Elani Concert: A Testament to the Bright Future of Kenya’s Music Scene

Elani are no strangers to the Kenyan music industry scene. They’ve been around for a couple of years (yes, that long) and only recently made headway into the mainstream Kenyan music scene. 2014 has been a great year for Elani with their music receiving lots of airplay both on radio and TV and the release of several videos off their album. The band held a concert on Saturday Nov 29th dubbed ‘Share the Love’ at Impala Grounds.

I hadn’t initially planned to go but as the concert date drew closer, I changed my mind. I’ll admit the hype on Twitter and Instagram played a part in convincing me. I didn’t attend the negatively criticized gig at Treehouse but I did attend their album launch last year and it was pretty good. You know a concert is going to be big when the tickets are available in Nakumatt (with them also being a sponsor) and there’s a billboard to boot. Regular advance tickets were Ksh. 1000 and 2000 at the gate with VIP tickets going for Ksh. 3000.

I arrived later than I had planned. The gates opened at 1pm with Elani slated to get on stage at 7pm, and I had figured 4pm would be a good time to get there. I arrived at 6pm and the crowd was surprisingly small. There looked to be about 150 people there. The set up was good with a bar and food area and two huge interactive screens on either side of the stage. The VIP area was housed under a tent and had seats. The rest of us were standing under the open sky. (Thankfully the weather was favourable.)

The party kicked off with a set from DJ Crème de la Crème who played several popular hits of the year that got the crowd revved up. He then introduced Bahati, who’s had an amazing year even winning Best Gospel Artiste at the 2014 AFFRIMAs, who lit up the stage with his amazing vocals and along with his dancers, well-choreographed dance moves. The next opening act was the lovable trio, H_art the Band, who serenaded the crowd (some ladies were screaming so hysterically I thought I’d go deaf) with their smooth sound and catchy lyrics. By the time they ended their set with their hit ‘Uliza Kiatu’ I was half deaf from the screaming girls around me.

The MC, popular KISS 100 presenter, Adelle Onyango, introduced Elani and they staged quite the entrance. Silhouettes and an army themed wardrobe flanked by dancers and a live band all in army inspired wardrobe. The crowd went wild as the trio belted out hit after hit. Elani then left the stage for their first wardrobe change. The band rocked it and was joined by a dance group who performed to an instrumental cover of Sam Smith’s ‘I’m Not the Only One’. After this interlude, Elani got back on stage in white and rocked the crowd with more of their hits including my favourite ‘Hapo Zamani’. Elani had two more wardrobe changes: sexy black outfits and sultry red outfits. Other highlights of the concert included: a surprise performance with Peetson of the ‘Lingala Ya Yesu’ fame and singing (that sounded like a younger Wambui) by a little girl called Brianna who is Elani’s mentee.

What impressed me and those who attended the concert (in the end we must have been at least 2000 people there) was the thought that clearly went into everything. A lot of concerts, even from big international acts that have graced Kenya’s stages, rely heavily on playback and there’s hardly much else happening on stage. It was great to see the wardrobe changes (Silvia Njoki did a great job), the choreography, the interactive screen displays and the amazing live band. This concert was worth every shilling and with this to go by Elani, and indeed the Kenyan music industry, has a bright future ahead.