For Valentine’s Day, X3M music serves 100% live gig

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, X3M Music is planning a special outdoor music festival tagged 100 % Live. Billed for February 18, 2018, at the Muri Okunola Park, Victoria Island, Lagos, the gig feature three of Nigeria’s best singers cum live music performers Simi, Adekunle Gold and Praiz.

From the choice of venue for the event, it’s obvious that the organisers are looking give guests something different from the usual in-door gig.

A music experience, which will definitely go down in history as one of the biggest outdoor music concerts of the year, the maiden edition will feature the best alternative and mainstream music in a carnival-like atmosphere.

In a chat with Praiz, one of the headliners of the gig, the If I Fall singer assured fans it’s going to be a night of unforgettable live music experience.

“Expect 100 per cent live music; strictly live music. I’m really excited about this. People, who know me, know that I love live music; it gives you the opportunity to express yourself in different forms; it gives you liberty,” he enthused.

As for the lineup, Praiz said, “it’s amazing; you have Adekunle Gold, Simi and my humble self. This is one of the best lineups ever; I’m really looking forward to connecting my fans at different level. For me, this is an opportunity to speak to them and educate them even more on my music.”

For the Kogi State native, the future of live music in Nigeria remains bright, adding, “It’s really exciting to see people deciding to do stuffs that a lot of us have been doing a long time. I mean, a lot of acts have been doing it lately; regardless of the kind of songs they sing. I’m so glad to see that the revolution is actually happening; it would only get better,” he said.

For Adekunle Gold, 100 % Live is another opportunity to serve his fans the best of his repertoire live.

“This one is normal for us; myself and my band, we are always in the studio rehearsing. This is not like every other shows because, we are going to have fun; we are going to give people a night of their lives. It’s going to be an amazing night,” he said.

For the talented singer, who has endeared himself to music fans in Nigeria for his originality, events in the industry show that Nigeria is ready for live music, urging his colleagues to step up.

“We are ready now because, every show now that people have gone, I’ve seen people complain of not getting live concerts. To be honest, it’s not fair that I have a song on my phone; I’ve listened to it. Now, you have a show and I’m listening to the song in the car before I got to your show and then you now come on stage to sing the same thing?

“People are beginning to ask for more; I think people are ready for live music. People are attending live music; people attended my show and it was at a time other artistes had concerts. I think we are ready for live shows,” he declared.

For Simi, the only female singer on the bill, fans should expect something entirely different from the usual.

“To be honest, anything you haven’t already seen in the public; it’s probably stuff I’m keeping it to myself. But if you are talking about performance, I mean every single thing you do, the more you do it, the better you get better at it. I think I’ve grown as a performer over the years because, starting out, I was more of a recording artiste. Now, I’m really excited to go on stage and play with my band and give people excitement of their lives,” he enthused.

Ahead of the gig, Simi and her band are currently having series of rehearsals all in an effort to give nothing less than the best.

“As usual, there’s rehearsals with the band; just preparing to feed off the energy of the people. I think the most important thing when you are doing live music is to make sure your band is in sync with you; that you cover all the loose ends, especially when you are rehearsing.”

For Simi, live concerts are always different.

“You can recreate something that is already existing. My band for example, when we are making a song, we can change the arrangement of the guitars or the drums; we can make something that is slow faster and something faster slower. You can do something entirely different; you don’t know what you are going to hear nex. You know the song, but you don’t know the form you are going to hear it. That’s why I prefer live because you can do anything you like with it, but it’s still the same material,” she said.

On the possibility of doing collaborations on the 100 % Live stage, the X3M Music artiste said, “Well, we are going to wait and see; there’s Adekunle Gold, Praiz and myself on stage that day. There’s going to be surprises obviously, but I’m not going to tell people what to expect; they should come and see it,” she said.