Kenya’s Burning Spear concert scheduled for October 12 was cancelled, then it was revived
Kenya’s Burning Spear concert scheduled for October 12 was canceled, then it was revived a day later. The concert is part of the lauded One People Africa Tour 2024, which touches on 5 countries on the continent of Africa.
Sound System Club Ltd, the Organisers of the Tour who are working with local promoters in each country, made the announcement on their Facebook page that the Kenya concert was cancelled, citing production issues which the local promoter could not resolve.
THE BURNING SPEAR SHOW IN KENYA HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO PRODUCTION ISSUES. UNFORTUNATELY THE LOCAL CO PROMOTER COULD NOT RESOLVE THESE ISSUES. BURNING SPEAR SOUND IS NON NEGOTIABLE.
This was substantiated by a comment from Burning Spear Music that read:
The Tour is not cancelled, The show in Kenya was cancelled by the promoters because of Production issues. We will not communicate about this again. Maximum Respect.
A day later Burning Spear Music announced on their Facebook page that the show will go on. Burning Spear thanked his number one super fan and in the same breath sent a shout out to Kabaka Pyramid.
“Kenya you have my heart 
everytime. Thanks Kefrine Kef Keffy and Simon and Paul
The show will go on as planned. One love.
Greetings Kabaka Pyramid for the tee shirt.. Red gold and green. Everytime”
A few hours later the African Teacher went live on his Facebook page to confirm that the show will go on. The interviewer stressed that this would be the last time they talk about Africa, yet they were addressing an issue in Kenya.
https://www.facebook.com/burningspearmusic/videos/1063670798759954
Confusion reigned in those two days. Speculations of the cancellation having a ripple effect on other countries were high, hence the comment from Mr. Rodney about the Tour not been cancelled. Even after the announcement that the show will go on, quite a number of people still thought it was cancelled.
The cancellation was pre-mature, a number of factors were not considered, especially the fans, the core of the tour. It is evident from how the announcement was delivered, written in all Caps, not a single mention of the fans and music lovers, no apology, nothing about the refunds, not even a salutation.
Cape Town’s cancellation was also made similarly. It might have had a few sentences more, but it was still nonchalant same way. The cancellation announcement did not even make it to Burning Spear Music page, except for an updated flyer, which did not have Cape Town date anymore.
Perhaps it is time that Burning Spear Music invest in good quality PR that matches the high quality production that it demands. The manner in which the announcement was delivered leaves a lot of room for conjecture. Similar to how the Cape Town Cancellation was announced. No consideration for the multitude of fans. The very same fans, who we can assume, applied a lot of pressure to make sure that the show gets reinstated.
While the blame is placed on the local promoter, one wonders how much background check on the people that they will be working with, that they are entrusting with this gig did the organisers of the tour do. One also wonders if the organisers take cognizance of the socio-economic situation of each country they will be passing through; the fact that Africa is not a Country, neither is it Europe; a little bit of consideration that logistics, personnel, production, currencies and nuances are not going to be the same and therefore cannot expect the same treatment as used to from Europe. It is the fans that want and brining Burning Spear to the continent, not corporates. His management should, at the minimum, respect that.
We are not expecting Burning Spear Music to lower their standards, we are asking them to up their PR.
This is a tour in FIVE different countries, not 5 different Cities in one Country, therefore it warrants a good cordinated PR.
The One People Africa Tour will kick off in Kenya on 12 October, The tour dates are>
12 October – Nairobi, Kenya
18 October – Harare, Zimbabwe
19 October – Johannesburg, South Africa~
23 October – Lusaka, Zambia
26 October – Lilongwe, Malawi
