African superstar, Burna Boy’s Love Damani Tour came to Trinidad last weekend following months of rampant speculation and over a year of ripe anticipation by fans and Afrobeat music lovers. More recently, we witnessed a rained-out version of his performance in our sister isle of Tobago in late October and a late arrival in Dominica (which set social media ablaze again – amidst complaints from Soca Queen, Patrice Roberts and her Publicist, Adanna Asson of Creative Media PR).

Last Friday night, just enough of the stars aligned above the O2 Park in Chaguaramas for Burna to be present and able to perform (with just a short spatter of rain erupting alongside his band’s opening chords) at his allotted time. However, patrons have been testifying on social media since that night (and the truth remains that) before and after his appearance, chaos and confusion were the real headliners at the Chaguaramas venue.

 

No one could deny the awesome presence and stellar performances delivered by the advertised acts, but the sheer mismanagement of the venue and the event invites disbelief and astonishment to the concert-going public and industry stakeholders alike. Why wasn’t a local promoter with experience and expertise contracted to manage the event and what will become of all the grievances and refund requests?

Sure, the #1 trending Soca band, Kes arrived onstage just before midnight, when many patrons were still crawling through traffic and making their way into the maze which the venue layout was described as by many – due to insufficient and incoherent signage and personnel.

 

Where is VVIP? Where can we get some food? Where is VIP for that matter? Where are the complimentary drinks we were promised? Is Popcaan even here? What time is he coming?

These and many more similarly relevant questions remained largely unanswered throughout the night with not even the DJs playing or the mic-men, or the host, “Hypeman Patrick” Anthony seeming to have the answers at any point in time. Following a short, fun and fluid set from Kes that warmed the audience up nicely for what should have been an epic night ahead, the gathering was obliged to endure a two-hour wait as Popcaan reportedly arrived too late to start his set before Burna Boy, whose time was scripted and stipulated in his contract from well in advance.

No one explained this dilemma to the steadily growing audience of thousands, who were already being challenged to find their desired quota of drinks, food and friends in the maze.

“Well I never see nothing like this,” said one disgruntled male patron, “they now tell me they run out of chits for these bars here, so I gone by the bar to see if I could pay with cash and the bartender tell me they have no chasers either – only Scotch and Hennessy!”

Comments, complaints and questions from frustrated and unsatisfied patrons created a steady undertone of negative energy beneath and inspite of the DJs best efforts during the lengthy intermission. Yes, there was more than one long wait for a cast of just three performers. Kes was fairly on time after a police escorted dash to the peninsula through the building traffic line. Burna was on time for his scheduled set, but Popcaan did not fill the time in between the two acts and instead had to rush through his set in the wee hours and thanks to the grace of the authorities assigned to the event.

What happened? Sources say that Popcaan got upset because his mother declined to leave the hotel at the appointed time in order to witness his performance, even after he brought her and his grandmother to Trinidad to experience the outpouring of love and fanfare he would have surely received had he arrived on stage at his scheduled time. Others speculate that the Jamaican deejay had not received his full payment and -as some Jamaican acts are prone to do- refused to go to the venue until his money was in fact in-hand.

Regardless of the reason, Popcaan’s absence cast a blinding spotlight on all the inefficiencies and omissions in play at the venue and served to make an already bad situation even worse.

“Big up to Burna Boy and his whole team, give him another round of applause for a fantastic performance,” asked Hypeman Patrick, mere seconds after Burna exited the stage. “But I have to ask a question… Did anyone come to see the  Jamaican? A deafening roar of approval was heard and shortly after this declaration, Popcaan made his way to the stage with his entourage in tow.

 

Still, it was almost an hour before the “Controlla” contributor would take the stage and many patrons continued to rush out of O2 Park determined to secure one of the limited shuttles hired to take them back to their parking spots further down the Western Main Road.

Reports continue to surface of patrons being left to walk a mile or two back to their vehicles as the shuttles disappeared into the night, one person being bitten by a dog en route and several others finding their vehicles broken into, among other horror stories and atrocities.

Like the rapidly-ascending careers of Kes, Popcaan and Burna Boy, only time will tell… Thanks for bringing them all to Trinidad regardless.