Photos: Vodafone 020 Live concert, featuring R2bees, Fuse ODG and more

The annual Vodafone 020 Live concert has over the years been graced by some of the world’s biggest names when it comes to music but organizers’ intention to make the show a homegrown event this year did receive mixed reactions. Since its inception in 2010, the concert has witnessed thrilling performances from both local and international acts including Ludacris, and Trey Songz. While many applauded the move to have only local artistes grace the show this year, others felt the move will kill the international recognition the concert has gained over the years. The 2013 edition of the concert – dubbed Red Island Party – which came off at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Saturday night had on its menu a carefully selected blend of acts including, Fuse ODG, R2Bees, 4×4, Eazzy, Keche and Ryan (winner of Vodafone ICONS – Street Edition). ‘DJ Black’s technical knockout’ Heading into Red Island Party, there was talk of a battle between Joy FM and Ghana’s own DJ Black and South Africa’s DJ Divalash. That battle ended before it even started! DJ Black, who was first to hit the turntables was just apt! He brought his skills to bear throwing the venue into a frenzy. Not only did patrons hear music, they also watched Ghana’s number one DJ show his video jockeying skills. DJ Divalash’s quest to satisfy a Ghanaian audience dealt her a big blow. She wanted to show her Ghanaian patrons that she could easily mix Ghanaian tunes but while she tried her best, her mixes were disappointing. Her choice of Ghanaian songs was awful but her dance moves and energy on stage deserves some commendation! Her hot and sexy appearance wowed many!! ‘Eazzy and 4×4’s show’ Of all the acts for the night, sexy musician, Eazzy and the music trio rocked the show. Their performances/stage craft were on point. They seamlessly thrilled the about 300 patrons to the maximum. Eazzy, with her sexy swag, lit up the stage with her rough but catchy look. Like a sexy beast that has been unleashed, she, together with her dancers, charmed patrons with her moves and songs. Her adrenaline was high and that clearly manifested in her act – from song to song! She thrilled with hit songs such as ‘Scream’, ‘Go Go Wind’, ‘Rock This Party’, ‘One Gal’, and ‘Wegenze’. The highpoint of her performance was when she faced off with a male fan in a mini dance battle. Eazzy danced with such charm but unfortunately for her, the fan was better! 4×4’s decades of experience on the Ghanaian music scene came in handy on the night. The group, made up of Captain Planet, CoDed and Fresh Prince was full of energy. Backed by Joy FM’s Nii Ayi Tagoe on the turntables, the group thrilled patrons to a variety of both old and new tunes. With Uche Ofodile, Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Ghana, in his sights, Captain Planet seemed to have been handed a task to live up to expectation… he was just on fire! 4×4 thrilled with several hit songs including ‘Waist and Power’, ‘World Trade Centre’, ‘Hot Girls Dot Com’, ‘Siklitele’, ‘We No Dey Carry Last’, and ‘I Go Marry You’. R2Bees on the night did wow the crowd although they did not give off anything impressive when it comes to stage craft. Their hit songs including, ‘Love’, ‘Odo’, ‘Life (Walahi), ‘Kiss Your Hand’, ‘Slow Down’ seemed to have done the needed magic for them on the night. They, as usual, got patrons dancing throughout their performance. The headline act for the night, Fuse ODG was the last to perform. Much was expected from the UK-based Ghanaian act who has in his short music career raised the ‘Azonto’ flag high globally for Ghana. Overall, Fuse ODG failed to come to the party fully. He just did not gel well with the audience and he had to rely heavily on the popularity of his hit songs to do some magic for him. His popular tunes, ‘Azonto’, ‘Million Pound Girl’, and ‘Antenna’ got patrons dancing and singing along. An Azonto competition he organized on stage also sparked some excitement at the venue. Apart from Vodafone ICONS – Street Edition winner Ryan, who was not impressive on the night, Keche, who opened the performances, also did put up am impressive show. ‘The Denrele fever’ Preceding the event, some pundits had criticized Vodafone for inviting Nigerian entertainment personality and Channel O presenter Denrele Edun to MC the show. Many felt inviting him to host the show was waste of money especially when Ghana has the personnel who can equally deliver when called upon. Denrele, who likes to wear female clothes, was a perfect choice for the show. He did deliver to the delight of many. His intermittent jokes and daredevil dance moves, even in his long boots and high heels, spiced up the show not forgetting his introduction of Nigerian Big Brother Africa (The Chase) representative Beverly Osu. ‘Good sound, good light, good ambiance’ Organizers of the concert had a daunting task transforming an open garden into a classy venue for the show. Vodafone seems to have over the years mastered the act of transforming unusual places into world class entertainment hubs and this was no different. Organizers did well to cordon off the area so as to keep the fun within the right space. The stage, including the patrons areas were well designed and setup. culled from myjoyonline.com]]>