August 30, NPC Karen - Three top-notch international artists at the same venue on the same stage was always set to be bananas. And they didn’t disappoint – Marvin Winans Jr,. Damita Haddon and Sherwin Gardiner gave an extremely good account of themselves.
 Sherwin Gardiner
And after a botched first gig that never was (and that’s a story for another day), it was great to finally catch some world action. The venue was Nairobi Pentecostal Church-Karen, and even though it took the crowd a while to stream in and settle down, it was soon down to business.
Now there’s many things to complain about regarding the event. The fact that it began more than two hours late would be just the tip of the ice berg, especially when you consider the endless list of curtain-raisers who pushed the “official” start even further back. Some were fantastic and helped generate great energy, others ordinary, whilst others bordered on near amateur – a crying shame for such a high profile event.
Nonetheless, the three main acts were the epitome of professionalism. Marvin Winans Jr. was the first of them to grace the stage, crooning hits from his highly rated debut, Image of a Man. His “Niaje Wazeiya” greeting was genius and set up the crowd for a thrilling set. The Fred “Uncle Freddie” Jerkins-produced Believe is an up-tempo club banger and instantly got the crowd to its feet and chanting along the lyrics “Believe, God’ll do it”. After the sweet Ne-Yo-like Push Pull (It’s Alright) and the album title track Image Of A Man, Marvin moved to the keyboard for the tear-jerker Mistakes. He had the crowd eating out the palm of his hands by the time he got to his Darkchild-produced smash single You Never Let Me Down. By this time, the 400 bob entry paid had been used up three or four time over!
Enter Damita Haddon. She didn’t waste a moment. No Looking Back, her hit single and title track of her sophomore album was given a banging ragga remix, sparking absolute mayhem. Throw in the Caribbean-leaning Best Thing and Don’t Leave Me Lonely, and by the way the crowd sung along, you’d reckon Damita was a Kenyan artist. A local choir even joined her on the serene urban worship cut I Will Trust. The worship dial was turned up as Damita led the crowd through various popular songs such as Awesome God. The rock-leaning Crossing Over set the stage perfectly for the man of the moment.
Sherwin Gardiner’s set was absolutely breath-taking. Supported by a three-piece band, and a highly charged crowd, the roof was nearly blown off the place. The bulk of the tracks came off his latest and most highly acclaimed album Elevation, though he did throw in a few gems from previous records. His repertoire of hit songs is so huge, it’s a wonder he was able to squeeze in a good number of them. Praises Never Stop got things going, and was near prophetic, as the praise party just kept rolling on and on. Hotta Redda Fire, The Fire, and My Provider kept the energy sky high. Eye On The Sparrow and the ultra-popular I Worship You turned the attention vertical.
With that, Sherwin took the opportunity to lead a quick devotional thought and lead the audience into prayer. Marvin Winans Jr. and Damita Haddon returned to pray with those at the altar.
The session only served to up the ante. Sherwin’s get-up-and-go was at another level. Dancers soon joined him on stage, but were unable to keep up with his energy. He led jigs through The Fire, with the apt Climax bringing proceedings to a culmination. For only 400 bob, Recharge ’09 was the steal of the year…and well worth it.
 Some K-Krew Affiliates In The Crowd  Hey-Z Throws Down  Juliani Interviews Hey-Z  Maximum Melodies' Young Muiru  Chevelle Franklin Was Also In The House  Marvin Enjoys As The Crowd Takes Over His Song  Kevo You On Stage  Kevo Yout Backed By His Dancers  All Ages Enjoying  Crowd Surges Towards Damita  Local Choir About To Join In  Damita BAcked By Local Choir  Dance Group DICE After Getting Off Stage  Day's MC Juliani Was Brilliant  Marvin On Stage  Marvin Joined By His Wife On Stage  She Joins The Dancers  Producer R-Kay Enjoying The Action  Sherwin Makes A Call To Salvation  Sherwin's Bassist » Post Comment
» 5 Comments
1Comment
at Monday, 31 August 2009 22:39
I'm glad the event happened. i was too desyked by the failed Friday event. I hate that i missed it. Too bad. Tungojee Kirk.
2"mwandoro"
at Tuesday, 01 September 2009 12:02
i wish i were there i missed big things,omg!!!
3"Electrifying!"
at Wednesday, 02 September 2009 14:44
This was electrifying!
4"GRAPHIC DESIGNER"
at Tuesday, 08 September 2009 12:06
YEAAHHH...TIGHT WORSHIP EXPLORATION...
5"crushing!!"
at Wednesday, 07 October 2009 09:03
had mad syke for the first event at Bapo...it dint go down so ...decided not to show up for the next gig....
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