Day Lagbaja stormed Ile-Ife
By FOLAJIMI PELUMI
Friday, April 18, 2008
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Lagbaja
Pix: Sun News Publishing |
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At the just concluded Ife International Festival of Arts
organized by the Obafemi Awolowo University April (8-12) the
theme: Masks, Masquerades, Morionettes drew the ire of some
youths who, out of ignorance accused the organizers of bringing
masqueraders and demons to Ife.
Some of them even prayed seriously against the success of
the festival. But the organizers of the festival among whom
was Prof. Wole Soyinka were very wise, as they invited Lagbaja;
a paradigm of African masks and custodian of African culture,
to the programme and to the surprise of all, the same youths
rushed to the Amphi-theatre to watch Lagbaja and to dance
to his music thus taking part in the masquerade show.
When Prof. Biodun Adeniran invited Lagbaja to the stage at
about 3:15p.m on Tuesday, April 8, his back-up artistes sang:
“ He comes, the beloved one comes.” Then there
was an anxiety as the audience wanted to see Lagbaja perform
but had no idea of where he would come from.
Suddenly, Lagbaja stormed the hall from the back, (the entrance
of the hall) and not from the back-stage as the audience expected.
He played his popular tunes with his saxophone. The audience
was excited to see him appear on stage. The ones at the back
seats urged him on and the crowd accompanied him till he got
to the stage. He played the saxophone so well to the admiration
of all.
Then he acknowledged God, the students sang the “ Great
Ife” anthem and he began to sing his popular songs.
The audience too sang along with him and everyone became overjoyed.
Even the religious students there danced well. Lagbaja gave
ample opportunities to the audience’s members to come
to the stage and dance and some of them performed with him
on the stage. At some points, he left the stage and went to
sing among the audience.
As a credit to the musician, it was obvious that one of the
things that made him unique was his use of masques that shields
his identity. He disguised himself with the masque and urged
his music to preach and elevate African culture.
His performance was an indubitable success. He carried his
audience along, he made them to respond and participate in
the music.
The audience went on to clap and sing his praise. Lagbaja
acknowledged the organizers of the festival and he sang is
last song “ Abami” in honour of the legendary
Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Then, he shouted Epademi nisale his popular
track that the audience loved. The audience responded warmly
thinking that he would sing the track. However, it was at
that moment that he left the stage-the moment when the interest
of the audience was at the climax.
After the performance, the fans went to the stage to greet
his back-up artistes and the instrumentalists. Leaving the
hall, many students who did not witness his performance lamented
that they have missed a lot. Considering Lagbaja’s bata
dances and the African glory that trailed his performance,
it was obvious that “ with Lagbaja, African culture
will never die.”
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