A night with Omawumi in concert

Omawumi in concert: Lasso of the Truth,’ which took place at the Oriental Hotel on Sunday, April 7, 2013, attested to the fact that the real Omawumi still exists and her struggle to come to the limelight has not been in vain.

It was an evening of music, dance and fun reloaded with various and top Nigerian artiste to grace the event. The exquisite DJ Sose of Rhythm 93.7FM kept on spinning the wheels with nice tracks, which kept the audience entertained while the artiste or band was not playing.

The opening act of the concert was done by the winner of the Nigerian Idol 2012, Mercy, with a light performance to welcome on stage the main artiste, Omawumi.

Omawumi’s introductory performance was mind blowing with Tu-face Idibia who stole the show by performing to the song; ‘Monkey work Baboon Chop.’ She also dedicated a song to her mother who was seated among the audience, she said; “As you see me so nah my mama make me be like this oh. I no they joke with my mama. Thank you mum, I love you.” The song that talked about her upbringing and how much impact the love of a mother can do as to; punish the child when wrong, correct the child in other to train them well. This was also dramatised by the Image Vito dance group.

The performance that touched and thrilled the audience most was the one put up by the female divas of the Nigerian music industry – Omawumi, Tiwa Savage, Seyi Shay and Waje. Their performance was breathtaking, which made the audience stand on their feet.

They performed two tracks: the remix of Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’ and also ‘Thank You Lord, Hallelujah.’ The performance was so spectacular that it received a standing ovation from the audience. With their beautiful charisma and gorgeous dresses, they put on a nice show. Omawumi’s attires added to her beautiful figure. Everyone could not help but notice her style.

She later thrilled the audience with the mixture of past generations of music by bringing Onyeka Owenu to perform her hit track – “Ekwe” which Omawumi also performed while in the West Africa Idols competition. They were able to bring the past generation of music back to life and with so much energy, despite Onyeka’s age.

Omawumi also performed more songs with Timaya and Wizkid after which she left them on stage to perform their own songs to the audience’s delight. Omawumi showed respect to her band and back-up singers, Image Vito dancers, Kaffy the dancer, and to the audience, by going into the crowd greeting from table to table, and also going to the regular sits to mingle, dance and take pictures with them. Omawumi also made the audience laugh with her funny attitude and light jokes she shared, most of which she used herself as an example. She shared a dance with some stars like: Waje, Mercy, Karen of Big Brother on stage.

She gave a good performance, Onyeka was excellent and I thought of how the old and the new schools were cool together. I feel the packaging was cool and they managed the time well and ended promptly.

Towards the end of the show, an unexpected occurrence happened that set the audience aback – the fact that before she performed to her current hit track ‘Bottom Belle’ she introduced to everyone the original song writer. Herbert Udemgba, an 86 years old man, all the way from Owerri came to grace the show with his presence. He was called up on stage for the audience to see him and he said:” I am the writer, author and singer of the original version of Bottom Belle. When she first approached me she was very humble, nice and a respectful girl, that’s why I like her and I was pleased when I met her afterwards.”

Michael Nwadibie, a member of the audience, could not help but express his delight at the performance of the artistes, saying “‘Lasso of the truth’ was a wonderful show,” solidifying Omawumi’s position as one of Nigeria’s leading music divas.

The entire show was well choreographed and almost flawlessly executed. My major highlight was the appearance of the soulful quarter that is: Waje, Savage, Seyi Shay, and Omawumi, the four ladies gave a rousing performance. Tu-face Idibia also stole the show in his performance of the collaboration with Omawumi, meanwhile Timaya and Wizkid also gave a good account of themselves. Equally breathtaking was Onyeka Owenu’s performance of ‘Ekwe,’” he said.

Charles Anyawu, another member of the audience, said: “I thought the concert was handled properly, with its limited space it was okay and I like the fact that they kept to a short time and the transmission was fine, from one performance to the other was cool and smooth.”

MARY OCHUGBUA