Poor turnout for African Throne Tour
Cassper Nyovest and Nasty C are two of the biggest Hip-Hop musicians in Africa, of that there is no debate!
With this in mind, assumptions were the pair would pull in a bumper crowd when their African Throne Tour stopped off in Botswana on Friday night.
Record numbers were expected to spill onto the Game City Rooftop Parkade for a rare chance to hear the legendary duo spit their sick rhymes live.
While the music lived up to the hype, for one reason or another the people stayed away.
Looking forward to a night to remember, The Voice team arrived with the clock ticking towards 7pm.
With the event stipulated to start three hours earlier, we expected to find the Parkade heaving; however, this was far from the case. You could count the number of revellers on one hand (well, not quite but you get the point!).
The lack of an audience did allow Voice Entertainment to fully explore and appreciate the set-up. Top marks to the organizers for this one as it was clear they had invested heavily in the décor. The technical aspect, namely the lights, stage and sound, were all on point as well.
As the evening wore on and the numbers gradually increased, the likes of Casper the DJ, Veezo View and Ban T took to the stage, expertly building-up the excitement and setting the mood ahead of the headliners.
Finally, as Friday night became Saturday morning, Nasty C grabbed the mic, sending the small crowd into a frenzy, the decibels increasing half-an-hour later as Cassper Nyovest took over.
Having performed in Maputo, Mozambique the night before, the Hip Hip giants showed no sign of fatigue, thrilling with red-hot performances.
The hotter it got, the crazier the crowd became, which must have pleased someone, who instructed the bouncers to invite a few lucky revellers into the golden circle and VIP sections.
While it created the chance to make special memories for some, sadly it also opened up opportunities for sticky-fingers to get to work.
Lost in the music, Your Truly paid dearly for letting my guard down, and before I knew it my phone was gone, stolen from right out my purse!
It seems I was not the only one.
On our return to the venue the next day, we received intel from an on-duty guard that dozens of people had reported lost phones and purses seemingly swiped away the previous night.
It was a truly devastating end to what had been a fun, if slightly anti-climatic night out.
This event should have gone down as one of the biggest nights in BW’s Hip Hop history; sadly there was only a few hundred who turned up to bear to witness!
Comments left on The Voice’s Facebook page suggest there were a number of reasons for this.
Feedback included, “The event should have been scheduled for 2 September,” and “P300 is too expensive for a general ticket!” as well as “People did not know about the event, perhaps it wasn’t marketed well.”
Whatever the case may be, the African Throne Tour: Botswana edition failed to hit the heights and will ultimately go down as one of Game City rooftop’s biggest disappointments.
Hopefully, organizers have taken notes and will do better next time.
