Omo Iya Shola
I like to tell people that I have one of the coolest jobs in the world with a lot of cool perks one of which is getting to attend cool events like the FEARLESS concert hosted by Tim Godfrey and The Extreme crew at This Present House Church, in Lekki phase 1, Lagos Nigeria.
On arrival at the venue two hours before time, there was already a long queue at the registration desk so I thought to myself ‘ these guys really mean business o’. Remember that tickets to the concert were on sale until the senior pastor of the Host Church, Tony Rapu cancelled it. Excellent move if you ask me.
Locating relevant authorities, getting accredited and orientated on coverage areas and all (yes, we had to follow strict protocols) was not difficult as organizers were on hand to assist and give us whatever we needed. I have been to many concerts to work and I must say these guys were organized and duties well delegated. No sign of confusion, rush or tension that trails a lot of big concerts. It was apparent that these guys had done their homework well.
The show was billed to begin at 5PM and started right on time with MTN Project Fame host – Joseph Benjamin coming on stage singing a couple of worship songs. Ok, now we know he really can sing. Quite frankly as an anchor, he didn’t come through for me. It was so obvious he didn’t have a script and improvising isn’t exactly his strong suit which was why during the unplanned breaks we had in between ministrations, he was not able to salvage the situation something a comedian could have done easily. I can understand the reason the organizers went for him though but someone like Obus Zalee could have pulled it off easily.
A major component the event needed was tying all the activities together the entire show could have been designed better and acts knowing better what to do and when. With people coming in from all over and the massive publicity, we expected more. In that regards, everything got off to a rough start.
The first act – Jerry is obviously an amazing saxophonist and we enjoyed what he did so that should have been a smooth transition to the next act which was Tosin Martins but the later apparently needed time to find his footing before he could minister. And at that moment we were left bare. Faith child, a rapper from the UK thrilled with one of his singles. We couldn’t make out his words but we didn’t mind another track only that the DJ refused to ‘press play’. House of Worship was next and they did a good job at preparing the grounds for Paul Chisom who led us into a wonderful time of worship.
Ok. So imagine us recovering from Paul Chisom, settling to our sits to see the lights come up on the grand piano and Frank Edwards taking us into another session. That was definitely and high point for me. We loved it. We even wanted more . To think that he was not even billed to perform originally.
All that goodness gave way to Tim Godfrey and the Extreme Crew. Yes, we were in for better times and we knew it. His ministration was a hit from point to point. Vocals, theme, costume, concept, songs, sound, light, swag, entrance… you name it. I’d give you vivid details but there is a DVD that will go on sale soon so no.
I liked the short comedy skits from Akpororo and his friends shortly before Marvin Sapp came on. We really enjoyed it and wished they had been given slots in between the ministrations but they didn’t come early enough anyway.
Marvin Sapp was a delight to watch. Going through most of his songs for us to pick which one we would like him to sing was such a cool idea. Needless to say we liked all. We were blessed all over again.
At the end of the day, the show was a success. The level of planning and preparation was apparent. Id attend the next edition although some argue that it would have been better if it was only Tim Godfrey performing with Marvin doing some of Tim’s songs together and all but I say it was just right the way it went. Anybody who is anybody in the Gospel entertainment industry was present.
SCORE – 60%
