Sunday, February 21, 2010

Taking The Wife Friday Night

"In this day and age, feminine energy is so understated,' Ms. McClendon said as she got into her makeup for a show. 'They were women who had the courage to define themselves as individuals in a society that was so corrupt and did not allow them to be the individuals that they were." Afi McClendon
Omo Naija said ...
I heard great things about it. Please enjoy and report back to the crew on your experience.

Fela was into free love! In the local parlance any girl viewed as flirtatious or overly confident was termed "Omo Fela" (Fela's woman). This was not a term of endearment. He "married" the girls to legitimize their position in society.

Later in life it all turned into a huge orgy, devoid of the initial Pan African verve that fueled his music. Fela died of Aids.

That said, having had the opportunity to witness 2 of Felas concerts while in college in Nigeria. I can say without hesitation that its a pure cultural experience. Fela's band kicked off the night around 10pm jamming and the girls dancing and gyrating to the music; the air was filled with the smell of local "herbs". All the potheads were out in full force. Fela finally showed up at 2am and jammed non stopped till 5.30am. Oh what a night!

Juxtaposed with my first concert in the US - Erika Bady, it kicked off at 8.30pm and was done by 10pm/10.30pm. I could not believe it could be that short! Kept asking....is this all :-)

4 comments:

Constructive Feedback said...

It appears that brother-man was "macking" with all of those wives that he had.

http://functionalculture.blogspot.com/2009/12/broadway-play-27-wives-of-fela.html

Omo Naija said...

I heard great things about it. Please enjoy and report back to the crew on your experience.

Fela was into free love! In the local parlance any girl viewed as flirtatious or overly confident was termed "Omo Fela" (Fela's woman). This was not a term of endearment. He "married" the girls to legitimize their position in society.

Later in life it all turned into a huge orgy, devoid of the initial Pan African verve that fueled his music. Fela died of Aids.

That said, having had the opportunity to witness 2 of Felas concerts while in college in Nigeria. I can say without hesitation that its a pure cultural experience. Fela's band kicked off the night around 10pm jamming and the girls dancing and gyrating to the music; the air was filled with the smell of local "herbs". All the potheads were out in full force. Fela finally showed up at 2am and jammed non stopped till 5.30am. Oh what a night!

Juxtaposed with my first concert in the US - Erika Bady, it kicked off at 8.30pm and was done by 10pm/10.30pm. I could not believe it could be that short! Kept asking....is this all :-)

DMG said...

Looks like it's going to be a fantastic show. Looking forward to your update.

chosen said...

the clip of the show looks nothing less than exhilarating. what's your two cents? i hope you and your wife enjoyed yourselves.