Smooth music all the way

It was about an hour to the commencement of the Smooth 98.1 FM ‘Love Music Love Life' concert but the New Expo Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, the venue which has been partitioned into two, was already abuzz. Fun seekers who had come to unwind after a week's work were standing in pairs and groups, talking and sipping complimentary drinks.


Jingles about the concert which had run on the radio station before the night continued in the background while people continued conversing. A voice later requested people to move into the cordoned off section of the hall, nearly an hour after the scheduled commencement time of 8pm.
Though it started late, it turned out to be an enjoyable evening of quality Jazz and Soul music from some of the world's best. While there were pockets of empty seats inside the hall initially, they disappeared as the evening wore on. The main anchor and head of Smooth FM, Kirk Anthony, had to appeal to people at a point to give out seats they had reserved for their friends to those standing at the back and in the aisles.
Curious opening
Songwriter and vocalist, Tiwa Savage, opened the show. Curiously, she did by singing the two stanzas of the National Anthem. "It's a pleasure to be here at the Love Music Love Life concert," she said before doing ‘Middle Passage' she wrote in New York some years ago to encourage Nigerian men in the city. ‘Collard Green & Cornbread', a song she wrote for Fantasia, came next before the graduate of Berkeley College of Music did Alicia Keys' ‘If I Ain't Got You'. Savage, who sang without a band but with digital instruments, showed the audience why she is the toast of Mary J Blige, Chaka Khan, Kelly Clarkson, Blu Cantrell, Andreas Bocelli and others whom she has sung backing vocals for with her impressive voice. "I love your vocals, babe," a man shouted as Savage exited the stage.
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