Breakfast in Barbados 2012 Concert
104.5 CHUM FM Breakfast in Barbados 2012 Concert with Nelly Furtado, K’NAAN and Kirk Brown at Holders House.
Nelly Furtado’s vocals soared like a bird above the majestic grounds of Holders House at the Breakfast in Barbados annual concert, on Sunday April 15th 2012 in Barbados.
The annual Breakfast in Barbados concert is one of the most acclaimed and anticipated music concerts of the year in Barbados, and has showcased the likes of Maroon 5, Jennifer Hudson, Katy Perry, Michael Buble, Barenaked Ladies and New Kids on the Block – just to name a few.
This year Nelly Furtado, K’NAAN, and Barbados’ very own Kirk Brown wowed Barbados with their electric performances.
The rolling, green garden surrounding Holders House had been transformed into a stunning music stadium. The tropical flora and fauna reflected the reds, blues and yellows of the multi-coloured stage lights, and a large performance stage had been erected on which the stars performed under the stars.
Barbadian Kirk Brown kicked off the party. His rippling physique and stunning good looks immediately wowed the audience. He addressed the ladies in the crowd with, ‘single ladies make some noise‘ and wild cheers resonated around the grounds of Holders House.
Kirk Brown’s first song, ‘Be my Girl‘, brought the house down. As a shooting star flew through the air above the audience, this Barbadian star showed Barbados why he has shot to super stardom.
To date Kirk Brown has shared the stage with major international artists including Ne-Yo, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Rihanna, Trey Songz, Gyptian, J Cole, Beenie Man, Maxi Priest, Baby Cham and T.O.K. He hosted the 2011 Barbados Music Awards with Vivica Fox, and has won many acclaimed awards.
Kirk Brown’s performance climaxed when he sang, ‘Baby you look so good tonight‘. Local Barbadians, holiday makers and CHUM FM’s Canadian competition winners made up the glamorous crowd who sang along to the lyrics.
Every year, CHUM FM gives Canadian listeners the chance to win a trip to Barbados with free tickets to the concert. 154 lucky Canadian winners danced in front of the stage on which Kirk Brown was performing. This concert was the moment they had all been waiting for.
K’NAAN performed next. He took centre stage and immediately won over the audience with his charisma and integrity. His first song ‘Better‘ told a story about his life. K’Naan, who grew up in Somalia during the civil war, moved to Canada when he was 13, and his hip hop poetry comes from the heart. Many of his songs are about the situation in his homeland of Somalia, calling for an end to violence and bloodshed.
The audience were immediately moved by his passion and arms went up in the air and clapped to his poetic rap.
The excitement in the crowd lifted even higher when Nelly Furtado joined K’NAAN on the stage to sing ‘Is there anybody out there‘. This song is about people who are alone in this world.
The audience sang along in a bubble of unified passion and belief that things for people in this situation should be different. Nelly Furtado’s vocals flew above K’NAAN’s rap with spellbinding power. The audience felt moved as they moved their bodies in time to this captivating duo.
During the performance of ‘Is there anybody out there‘, Nelly wore a ‘hijab‘, the head scarf traditionally worn by Muslim women, reflecting K’Naan’s religious beliefs. Her eyes sparkled with silver glitter, and her outfit was black – a black T shirt, black jeans and black, high-heeled boots. Her laid-back attire reflected her relaxed and unpretentious performance. With Nelly, it is all about her natural and powerful voice. Nelly is the real deal.
K’NAAN continued to wow the audience with his passionate lyrics, and when he sang ‘The Lazy Song‘ the crowd joined in with smiles on their faces.
K’NAAN brought the house down when he played ‘When I get older‘, which he wrote for the 2010 Canadian Winter Olympics. He then played this song again using the original lyrics that he wrote for this tune, which are about his own life. After living through the civil war in Somalia, K’NAAN moved to Rexdale in Toronto where he lost many friends to murder, suicide, prison and deportation.
K’NAAN finished his set with a new song, which he announced he was playing for the very first time called ‘Bullet Proof Pride‘.
After K’naan’s mesmeric performance, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived – Nelly Furtado took centre stage. She had removed the Muslim style scarf and added a white waistcoat to her black outfit.
Carrying a gold microphone, Nelly started her set with ‘Powerless.‘ Her working-class background seemed to shine through as she performed without pretence.
Next, Nelly sang ‘Turn off the light‘, and the crowd moved closer to the stage – everyone wanted to see this unpretentious, natural superstar up close. Nelly’s Latino looks (Nelly is of Portuguese decent, but was born and raised in Canada) shone out beneath her black, laid-back outfit.
What’s more, at 34 years old, Nelly has the experience she needs to put real emotion into her songs.
The atmosphere went electric when Nelly was joined by Socrates and they sang ‘Promiscuous‘ together.
‘Wait for you‘, a softer melody changed the atmosphere yet again, and the couples in the audience got closer – romance was in the air.
Then the atmosphere revved back up when Nelly sang ‘Maneater‘. This song was the climax of Nelly’s performance and everybody danced like crazy.
At the end of her set Nelly thanked all her band members as well as the crowd in the same humble way that she’d arrived. Nelly has just got it, she doesn’t need to try.
