Modest attendance, rainfall couldn't dampen All Star Unity Concert for flood victims
At the box office of the Accra stadium at 6:30 pm last night, roughly 10 concertgoers stamped impatiently in a light drizzle, waiting to be let into the all-star concert they’d been promised on social media, and which was already an hour late getting started.
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Inside, 50 or so bored-looking journalists and special guests sat in the VIP section, practically on the goal line of the Black Stars pitch, playing on their phones and snapping photos of an empty stage. Thumping bass assailed them and professional lighting washed over their resigned faces.
Just beyond the stands, vendors stared at mini mountains of unsold beef and chicken skewers that were getting cold and misted with rainwater.
None of us were sure when the show would start.
Overlooking these scenes, in the nerve center of the All Star Unity Concert, all was in chaos. As musicians shuffled in, looking somewhat lost, production assistants raced back and forth to finalize the details of a show that, after all, didn’t seem to have an audience yet.
One event planner was using two cellulars to coordinate with the 30 musical acts scheduled to perform that night. The twin phones sang out with urgent messages from artistes at roughly two-minute intervals. At this late hour, several artistes were still unaccounted for. Sound checks were pushed back until they were finally canceled; the musicians were told they would go on without them.
The musicians were instructed to begin warming up. A young pianist leaned back in his chair in the midst of this bedlam, popped in his ear buds, and shut his eyes. He knew that they wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
At 10:30 pm, when DJ Breezy took his mark and Commotion kicked the off the evening, now five hours behind schedule, the audience sitting in the stands still numbered less than 50.
The stadium seats 50,000.
A charity event, and Becca's baby
The All Star Unity Concert was an ambitious charity event to benefit the victims of the 3rd June, 2015 flood and fire in Accra, and was the brainchild of Ghanaian afropop star, Becca.
The 30-year-old singer was compelled to action after touring the grim aftermath of the Goil filling station fire in the Kwame Nkrumah circle, which was the flashpoint of a disaster that claimed the lives of over 150.
“The only thing we have as artistes is our voice, and this is the only way we can bring a change”, she recently told GhanaWeb.
The event was planned by the EIB Group, owners of Starr FM and organizer’s of the popular ‘S’ Concert with Graphic Showbiz. Featuring some of the top names in Ghanaian music, the All Star Unity Concert was sponsored by Ghana’s “Protect the Goal” campaign and a slew of corporate backers, including Tigo, GCB and Unibank.
“It is in good light to see young, vibrant and energetic people come together for such a worthy cause”, said the CEO of the EIB group, Mr Anokye Adisi (Bola Ray) said in public comments.
Harried planning, poor weather
In very short order, the concert was planned and rubber-stamped by the Ministry of Youth & Sports and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly.
“We tried hard to put this up within the same month [as the flood]”, said EIB Marketing Manager Jeffrey Sowa, who helped oversee the planning of the event.
Several organizers in attendance blamed the lackluster attendance on an insufficient marketing and public relations effort, while others speculated that the rain kept many away.
Several of the vendors at the event, who arrived at 8am that day to set up, complained that sales were not what they expected.
“This is the first can I sell tonight”, said a drinks vendor who sold me malt in exchange for a brief interview.
“It’s so disappointing”, said one audiovisual engineer. “We were hoping for a better turnout.”
For concertgoer Sophia Durrani, an American employee of Population Services International, the Unity Concert was unrelenting frustration for her and her friends. She spent nearly the entire day on Tuesday unsuccessfully trying to locate a vendor to sell her a ticket, then waited several hours to be admitted into the stadium.
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“We saw the flier on Instagram, which said you could get tickets either at the gate or at the Accra Mall. We thought there would be a huge line at the stadium, so we went to the mall early today…. But we couldn’t find them at the mall. We checked with four or five major stores, and nobody had any idea what we were talking about. We looked for over an hour. So, we came here [the stadium] and waited outside [for the box office to open].”
“We only had a week to promote the event”, Mr. Sowa said. “As far as event spend, lights and sound doesn’t come cheap”, he added, explaining that the lion share of the event budget went towards the professional engineering setup.
Ultimately, Ms. Durrani abandoned the event as a lost cause at around 10pm.
“[We left] because we came to hear live music, not listen to the radio", she said, referring to the filler music played prior to the live acts.
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All proceeds from the event will go directly to disaster relief for flood and fire victims. Mr Sowa was unable to confirm ticket sales at this time.
“The most important thing we achieved was bringing together all of these artists”, he said. “We showed that this kind of event is possible, that these artists can come together, which tells us this kind of fundraiser is something we can look to do again in the future… and next time, hopefully it doesn’t have to be about bad news.”
A success on its own terms
While the Unity Concert was sparsely attended, the sound and spirit of the musicians filled the empty soccer stadium with a kinetic energy that claimed every soul it touched.
The evening of music began with gospel darling Ewura Abena, whose sweet voice put out a siren call to the music lovers of Accra. As Youtube sensation Adomaa was taking the stage, you could already see a handful more people in the stands. Spectators steadily trickled as a lineup of gospel performers dealt the small audience with powerful and joyous sound.
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Later, the likes of Rex Omar and Ben Brako picked things up with old school crowd favorites. They were followed by a litany of other famous musicians, known to me by reputation only. As Becca herself began to perform, there were several hundred people in the stands.
In its own way, and on its own terms, the night had been a resounding success.
“The attendance wasn’t the best, but we achieved our main aims, which were to see if we could bring these artists together for a good cause, and of course to draw attention to the plight of the flood and fire victims”, Mr Sowa said.
At about midnight, an IT specialist from Teishi Nungua named Kwame was arriving by taxi.
“Yes, I heard there aren’t that many [at the concert], but I still felt it was important to go”, he said. “I wanted to show my support.
"And events in Ghana always get started on their own schedule,” he added with a smile, handing back his two cedis of change to the driver.