Last Sunday, September 29, as Myke Rabar, the CEO of Homeboyz Entertainment, was enjoying brunch with his family in Nairobi, he received an unusual phone call around 4pm.
The emergency call came from Laureate Gardens in Kasarani, from an unknown caller desperate for his help.
"I'm coming to help in any way I can," the former DJ turned entertainment and event organiser replied after exchanging pleasantries with the caller.
Back at Laureate Gardens, despite the successes of the previous day, everything that could go wrong went wrong on this day.
Aiming to surpass last year's Walker Town Festival, which cost about $500,000 (Sh77 million at the time) and attracted 11,000 people, this year's event planners went all out.
The planners, including headline sponsor Diageo through its premium Johnnie Walker brand, wanted to curate a two-day event that would be the talk of the town. That almost happened last weekend.
They whetted the appetite with legendary American singer Lauryn Hill, who does not come cheap. Then there was Nigerian rapper and crowd-puller Rema.
Nigerian artiste Rema on stage at Walker Town Festival.
Photo credit: Courtesy
Lauryn Hill flew in with a 26-member band made up of her sound engineers, band members and personal assistants, Nation Lifestyle understands, in a performance deal that was struck directly with Diageo head office and not with YDX, the agency that has organised the Walker Town Festivals in the past. The list of other artists included Kenya's Nyashinski and Bien-Aime and British rapper ArrDee.
Ticket prices for this year's edition were also higher than previous editions. For the 2023 edition, there were two tiers of tickets – VIP Sh8,500 and normal Sh2,000. Last weekend, tickets ranged from Sh5,000 to Sh30,000 depending on the tier.
The pricier ticket prices did not deter revellers from turning out in large numbers – with high sales from Uganda noted – especially on the first day (Saturday) when Rema performed. An estimated 15,000 people attended on the first day.
Rema is said to have flown on a private jet. When his team failed to reach an agreement with the organisers over payment of the private jet to Kenya, the musician, who is behind the hit song “Calm Down,” paid out of his pocket.
Music mogul and Nigerian record producer Don Jazzy also chartered a private jet to come in support of Rema, who is signed to Mavin Records. Don Jazzy founded Mavin Records sold majority shareholding to some jungu. He remains CEO and minority shareholder.
Rema’s private jet sparked rumours that the organisers had paid for it in addition to a hefty performance fee of about $300,000 (about Sh40 million).
“This is not true. Rema was contracted by Diageo from Nigeria, where they have an existing partnership. How much he was paid was nowhere near the amount being alleged. As for the private jet, it wasn't part of the client's budget, it was an investment on Rema’s part,” a source close to the event planners told Nation Lifestyle .
If Rema’s grand entry into Kenya was not much of a fuss, his performance on stage was. He did not disappoint.
At exactly 2.35am, Rema emerged on stage from a black anthill mound structure (assembled in Baba Dogo, Nairobi), an idea crafted by his team – to deliver a Rihanna’s Super bowl-esque performance that lasted an hour and 10 minutes.
“That was quite a performance from him. I have been to several of his concerts, and I can tell you Rema puts on quite a show,” hype man MC Gogo said.
Rema stole the show with his electrifying performance, complemented by stage aesthetics, props, graphics and various sets of dancers.
Trouble started as soon as the dew dried up on Sunday. About 8,000 people were expected to attend, but the numbers fell short when it rained. Lauryn Hill and Nyashinski were scheduled to perform from 9pm to 1am.
The heavy evening downpour caused a major disruption to the schedule, sending event planners into panic mode.
“Lauryn Hill’s artiste rider is quite a heavy one to the extent that she requires some types of equipment that are not available in Kenya,” the source revealed.
An artist rider (addendum) is a document that outlines the requirements for an artiste's performance, including technical (stage equipment), hospitality, and security needs. It is usually sent to event organisers.
“There is a piece of equipment called a Quantum Digital Mixing Console (DMC) in her rider. Because she flew in with a big band of 26, she needed three DMCs for her large stage set. And because this particular console isn't available in Kenya, it was hired from Dubai,” the source added.
An online search shows that the Quantum DMC costs between $100,000 and $240,000 (Sh13 million - Sh31 million) depending on the series.
Compared to the locally available traditional consoles, the DMC is highly sophisticated, offering a wider range of sound engineering solutions, not just the ability to connect to a variety of external devices.
Artiste Lauryn Hill (right) and her son Zion Marley at Walker Town Festival.
Photo credit: Courtesy
For live performances, the DMC takes the live audio received from microphones or other auxiliary equipment, filters out noise and hisses, and converts it to a digital signal, resulting in a more polished sound and a cleaner live mix.
"With the rains, the consoles absorbed so much moisture and automatically shut down. The owners in Dubai immediately called the planners and requested the consoles shouldn’t be restarted as they would risk crashing. They needed them to be flown back for maintenance. It's at this point that the event planners were thrown into panic and confusion as they tried to figure out what to do,” the source said.
According to the informant, who kept referring to Lauryn Hill as ‘the Principal,’ her team of sound engineers arrived at Laureate Gardens early on Sunday morning to set up, an exercise that took hours, based on how big the band is and the complexity of the equipment.
“So the band comes first, does the sound check, and then calls the ‘Principal’ so she doesn’t have to idle at the venue.”
“At 2pm the ‘Principal’ left her hotel for Kasarani to scan the stage. As soon as she arrived, it started raining, and all hell broke loose. Part of the dome where the consoles were sheltered tore and the rain pondered on the equipment," the source says.
Once the DMC shut, Lauryn Hill's team began packing up, indicating there would be no performance. Lauryn Hill was relaxed in her tent, unaware of what was happening, as she waited for the skies to clear.
At this point, the planners began frantically making phone calls to various sound management agencies for backup equipment.
“The only event organiser with a console that came close to the one Lauryn Hill's team had was Mo Sound. But Mo Sound’s console had been rejected for not being good enough for Lauryn Hill's live production,” the source said.
The event management company was asked to help anyway. By the time the Mo Sound equipment got to Kasarani, it was 7pm.
But it is the phone call to Homeboyz Entertainment CEO, Mr Rabar, and a surprise call from Lauryn Hill that saved the day, according to the source.
“Rabar saved the day. He came with his sound engineers. I don't know how they did it, but they hooked up eight different locally available consoles to get some sound. At this point, the planners were not even sure if Lauryn Hill would agree to use the makeshift sound. But when she was notified her team had packed up, she requested that they get out of their comfort zone and do the best they could with what was available, because she was going to put on a show. Given her standards, that surprised everyone,” the source says.
Meanwhile, Nyashinski was growing restless as time went on.
“At midnight, Nyashinski asked the client to allow him to leave. He had been patient enough. He had originally been asked to stay until 10pm while the planners tried to sort out the mess, which he did. There was a crisis meeting at the venue between him and the sponsors. I don’t know what was discussed, but he eventually left. Lauryn Hill's team also tried to persuade him to stay on,” the source said.
According to his manager, Fakii Liwali, “time management was the problem. By the time everything was ready for the performance, there wasn't enough room for both artistes," Mr Liwali told Nation Lifestyle .
"I know the sound is not great, but we are here to have a good time," she told the already fatigued crowd from time to time during her performance.
Nation Lifestyle reached out to Jean Oketch, East African Breweries (EABL) Head of Marketing, Spirits East Africa, for a comment.
“In regards to the Walker Town event, we did put out a statement stating our position , but I will patch you to our Head of Communication in case you have more questions,” she said.
