Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Burger Highlife Rocks National Theatre

By Stephen K. Effah
Saturday, 15 March 2008

THE second Burger High-life Concert staged at the National Theatre in Accra last Saturday, proved that highlife is firmly rooted in the country to the extent that no other genre can match its popularity.

It undoubtedly generated nostalgia for great songs and performances of the 1980s and the early 1990s.

For about three hours, six of the maestros of that genre took turns to deliver old hits, bringing back fond memories to the audience.

In spite of the low turnout, the event, organised by the Goethe Institut to celebrate and to let the public have a feel of the spirit and rhythm of highlife in order to revive the genre, lived up to its expectation.

No wonder the audience yearned for more, performance after performance. With their classical performance characterised by good singing, thrilling stagecraft and great backing by the Systems Band, Ben Brako, Pat Thomas, Lee Duodu, Charles Amoah, George Darko and Mc God left the audience relishing the evening.

The great performances of Lee Duodu, Charles Amoah and Mc God made them the toast of the concert which was emceed by Fritz Baffuor who added different flavour to the show through his appropriate jokes.

The great keyboardist, Bob Fiscian set the ball rolling with his nifty touches of the keyboard as he dished out some fantastic tunes while the audience sat to listen before Ben Brako took over to perform some of his tracks.

When Mc God mounted the stage at exactly 9.55 pm, the auditorium lit up with the performance of some of his hits lit including ‘Mo Ye Bue, Moye Kenken,’ a song dedicated to the various professionals whose efforts are moving the nation forward.

Others were ‘Mr. Okwaa Donto’ and ‘Highlife Agogo,’ which the audience sang along perfectly. Dressed in a specially designed African print, which had the photographs of the Big Six embossed on it, his robot-style dance moves triggered laughter among the audience.

The excitement continued when the man with the "golden voice," Pat Thomas, took his turn to deliver four of his hit songs which included ‘Sika Ye Mogya’ and ‘Woma Menka Bi’.

Charles Amoah’s ‘Eye Odo Asem’ and ‘Asaawa Do’ got the patrons to their feet. Apparently inspired by the response from the audience, he removed his jacket to display his skilful footwork. and got the patrons to their feet.

Apparently inspired by the response from the audience, he removed his jacket to display his skilful footwork.

Then came the time, when Lee Duodu took charge of the microphone at 11. 10 pm to dish out some of his memorable repertoire. The excitement reach crescendo.

Delivering tracks like "Mafro Odo Mpa’, ‘Akwankwa Tia’ and ‘Odo Beba Na Maye Atiaa’, Lee Duodu pulled the crowd to their feet. The audience yearned for more even as he announced the end of his performance.

Then it was the turn of the ‘Ako Te Brofo’ man, George Darko, who displayed his skill on the guitar.

He performed ‘Mene Me Dear’ and ‘Odo Colour’ and ended with a track, Ayisha from his yet to be released album which unfortunately failed to move the audience to their feet to end the night as it had begun.

The Systems Band, proved their mastery of the various musical instruments as they played the different songs with consistency and perfection.

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