Event Review: Blankets and Wine with Aloe Blacc
Aloe Blacc was in Nairobi for this year’s inaugural Blankets and Wine. This edition of Blankets and Wine was officially known as #theAloeBlaccShow and promised an amazing musical lineup. The show may have been termed #theAloeBlaccShow but that did not mean that he was the only highlight of the show.
His fellow artists showed up and rocked the crowd just as hard. On the line up alongside Aloe Blacc were the ever innovative Just A Band, the soulful Mayonde and Blankets and Wine founder; drummer and musician Muthoni DQ.
This is Aloe Blacc’s first time in Nairobi and Africa and he was excited to give fans a great musical experience, and boy did he NOT disappoint.
Aloe was on at the end of the day obviously, seeing as how he was the showrunner.
To warm up the crowd the show started off with an artist’s talk, which involved Muthoni DQ, Just A Band (minus Mbithi who could not be around due to scheduling reasons), and Mayonde.
The artists sat down and talked amongst themselves with Muthoni DQ mediating the topics and asking questions which were pertinent to each artist’s journey and music.
Just A Band talked about why they are going on break, and explained to the fans that they have been making music together for about ten years and are very grateful for the fact that they got a chance to make the kind of music they made. They are at a point in their artistic journeys’ where they each want to pursue different things and so for the sake of the band they’re giving each other space to do so.
Muthoni DQ talked of why Blankets and Wine went on a break, she explained that the pressure and the repetitiveness of putting together a show monthly was immense. And that in organising Blankets and Wine shows, it took time away from her being an artist and she needed to get back to that. Music is after all the reason that she began all of this.
Mayonde talked of the mounting pressure that one faces as a new artist, about finding your voice and identity and being true to who you are artistically but at the same time giving yourself time and space to grow.
First on the stage after the artist talk was Mayonde, who brought a unique energy to the stage. She performed a few tracks off her debut album Magic In The Air and debuted a few new tracks that we have never heard of before- with an amazing track about Nairobi being the highlight of the set.
Next on stage were Just A Band, who were performing for the last time together for a while. The band gave their fans a fantastic show even though they didn’t perform their most recent hit Winning In Life. As amazing as their performance was, it lacked in energy and conviction a little bit. Not their worst but not their best show either: maybe they were sad about not being together anymore.
The last of the Kenyan performers on stage was Muthoni DQ, who brought the house down. Incorporating her signature traditional drums and a chorus on stage, Muthoni DQ’s energy was unmatched. She performed her signature hits and brought on surprise performers Khaligraph and Kagwe Mungai on stage.
Aloe Blacc went on stage after much waiting and anticipation from the crowd, many were worried that he would not be able to match up the energy of show previous performers had raised, but boy were they wrong. He brought energy to the stage and then some. Performing new and old songs Aloe Blacc did not leave the crowd disappointed. The highlight of the night of course was when he performed his hit The Man, Aloe had the whole of Ngong Racecourse Waterfront singing loud to his songs lyrics.
The performances were great, the food stands were fantastic with a wide array of different types of food available at fairly affordable prices. A great highlight of the festival was the ‘Silent Disco’ which was run by the team from East African Wave. They played great music throughout the night and gave festival goers an alternative to the music onstage.
All in all I’m glad Blankets and Wine is back, Muthoni DQ promised us four shows per year and I cannot wait for the next one.
