2024 saw the sloppiest of performances, plagued by lacklustre performances, terrible sound quality, relentless downpours, late start times, and ridiculously short sets... you name it.
Time and again, when fans least expect it, they're left disappointed when shows or performances don't live up to the hype. And when the concerts are expensive, the organisers are left with the headache of dealing with their reputation and demands for refunds.
In Kenya, these heartbreaks have happened before. In 2023, Boyz II Men came for a concert where tickets sold for up to Sh30,000, with the cheapest ticket going for Sh8,000. The sound system was a mess.
This year, as a veteran of the concert scene put it, "the list is long".
Sloppy and lacklustre performances, terrible sound quality, relentless downpours, late start times, ridiculously short sets, on-stage tirades, you name it.
The only concerts this year to at least live up to their billing were rapper Muthoni Ndonga's, aka Muthoni The Drummer Queen, Blankets & Wine; Diani's Summer Tides Festivals; and Sauti Sol's Sol Fest. Still, critics argued that some of these concerts seemed repetitive, with similar performances to previous editions.
“I've been to two Sol Fests already, and I think I've seen enough.
“I don't see why I should go to another one. The nest acts are always Sauti Sol and I don't feel there's any performance they can put up that will top up last year's (2023) after watching the last weekend’s,” says Thomas Owino, a regular concert-goer.
In 2024, the disappointments included some of the biggest and most legendary names in the business: rapper and singer Nyashinski, bongo flava sensation Diamond Platnumz, Lingala maestro Koffi Olomide, American pop singer Lauryn Hill, South African Amapiano sensation Uncle Waffles, and many more. Here is how it went.
Diamond Platinumz at the Game Tosha mega launch in Thika on December 2, 2018.
Diamond Platnumz
Furaha City Festival – December 7
Venue: Nairobi Polo Club, Nairobi
Tickets: VVIP Sh20,000, VIP Sh10,000, Regular Sh3,000
Despite the hype, Furaha Fest didn't live up to its billing when headliner Diamond Platnumz failed to show up.
According to Diamond's manager, SK Sallam, the organisers' poor time management made it impossible for his artist to perform on the day.
“The organisers couldn't properly manage the schedules of other artistes as to when they were supposed to be on stage, which led to fights backstage. For security reasons, it was no longer safe for Diamond to go on stage. Diamond had arrived at the venue on time and waited backstage for three hours ready to perform, but the chaos caused by the artiste over time management caused Diamond to cancel,” explained Sallam SK.
This was despite the fact that Diamond was fully paid $150,000 for his performance which never took place.
Diamond later gave his side of the story after Furaha Fest organisers accused him of making ''unrealistic demands''.
The singer made his case in a 10-minute video explaining why he had to give the show a wide berth despite being at the venue. Echoing his manager's sentiments, he accused the organisers of wasting time, affecting his scheduled performance time and forcing him to leave the venue without performing.
“Why would I not want to perform? I had been paid in full. I cannot be paid $150,000 and then come to fight to perform on stage. I will be at the venue on time and wait for the organiser to call me on stage, which is what I did. I will keep an eye on my watch, and if my performance time is over, I will leave the venue, and I will have pocketed your money and will not refund,” he said.
The organisers had blamed Diamond, saying in a press statement that despite their efforts to accommodate him and his team, "their behaviour and demands proved to be regrettable and unnecessarily overbearing".
When the Nation contacted the organisers, they were unable to offer any meaningful explanation for their claims that Diamond's demands were unnecessarily overbearing. Diamond insists he fulfilled every part of his contract with Furaha Fest, but they let him down.
“I arrived a day before as the agreement stated. I arrived at the venue on time, but had to wait backstage for three hours. Professionally, an artiste isn’t supposed to wait for more than an hour before being called on stage. I was there for three. By then it was past my agreed time schedule that I was supposed to be on stage. My performance was to be two hours meaning that if I were to go on stage at that time, I would perform until the wee hours of the next morning,” Diamond added.
Artiste Lauryn Hill (right) and her son Zion Marley at Walker Town Festival.
Lauryn Hill
Walker Town Concert – September 28-29
Venue: Laureate Gardens, Nairobi
Tickets: VVIP Sh30,000, VIP Sh25,000, Regular Sh7,000
This was the most expensive Walker Town concert. It was also the largest Walker Town concert organised by the renowned event management agency YDX.
Following the success of previous editions, and having spent a minimum of $500,000 on the 2023 edition that attracted over 11,000 concertgoers, the event planners wanted to go bigger this year – curate a two-day event that would be the talk of the town.
Indeed, the event did become the talk of the town – for both the good and the bad.
If you were in Walker Town for both days, then the spectacular two-hour performance by Nigerian Afrobeat singer Rema on Saturday (28th) was just the thing to recharge your hitherto depleted social battery.
But if you caught Ms Hill on Sunday, and you didn't leave the venue because it was Monday morning and you had to be at work or school in about four hours, then you were treated to a rare, incomparable performance by the “Killing Me Softly With His Song” hit legend, who took to the stage at 2.57am and performed until 4.38am.
One thing is for sure, no one who saw Ms Hill left before 5am, as she gave a good performance despite the sound problems that were the main downfall of day two.
“I know the sound is not great but we are here to have a good time,” Lauryn occasionally told the already fatigued crowd
The sound problems began with a heavy downpour on Sunday evening, which caused a major disruption to the schedule. Ms Hill, who was due to take to the stage at 11pm and perform until 1am, had to wait until 3am for the sound to be fixed.
