Cassper Nyovest needs to learn to cut himself some slack and to be kind to himself.
Looking at his emotional tweets before and after the Durban leg of annual Fill-Up series of concerts, #FillUpMosesMabhida, you would think he is the worst treated musician in the country and that few appreciate him and his talent (to give great performances on stage). But it's the furthest from the truth and if we are being honest, it affected him at the concert in Durban on Saturday night.
Here are the highlights, the lowlights and some advice on how to structure future shows.
HIGHLIGHTS
Nyovest knows how to put on a show. He knows the importance of a stage, lights and sound (more on that later). He knows that you need to create a setlist of your biggest hits with smatterings of lesser known and new songs.
I went through a lot for this show to happen but I have to say this. The way my People support me is unbelievable!!!! I don’t know why you guys love me so much but I feel the love very single time I need it most. Thank you so much #TeamNyovest. I pray God blesses your hearts. ❤️
— R.M Phoolo (@CassperNyovest) December 2, 2018
#FillUpMosesMabhida My nigga @CassperNyovest flying around the stadium pic.twitter.com/nLI2kMq4tY
— Son Of The Messiah (@meMichaelWorld) December 2, 2018
Fans and non-fans, got a world-class show from the performer, with great features from artists, including Mahotella Queens, Zakwe, Shwi Nomtekhala, Frank Casino, Gemini Major and Nadia Nakai. It showed the diversity of his music, which sometimes we do forget about.
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The audience lost it when he performed with the Queens and Shwi, especially when he let them perform their biggest hits while he was doing a costume change. I also enjoyed his performance with Nadia and Gemini, which had the stadium jumping and singing (rapping?) along to every word. He also kept up with his dancers and the choreography.
LOWLIGHTS
So the stadium wasn't full. Few actually expected it to be full because of the many issues Nyovest and his team faced in the weeks before the concert. But he let it get to him and he was on edge at times during the show. There were times he yelled that "this is not a bash," an obvious dig to Gagasi FM's Beach Fest, which was happening on the same day and featured many artists Nyovest would have liked to feature on his show. But the worst was the waiting time between artists.
There really is no need for the show to start at 6pm and fans have to wait a long time between performers. There were times where nothing was happening or the DJ wasn't there. The sound, at times, was very glitchy and while it wasn't detrimental to the show, we know how particular Nyovest is with his productions, so it is something worth noting.
THINGS FOR CASSPER SHOULD CONSIDER...
My advice to Nyovest is to not rely on other musicians to make his show a success. He has enough material to do a proper arena style concert on his own, with an artist opening for him and maybe features from some of his biggest hits. The Fill Up concerts should not be a music festival. They should be a stand-alone music concert.
The whole festival line-up style that the show currently has, does him a major disservice. He's clearly leading the way in creating shows where he's the drawcard and he needs to then craft the show make it Cassper-centric. A three and a half hour Cassper show with features from a few of his frequent collaborators would be perfect, giving his fans a great experience. That way he has full control of the show and doesn't have to rely on other artists to make his concert a success.
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