On Sunday, October 9, Olamide and his YBNL camp stormed London for a concert that would see them shut down the iconic Hammersmith Apollo.
The event however, didn’t go as smoothly as the concertgoers and organisers would have hoped, with Olamide having to cut short his closing performance due to crowd trouble in and outside of the venue.
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Hammersmith Apollo, which houses just a little over 5,000 concertgoers, was sold out and there are reports that security had to close the doors due to overcrowding, refusing several disgruntled and apprehensive fans entry.
The same venue was filled to capacity when Burna Boy performed there barely a week ago, and the development comes as little surprise, given Olamide and his crew’s status.
Just when Baddo graced the stage – a second time – for his closing performance after YBNL acts, Adekunle Gold and Temmie Ovwasa, as well as affiliates Lil Kesh and Viktoh had performed, he reportedly had to cut short his performance, as the crowd control got increasingly difficult.
He couldn’t perform a bevy of his hit songs as a result, much to the disappointment of a lot of attendees.
Lol if I start my rant about the YBNL concert yeah..
— babygirl (@Adorn_Adika) October 10, 2016
Poor time keeping at the YBNL concert. Kesh shut it down but disappointing that it ran ovr and watched hrs of opening acts. Not enough Baddo
— Tekkerslovakia (@jibz3310) October 10, 2016
The YBNL Concert was a massive disappointment. Olamide didn’t even perform Bobo
— C. (@Claudia_Rae) October 9, 2016
I heard Olamide didn’t perform ‘Bobo’ at YBNL concert
— Ritz (@OkoriteOx) October 9, 2016
#YBNLCONCERT sooooo the concert just abruptly ended…no explanation. Na wah oh
— Miss P (@Sarnie_p) October 9, 2016
Worst concert in history!!!! @olamide_YBNL concert with no Bobo paid for a ticket for no reason, 10 sec performances frm each member
— Jagaban Loladé (@Lolly__Bee) October 9, 2016
That YBNL concert was trash
— . (@MoniqaOnline) October 9, 2016
In 1987, the Hammersmith Apollo refused to host any rap groups for several years due to trouble outside the venue before and after a performance by American rap group, Public Enemy.
Whether the events that played out during YBNL’s concert would attract a similar clampdown on Nigerian artistes remains to be seen.
Given Olamide’s god-like status on Nigeria’s music scene however, the need for bigger venues for his concerts need to be given proper consideration from now on.