Don’t blame the police

At least once in two months, a music show around town is interrupted by the police. Fans go back home bitter because the police have made them miss fun. Every radio station is advertising the album launch of local R ’n B star, The Ben. I can’t afford missing this; so, I save some penny to take me through that day. The time has come and I leave home ready to go wild. But hush! The man, who intended to party till late, is instead being chased about by policemen to go and sleep. Ruckus has rocked the hall and the police have decided to call off the show. Talking about the show, too bad the police granted permission of using the ‘Petit stade’ to both The Ben and some other Christian group at the same time. When the later were through with worshipping at around 9pm in the night, Ben desperately tried to organize the hustling fans but it was too late for him. On the contrary though, some artists need to share the blame with the police, actually take the bigger part. Looking at the responsibilities and actions of the two parties, artists seldom follow instructions from the police. They (police) can never sit back and watch but rather come in with batons. Who loses in the game then? Of course it is the fans that save their hard earned cash to party but instead go home bleeding. When one goes for these gigs, you realize poor time management in most of them. It’s not surprising here when a show scheduled for 6:00 pm starts at 8:00pm. The organizers will also waste much of the little time on curtain rising. By the time the main performers ascend to the podium, it will be ten minutes to stop time. The police then force the fans out for security purposes; leaving them bitter. Take a look at the recent album launch concert of another R ’n B artist, Tom Close. The police had instructed him to start at 6:00pm and stop at 10:00 in the night. The venue was overflowing with fans by 6:30pm, but the first curtain raiser picked the microphone at around 8:40. It came to stop before the guest artists ascended to the stage. The police sympathized, stopping Tom at 50 minutes past time but the fans went home cursing them (the police). Poor quality music systems also mess up these gigs. Most often, music stops for at least ten minutes because of phony machines or simple shocks. You remember the day local artist Kitoko had to leave stage without saying bye to his dear fans? Well, the deejay’s computer had failed to play the award winner’s CD, yet he had used it for practice earlier in the day; God damn it. Consequently, most music devotees are bit by bit turning to bars or clubs for parties from where they go back home happy with the piece. If I were a musician, I would try to make a difference to bring back the fans’ trust in local music. 2010 should be a great year for artistes and fans. Ends