We used to like and adore Alpha Blondy. Used to until he gate-crashed into our 18th anniversary celebrations during this May edition of Africa Night in Tilburg. Why would Africa’s most famous reggae son plan the Tilburg leg of his concert in 013 on the same evening as Africa Night was celebrating her 18th birthday? We used to like Alpha Blondy, now we are not so sure! If Alpha Blondy was in town, you knew it was going to be a David and Goliath battle. That was exactly how it turned out. But in the end both David and Goliath went home with their heads held high!
People came late which is unusual for whenever Africa Night celebrates her birthday! (Okay, Africa Night people are always late but in May, they usually come a bit earlier so as not to miss the free CDs!) We knew this time might be different once we heard Mr. Blondy was in town and that there was also going to be an reggae after-party there. You win some you lose some. However, despite the rain and the concert people still came later though. What sets the Africa Night people apart is that they love to party. Whether there are 20 people or 200 people in the hall, people will make the best out of it. And once they start to party they hardly look back.
For the first time ever, we made exactly enough CDs to go round so nobody lost out and we did not have any angry faces during this show. At 18, it means Africa Night is old enough to drive, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, old enough to move out of the house and explore. In the coming months we are going to do a lot of exploration and see how to tweak Africa Night to stay relevant. We are proud that we have held on, in spite of all odds to have witnessed the 18th anniversary. After all, we Africans are very good in setting up things but do a poor job when it comes to keeping it going. Which is why we look back with a satisfactory smile when we realise that Africa Night is now the longest running Africa-themed monthly party in Europe.
And we had an unexpected champagne celebration from 2 of our guests too! Which goes to show that we are blessed with the best guests ever (Yeah we know we have said this a million times before. As long as it is true, we will continue to repeat it!) We are because you are. As we begin the latest round of our journey, we say thank you to every person who has ever stepped foot to an Africa Night party we have ever organised. Like we said to someone during this May edition, every one of you is part of the Africa Night DNA. Together we have built a monument that others are always copying. It is the result of your trust in us through the highs and the lows.
Music is that which binds us and unsurprisingly is it the issue which always provide the most reactions from our guests. We ask you to take a pause and put yourselves into the shoes of our DJs who have to select and play music every month. They have to play music to satisfy between 150 and 250 people every month for 5 hours. That is 150 to 250 people with very different understanding and tastes of music. Like P-Square would say, “E no easy eh!” We thank all the DJs who have ever played at Africa Night. We thank all the hall owners who have given us a chance to hold Africa Night at their venues. We thank the reception crew; the ladies at the door and the security personnel. We thank those we remember and those we forget. We thank you all for a memorable journey so far. We have enough energy, vision, strength and ideas to go on for a few more years. Let’s party together!
Oh btw, we still love Alpha Blondy too. We were just joking. Actually because of him we got even some new people to visit Africa Night too. 😉
