Lagos will go agog from Friday, Dec. 17 to Saturday, Dec. 18 when it hosts a music concert tagged, “Thrillerbandz@Theatre” billed for the National Theatre, Lagos.
The organisers, Evergreen Music Company, say that “not less than 50 live bands are expected to showcase their musical appeal to thrill, pleasure and dazzle the audience and African music aficionados in a relaxed environment with unique ambience, colourful lightings, savoury culinary delights and drinks.”
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Nov. 18 at the National Theatre, Lagos, Managing Director of Evergreen, Bimbo Esho, said, “As a major stakeholder in the development of Nigerian culture and a statutory custodian, we are duty-bound to inspire the expansion and improvements of this tradition that holds a lot of promise to further grow our burgeoning music and entertainment industry as well as the economy.”
Scenes from the conference
“The primary objective of the programme is to showcase an important aspect of our musical heritage for development into a viable cultural product. It is to ginger our local musicians, who perform gigs at the several entertainment rendezvous that dot the national landscape to up their ante,” Esho said.
“The initiative is to boost the composition of meaningful lyrics and lively songs, quality dance styles, stage appeal as well as excellent performances to delight music patrons even beyond the shores of Nigeria.”
At the event, young music artists will engage in a competition, “where outstanding performers shall win laurels, fantastic cash prizes and musical instruments, many talents shall also be exposed to the media and record labels.”
On its part, the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has pledged its support towards the Music concert.
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Solomon Bonu said the objective of the Live Band Challenge, which is to showcase an important aspect of our musical heritage for development into a viable cultural product, aligns with the mandate of the Ministry.
The Special Adviser said that the State saw the need to support the event as an avenue to engage the youth productively, especially during the period of festivities.
Bonu said that Lagos State Government will always identify with initiatives that have a positive impact on youths, expressing pleasure to stand with the initiator of the project.
“We will always support things that are beneficial to the youths and help them grow as we have seen many positives in this programme,” the Special Adviser stated.
Also speaking at the Press Conference, the General Manager of the National Theatre, Prof. Sunday Ododo, disclosed that evergreen musical icons like Chief Ebenezer Obey, Sir Shina Peters, Mike Okri, Yinka Davies, Stella Monye, Kola Ogunkoya and Dayo Kujore will grace the event.
He said the veteran musicians will be on hand to mentor and give guidance on live band performances and entertainment to the upcoming artists.
