By Florence Modikwe 

I am not one to brag about where I went to, what I saw and what I did, it is not really my thing. But I can make exceptions if the need arises and this is something I need to share with the masses. Keeping it to myself would be an unforgivable sin. On Sunday evening – while some were tucking into the day’s lunch left overs, some anxiously glued to reality TV show Big Brother and some reading the papers – I was getting my groove on at the Coca Cola Dome.

 

An angel on legs gave me two tickets to watch international R&B sensation, Keri Hilson, and the greatest singer of my time, in my humble opinion of course, John Legend.

 

The pair jetted in Mzansi last week and kicked off their tour in Durban and Cape Town before wowing their Jozi fans. Because I am such a huge fan of John Legend, I went to the Dome dressed to the nines with black killer heels to match. It’s not every day that you get see a big star such as John performing live.

 

The Dome was packed to capacity, actually packed is an understatement and it does no justice to the number of overexcited pairs of limbs and eyes there.

 

Our local musos, JR and Bantu Soul did a great job by getting everyone in the mood before the international stars took to the stage. The boys put soul and energy in their performances and I was really proud to see my home boy Bantu Soul strutting his stuff on stage with his Afro soul/house fusion while JR was mixing things up with his hip/hop rhymes. Well done boys!!!

 

Keri Hilson was scheduled to open at 8pm for John Legend but she made an appearance at about 8:15, the crowd didn’t mind though because her DJ kept screaming “make some noise for Keri Hilson” to create a climax.

 

She gave her all and her singing was great, I am not convinced about her dance moves though. You can’t sing and dance at the same time, right? Her back up dancers compensated her lack of agility by dancing like possessed demons. They were way too energetic, I could swear I saw some Michael Jackson moves somewhere in between their choreography. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? MJ would be proud.

 

She started off singing songs that most of us didn’t know. Me being the sing-along kind of girl that I am, I opted to give my close-to-throbbing-with-pain feet a break and sit down. That break was short-lived because towards the end of her performance, Miss Hilson belted some of her “hits” from her album In a perfect world. Songs like “Knock you down” and “Turning me on” drove the audience into a frenzy. And there I was back on my feet again, dancing like they were totally happy with the imposed torture on them.

 

By the time Miss Hilson said her final goodbyes, making way for John, the life in my feet was slowly slipping out. I grinned though, it was all for John, he was worth the pain and agony.

 

John made a grand entrance, totally unexpected! While we were waiting for him to appear on the stage, he emerged from the crowd singing Bob Marley’s Redemption song. His handsomeness under the spotlight and smooth voice drove some ladies into hysterics.

 

After his rendition of the song, he rushed off to the stage, while his troops of body guards protected him from the crazy fans who wanted a piece of him, even a strand of hair.

 

John Legend is the greatest performer I have yet to see. He engaged with the audience, knew what and how to give it to them with a real passion you rarely see in some performers. He sang songs from his three albums, Get Lifted, Once Again and Evolver.

 

The ladies around me knew the lyrics off by heart and some women were drooling at Mr John, totally in oblivion to the people they were next to – their husbands. He had people on their feet with his dancing and remixes of his first album (Get Lifted) songs. Due to the high levels of energy and excitement, I opted to gracefully take off my shoes. I didn’t care who was staring, there was no way I could miss an opportunity to dance because of my anti-fun shoes.

 

I left as he was about to finish off his performance, I couldn’t bear to be stuck in the parking traffic at 12am.

 

Overall it was a great evening and I had fun, despite the achy feet.

 

I am definitely going to attend more of these live performances, and I won’t be wearing heels that’s for sure!