By 2am, angry fans who had been waiting for hours from 4pm feared that there wouldn't be a Lauryn show as the hours counted down and there was no music.
The Lauryn 26 bad team had begun packing up their instruments to leave, insisting there would be no show, but the "principal", as they called her, asked them to be patient while planners fixed the sound.
“There is a piece of equipment called Quantum Digital Mixing Console (DMC) that she needed for her large set because of her big band. When it got rained on, it was impossible to have a set. The worst part is that this type of DMC isn’t available in Kenya, so we had to find a way with what we have locally to support her big band and that took time,” a Representative from YDX told, the Nation.
Kenyan rapper and singer Nyashinski performing during Sol Fest Event at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi on November 4, 2023.
Nyashinski
Walker Town Concert – September 28-29
Venue: Laureate Gardens
Tickets: VVIP Sh30,000, VIP Sh25,000, Regular Sh7,000
Rapper Nyashinski was due to open for Ms Hill, scheduled to go on stage at 9pm for a two-hour set. He arrived at the venue early.
By 10pm, he had grown restless when it appeared that the event planners were making no progress with the sound problem and asked to leave. A crisis meeting was called at the venue to try and persuade him to wait a little longer. He wasn't convinced. Even Lauryn Hill's team tried to persuade him to stay, but Nyashinski had already made up his mind. Eventually he left.
His manager, Fakii Liwali, later explained that "time management was the problem. By the time everything was ready for the performance, there wasn't enough room for both artists," Faki told the Nation.
After the second day of Walker Town, East African Breweries Limited (EABL), the main sponsor of the event, issued a statement apologising to the public and refunding tickets for the second day.
Despite the shortcomings, the organisers claim they were well prepared but the heavens let them down.
“I think we set out with a bold dream, to grow the event from what has been done previously – to elevate the event from a one-day event to a two-day, also feature very big acts, including an A-list Global act. Day one was excellent, from the energy to the activities and the vibes. On day two the rains disrupted the schedule … we had brought in equipment as per Ms Hill’s requests to make sure that nothing went wrong. We have learned our lessons and can use them to grow. Sometimes, event organisers are vilified, but I think the increase of new events in Kenya this year should be applauded, including those that didn't go as planned. This will help our events industry grow and give Kenyans a taste of a global type of event,” adds the YDX representative.
Congolese singer Koffi Olomide and his dancers perform at The Koroga Festival at Nairobi Arboretum on March 13, 2016.
Koffi Olomide
Mzuqa Festival – December 14th
Venue: Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium, Kisumu
Tickets: VVIP Sh15,000 VIP Sh10,000, Regular Sh5,000
Since 2016, when Congolese Lingala legend Koffi Olomide visited the country for a performance, his shows have always ended in scandal and disappointment.
This year was no different. Interestingly, all the times Koffi has disappointed the Congolese, Nairobi promoter Nsana Jules has always been at the centre of it.
In Kisumu, crowds of rhumba fans flocked to the venue in anticipation of a unique show by Koffi. But the legend only took to the stage at 2pm after excited fans started calling for him. And instead of performing, Koffi held his fans spellbound for 20 minutes as his hits played on a deejay deck before leaving. Not a single member of his band was seen with him.
Nsana later claimed that the show didn't go as planned and accused TV47, the media house behind the show as the main sponsor, of breach of contract.
He claimed that the contract called for two shows on December 7 and 14. Nsana went on to say that the agreement was for Koffi to be paid $60,000 for the two shows. However, the media house only paid $30,000.
“Up until the Kisumu show we had waited for communication for the other show but none came through,” Jules claimed.
Nsana claimed that the confusion meant that the planning of the event was plagued with logistical challenges, resulting in Koffi's team not being able to travel in time for the show.
“The bands’ flight was Uganda Airlines to Entebbe and then proceed to Kisumu by road. Unfortunately, the sponsor's road transport arrangement from Entebbe to Kisumu caused significant delays. By the time the band crossed the border it was 5am on Sunday morning and they arrived in Kisumu at 10am.”
According to Kisumu City Manager Abala Wanga, they were never made aware of the logistical challenges.
“We were kept in the dark. If we had been informed earlier, alternative arrangements could have been made. The county only assisted with promotions as the event was managed by Msuqa Festival and TV47” said Alaba.
Uncle Waffles
For The Love of Amapiano – November 30
Venue: ASK Dome, Nairobi
Tickets: VIP Sh6,000, Regular Sh3,000
South African Amapiano DJ Uncle Waffles returned to the country to thrill his Amapiano fans.
But the event turned out to be chaotic instead. Fans flocked to the venue only to be met with disappointment. Overcrowding, poor sound quality and poor management brought the event to an abrupt end, leaving attendees frustrated.
"The crowd showed up, but the organisers underestimated the numbers," observed X user Kelly Sly Kiarie.
"To make matters worse, the sound system was pathetic and took away from their performance. The fans and artists deserve better!"
Uncle Waffles also vented her frustration in a statement.
"From the sound issues before my performance to the mistreatment of my team, this was not something I expected at all. People were being pushed around, mistreated and treated with the least amount of care, and that is something I will not stand for," she said.
"The safety and well-being of the people who come out to support me and this genre is my top priority, and I could not continue to play my set while people were visibly uncomfortable and at risk of getting hurt."
The organisers never issued a statement and refused to comment.
