9ice came to Maryland to perform on Friday night. I’m not clear on who the promoters of the event were, but I feel as though they owe me some change. The ad\/flyer said the thing would start at 9pm @ this nice banquet hall (where Busola got married last year) called Potter’s Place. I went with Funmi, and Potter’s Place is not close to either one of us, especially me. I picked Funmi up, and we got there at about 9:30 thinking we wouldn’t find parking. Potter’s Place is a really nice hall, but the parking can make a person homicidal. But to our shock, the parking lot was almost empty. We got a terrific parking spot! Sure, I loved the parking I got, but why was it so easy? I was starting to think they had pulled a P-Square on us (abi was it Styl-Plus?). There was a time that either P-Square or Styl-Plus was supposed to perform but didn’t show due to the lack of a visa or some story like that.<\/p>\n
So in we went (or attempted to go). There were security guards @ the door that told us the rules of the game. No chewing gum<\/strong> (In your mouth or in your purse, so Funmi had to spit her gum out, which I didn’t mind anyway cos she’s always chewing gum. Soooo annoying!!<\/em>). No cigarette lighters<\/strong> (Okay, I didn’t mind. I’m not a smoker; I didn’t have a lighter on me anyway<\/em>). No cameras<\/strong> (Say what??!! No cameras ke? After paying my $35 ticket to see 9ice performing, you’re telling me no cameras?????? U gotta be kiddin me!<\/em>). So the female security guard, very nice lady apologized and said she didn’t make the rules; she was only adhering to what she was told. Right in front of us, she asked the people inside, and yes, they really did not want any cameras inside. Very well then. So Funmi and I walked back to the car, took some shots of ourselves, left the camera in the trunk and came back. Our bags were searched, our bodies were legally fondled in the name of being patted down, and then we entered. There were like what…. 20 people in there???<\/p>\n Funmi asked the ticket lady why we couldn’t bring in our cameras. She said it was “because of the way Nigerians act.”<\/em> Whatever the heck that meant. They shoulda thought about that b4 organizing an event for Nigerians….yes? But she told us not to worry because there was a photographer inside who was taking pictures. Well, whoop-tee-doo! She said it as if the photographer was going to be @ my beck & call. Nonsense. Was he going to be taking pix of me & my friend? I think not! The DJ was doing something. He called it spinning tunes. I called it driving-Vera-up-the-wall<\/em><\/strong>. He played the good songs for like a minute, and the nonsense songs were there 4ever!! He wasn’t totally bad though. At some point he was good – right before he went back to being bad. Little by little, people began to trickle into the hall.<\/p>\n Ramsey Noah was there again (NOTE to Naapali<\/span><\/a>:<\/u> Ramsey Noah is one of Naija’s biggest Nollywood actors. Go thru the album of this event & you’ll see his picture there)<\/strong><\/em>. He was in the “VIP” section. I saw some gal taking pictures with him. That was when I decided to go outside and sneak my camera in. Alas, I somehow went past security without being searched…and voila, camera came in! And about that “VIP” section, it was a JOKE! Do you know what separated us from VIP? Tables. That’s right. Long tables were used as barricades from wall to wall….as if we couldn’t go beneath or above the tables. *hisses* By the way, it cost $130 to get into VIP. lol. I laugh in Russian. They kid me. Unlike us (the regular, coach class folks), the “VIP” section had tables and wine. Anyway, Ramsey waited, sotey the boy’s yellow face began to turn pink. Okay, I lie. It was dark in there; I couldn’t tell if his face was pink, but I suspect it was. He later left. The star just couldn’t wait for the other star (9ice). By the way, people that knew people in the VIP section just kept getting into the VIP. Before we knew what was going on, the VIP section became as crowded as Ajegunle market.<\/p>\n Do you know what time they finally started? 12:45 AM!!! Yes, almost four hours later, they started. Some groups performed before 9ice. Can’t remember the first group’s name. The second group was Apexx, and then there was some guy Gucci Wally Wa (hope I have not mispelt this name). Apparently, he only wears gucci. Walahi, that’s what he said. Anyways…the ladies seemed to love him. I just wanted 2 see 9ice. Gucci or Prada Wally Wally wasn’t on my agenda. My anger wasn’t that they were performing. My anger was that I had been there since 9:30 PM. As if the designers artist wasn’t bad enough, a man with a talking drum began to play, and we were supposed to interprete what he was saying. What kinda nonsense is that?! Some gal – God bless her ignorant heart – took the mic and actually said, “Common people, I know you all understand Yoruba.” If looks could kill…. or @ least make people lose a few teeth and maybe swallow their tongue…. well, you know where I’m going with this. Some people there were not even Nigerians. Someone needz 2 tell home girl that Yoruba is not<\/em><\/strong> a universal African language.<\/p>\n 9ice finally came out. My people, I dunno how it happened, but somehow the VIP section ceased to exist. We (the coach class folks) took over! We raided the place. One minute, I was behind the barricade; the next minute, I was in front, almost on stage. lol. Everyone raced to the front. Camera flashes were going off everywhere…so much for not having cameras in there. 9ice’s performance was nothing less than I expected. He was very lively. In fact, he exceeded my expectations, and I went in having very high expectations. Girls were pushing each other left, right, and center to be on stage with 9ice. I wasn’t on stage with 9ice. I just wanted to go close enough to take a good pic. But what surprised me was that guys sef were fighting to be on stage. Nawa ooo! lol. Wetin we go call this one now? Could this be love? lol.<\/p>\n I went to the other side of the stage to take a picture with fellow blogger Toni Payne<\/span><\/strong><\/a> (who also happens to be 9ice’s beaurriful wifey). Ramsey Noah came back when 9ice started performing and I took a pic with him again ….although I really wished it was Barack Obama (or at least Chidi Mokeme) standing in his place. The event was over @ about 3:30 AM, I think. I wish I could blog about how I sold my dignity for Funmi’s sake, but I realize this blog has more readers than the comments may reflect. So I refuse to implicate myself!!<\/p>\n Whew! That was a long post sha. Sorry. I guess I shoulda given you a long-post alert @ the beginning. I really don’t like giving you long posts, so please bear with me. I’ll compensate by showing you some pictures from the event. Click HERE<\/span><\/strong><\/a> to view them. I also put descriptions on all the pics to help you understand what was going on. By the way, please read my new write-up The First Impression<\/span><\/strong><\/a>. Thanx!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"