to which the singer is signed, and was brought to Kigali in partnership with Positive Production, a local event company which has brought big music stars in the past like Stromae. Concertgoers had to buy some coffee right at the venue to cope with the chilly evening while DJs Marnaud and Toxykk made sure people stayed on their feet with an impressive playlist. Comedian Michael Sengazi and Flash TV’s Bianca were the hosts of the show. Given the time the show started, some curtain raisers were not given a lot of time on stage. Upcoming singer Sintex, Phiona Mbabazi and the Nyundo School of Music band did a good job warming up the crowd before Yvan Buravan came on to do a couple of songs including Just a Dance and the new ones Heaven and Oya. The RnB star then paved way for Charly & Nina who were accompanied by a group of dancers. The girls performed Face to Face, Owooma, Indoro and Zahabu before they left the stage for Riderman. It was the duo’s first performance since they parted ways with their manager of 5 years, Alex Muyoboke two weeks ago. Riderman took some minutes to put the fans in the mood but eventually his songs Inyugutiya R, Abanyabirori, Igitangaza and Simbuka did fire up the crowd. After the rapper finished his performance, it was time for the moment everyone was waiting for. Davido’s team, including the band, his DJ Ecool and media people took over the stage to test the sound and lay ground for his performance. There was pandemonium as the Nigerian star fell down as he moved to the stage, but he quickly put the incident behind and embarked on a marathon of a performance which took him through all the songs that have made him a global star. His management team made sure the stage was perfect for the singer. Davido received a raucous from the largely youthful crowd as he kicked off his performance with Gobe, Dami Duro, Flora My Flawa, Like That, Ekuro, Fans Mi and Coolest Kid in Africa among his first songs. He then slowly descended into his other songs like The Money and Tchelete before he called Jay Polly on stage. Davido said Jay Polly was his favourite Rwandan artiste as they performed together Ku musenyi. The two performed together in 2014 during the 20th Liberation concert at Amahoro National Stadium. The elated Jay Polly performed some of his biggest and latest hits including Skelewu, which made him a continental name, Fall, Fia and concluded with arguably his biggest hit IF. During his performance which lasted more than one hour, Davido mentioned how he was excited to be in Rwanda again, often going an extra mile to impress the fans, including parting with some of his jewelry. Earlier before his performance, Davido paid a visit to the school of music in Muhanga, where he made a donation of USD 5000 (About Rwf4.3 million) and paid tickets for all the students to attend his show. The show ended at 1:30am. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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What you missed at Davido's concert in Kigali