Excitement At Aboakyer Mega Jam
When five of Ghana's hot music performers, backed by 15 bandsmen of the Megastar Band mounted a 20-by-10-feet stage and blasted good rhythms and captivating lyrics through huge loudspeakers, there could be nothing but p-l-e-n-t-y of excitement at this year's Winneba Aboakyer Festival.
Ghana's leading cellular phone service provider, Areeba, organised the massive concert last Friday that attracted the youth of Winneba to the town's main lorry park.
The show was so electrifying that nursing mothers with their babies tied on their backs, and pregnant women with their bulging bellies, who probably might have come to see the stars on stage, could not help but hit the dance floor and shake themselves down to the beats and sounds.
When they mounted the stage at separate times, Ghana Music Awards (GMA) Gospel Artiste of the Year, Kwaku Gyasi and Batman Samini, GMA Overall Best Artiste of the Year, literally hypnotised the thick crowd as they joyfully obeyed the artistes' “command” to jump, shout, wave their handkerchiefs and dance.
And when Andy of “TV3 Mentor” fame hit the stage with his latest song, Bra Ma Yen Nka Wom, the crowd pumped up the excitement and screamed to every move the young singer made.
The show got c-r-a-z-y when hilarious hiplife singer, Kow Kese aka Abodam (craziness) flew onto the stage holding up his dropping “Otto Pfister” baggy shorts amidst shouts of “abodam, abodam, abodam”, from the artiste, to which the crowd responded with the same words.
Praye, the hiplife trio proved to the crowd why they won the Hiplife Album of the Year. They rocked the crowd hard and smooth with their rousing stagecraft.
The show dubbed, “Areeba Aboakyir Storm” was so hot that there was not enough time for the MC for the event, Koofori to talk much but anytime he did, the crowd was down with laughter ignited by his “drunken talk”.
The youth of Winneba did not only enjoy free entertainment from Areeba, they also got T-shirts, clocks and other souvenirs from the cellular phone operator.
The Events and Sponsorships Manager of Areeba, Mr Thomas Sowah told Graphic Showbiz in an interview that the Aboakyir concert was in line with the company's policy to sponsor events that were relevant to the lives of the people.
“Our experience from the Kwahu Easter festivities indicates that festivals are very important to the people and we will continue to support them,” he said.
The Chief of Winneba, Nenyi Ghartey VII, kicked-off a special Areeba sponsored football match involving eight teams drawn from the Effutu area. This was preceded by a massive float through the streets of Winneba and surrounding towns.
Other activities marking the festival included a regatta and a tug-of-war, a parade of Asafo gods, boxing, street jamborees, a state dance and a grand durbar of the chiefs and people of Effutu.
Story by William A. Asiedu