For The First Time Ever,I Attended A Reggae Event…The Morgan Heritage Extravaganza. And,Ladies And Gentlemen,This Is What Happened….

Reggae events are synonymous with violence,hooliganism,brutality,impromptu riots and sometimes rape and cheap robbery. And so,as I geared up for the Morgan Heritage concert at the KICC,I was still a little apprehensive. Not sure I wanted to even attend the gig. And even after I made up my mind to go,I still chose to wear some really cheap blue jeans,and a boring sweater. And another cheap pair of sneakers.

If there’s anything reggae events have taught me,not from attending but from reading through the Media,it’s to not show up too glammed up and looking very nice. Sh*t goes down any minute. And you need to be able to run as fast as you can. And also,look as basic and regular as possible. 

I had a female companion who I also told to dress down,don’t bother too much on the makeup,avoid high heels and no jewelry at all.

Good.

First off,finding parking at KICC was a nightmare. The lane leading into the venue was so jam-packed,with so many cars,I almost gave up and turned back. But soon enough,I was at the VIP GATE entrance and some female cop,who was all over the place and hissing the night away sprung up to my door…

‘Uko na sticker! ‘she yelled. I didn’t know what she was talking about.

‘Sticker! Gari yako iko na sticker!? ‘

Still,no idea what this cop was babbling about.’ Hapana. Sina. Sticker ya nini by the way!? ‘

‘Kama gari yako haina sticker enda uka-park na huko! Gari kama haina sticker haiingii hapa. Parking has been booked…’ she yelled,almost physically ejecting me from the road.

I reversed quick,negotiated the roundabout and went to park around the Jubilee Insurance Building. And then I walked to the VIP section again.

Cars were allover the place… Hooting and honking and cutting through the lanes and stuff.

The VIP section was a beehive of activity… With a crowd of ticket masters and officials and security and police manning the gate and processing the tickets etc.

I tried to explain to some lady that I was from ‘The Media’ and that I had a media invite that u had come to collect before being ushered in.

‘Wapi hiyo invite!? Uko nayo!? ‘she impatiently snapped. Almost everyone here seemed impatient and too busy to care.

‘Enda ile side ingine. Hukooo… Kwa regular tickets… ‘

And,once again,I was turned away and had to walk around the whole City Hall building to get to the other side of the tickets gate.

There,I met a queue… Stretching for like a couple meters. At first, I didn’t like the way most of these guys in the queue looked like ; they had this rough image typically associated with ghetto people,others had small bags hanging over their taut shoulders,I lost count of all the people with dreadlocks in the queue,some wore Timberland boots,others just boots,others heavy jumpers and others had some sort of full reggae regalia, colors,flags and all.

It was a busy and a messy place… The queue grew bigger. The police too,were allover the place,talking down folks,trying to give a couple orders and maintaining the flow of the queue.

Big Kev is here too…Not too look glossy but to control crowds and run stuff around,yelling and gesturing and brandishing a radio phone. Ahhh,the many roles a brother plays.

I called some lady called Christine who was to hook me up with the tickets. It was getting sort of cold out there,and from inside the arena,I could hear loud music booming and Victoria Kimani,our Nigerian singer,was on stage.

It took me a whole half an hour before I was hooked up with the GATE PASSES. My date,however,had already found her way in… Somehow.

‘Kuja kwa VIP’ Christine told me. And once again,I walked the whole boring,dark distance a round City Hall to the other side of the VIP gate.

Once there,it didn’t take too long before Christine saw me. And gave me the 3 Media Gate Passes belonging to three Ghafla writers. Phew! I was in! Finally!

As I made my way towards the VIP section,I realized that,around here,things were not as bad as I had imagined they will be… I actually met some really beautiful women,dressed to the nines and looking like they’re fresh from a Grammy after-party. People around here were actually smelling nice. And yes,ladies had little black dresses and makeup and nice stilettos. Ah,this truly is the VIP.

I encountered smart dudes… Dressed expensively with nice watches and nice colognes and nice shoes. Oh,and tons of jewelry too.

I am pressed… So first,the loo.

The were a couple mobile toilets just some meters away from the VIP area. I went over and met this huge huge crowd. And a disarranged queue… Almost everyone wanted to go into the loo. Others got so tired of waiting for their turn that they decided to pee around the grass and around some tree just a few meters away. Yes,even ladies.

But for the long call,you’d have to wait in the goddam queue. Or muscle your way in.

Time to get in the mix of things now… I made my way towards the huge,exquisite tent erected to the right of the magnificent stage.

Under the tent,there were nice white seats (Leather,synthetic) which gave the whole place a classy,lounge-y vibe. And on the seats,with exquisite beer bottles and glimmering glasses on the marble tables before them,sat groups of high-end revelers. Urbane,cool and moneyed guys. Oh,and celebs too.

I went straight towards the stage and found this whole beautiful space from where I would see the Morgan Heritage crew quite comfortably. And also dance myself silly and take a billion photos.

The mood is 1000% festive. And everyone is showing some love. Nice!