A little over 24hours after their performance in Los Angeles, California, P-Square arrived in Oakland to perform for fans, continuing their first ever USA nationwide tour. On July 9th, 2010, the 2010 BET Award nominated duo appeared at Oakland’s historic Sweet Ballroom ready to thrill fans.
However, there was a slight hiccup prior to their performance. The event, organized by Eugene Entertainment, had differing times on when the show was to begin. For some guests, they had event flyers that said 7pm while others had flyers/ announcements with 8pm. Nevertheless, after 8pm, five local Bay Area talents kicked off the event for the evening as opening acts for P-Square. P-Square’s call time was for rouhgly 10pm. They hit the stage about an hour later.
While fans waited for their arrival, some helped themselves to drinks, suya and pepper soup while others got on the dance floor to groove to Nigerians artists such as D’Banj.
The time finally came for P-Square to hit the stage. Prior to their entrance, the MC for the night created excitement and heightened anticipation for the duo. “When I say P,” he screamed, “You say Square,” he explained, still screaming. “P!,” he screamed “Square!,” the crowd screamed back. The exchange continued for a few minutes as band members including Emeka (piano) and Clef (guitar) took to the stage. The excitement and anticipation was incredible!
Backstage, the duo of P-Square geared up, saying their prayers with band members the way basketball teams in the USA do prior to games. While backstage, they later began singing various choruses from some of their hit songs as they began making their way to the stage.
For the crowd, it was as if they doubted P-Square was truly there, in the flesh, until they sang, “all because of Ifunuaya.” When they did, the crowd erupted with giant screams, excitement and for some, laughter. At this point, the duo made their way onstage and truly showed why they are one of the best acts out of Nigeria and Africa.
“Say, Go P-Square go P-Square Go!,” screamed P-Square. The crowd screamed in unison complying with their requests. “To the Left to the right!,” they yelled energetically waving their hands to show the motion. The crowd obliged and continued to scream and yell. From then on, P-Square hit the ground running singing hits after hits: Temptation, Ifunuaya, Say Your Love, I Love U and so many more.
“They are present. They come fully ready to perform for their audience and give their fans all they got,” said Unwam Oduok, my big sister who accompanied me for the evening to the event. Indeed.
On the rather small stage, they performed dance moves, reminiscence of some of America’s highly celebrated artists, with a precision that was impeccable and incredible. “I love them a lot!,” exclaimed a twenty-five year old male Nigerian-American, Oakland based fan, to LadybrilleNigeria. “These guys are Nigerians living in their country but they come here and they perform moves like Usher and Justin Timberlake. I love everything about them!,” said the Oakland based fan.
Another fan, Megan, an American, missed them in Los Angeles but she drove over seven hours, dragging two of her other American friends with her to the show. “They make great songs. I lived in Ghana for six years and they used to play them a lot. I love them!”
Those two fans, needless to say, were not the only ones showing P-Square love. There was a lot of love from fans and what was interesting was the cross section of fans present: from roughly 18-40years in age.
Another observation was how all fans seemed to have their personal favorite “super” P-Square song. The fans in the room seem to create some sort of “wave” movement depending on the song.
For the song, ‘No One Be Like U’ it was a unanimous “super” crowd favorite. “Ladies, this is your song,” sang Paul Okoye (P-Square). He continued for a while and then finally really gave a clue when he asked the ladies to pull their phones out. “Hello how you doing?” He sang as he put his blackberry to his ear. The crowd went wild. Initially the Sweet Ballroom main floor was about 1 ½ full but when the duo sang ‘No One Be Like U,’ it was packed with fans dancing and singing the song from the beginning to the end.
P-Square slowed the excitement for a quick minute to give a shout out to fans from various parts of the continent and in Nigeria. The excitement gained momentum again when they asked for all the Igbos in the house to make some noise. The Igbos present made a whole “lotta” of noise. “Igbo kwenu!,” yelled P-Square. “Kwenu,” yelled the Igbos present , in response. The salutations continued for a minute before P-Square brought the house down with a classic Igbo song “Osondi Owendi.” Young Igbomites in the crowd got down with dance steps that showed that even though they were US based, they were still willing, capable and able to get down, old school style, the way their parents do/did at the traditional Igbo parties.
Throughout the night, P-Square continued to wow the fellas with “tight” dance routines, tease the ladies with their six pack abs of steel, good looks, talents and a “who wants to marry my brother” back and forth song tease.
P-Square Oakland Live USA Tour, they came, they saw, they conquered.
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NOTE: P-SQUARE will perform on the East Coast on July 17th and 24th, 2010
New York, July 24th, 2010. For tickets, contact: DJ RONNY – 347 268 9988 or DJ EL-G – 917 747 3213.
DC, July 17th, 2010. TICKETS ONLY AVAILABLE ONLINE! Visit www.psquareindc.com or www.psquareindc.eventbrite.com to buy your tickets.
~by Uduak Oduok
~Photocredit: Aproko.net
Founded in 2007, Ladybrille® Magazine is a California based pioneer digital publication demystifying the image of Africans in the west through contemporary African fashion and celebrating the brilliant woman in business and leadership, with an emphasis on the African woman in the diaspora. Our coverage includes stories on capital, access to markets, expertise, hiring and retention, sales, marketing, and promotions.
