Just how badly do you need your summer fix of homegrown "participatory concert?" If you've been to the Olympic Concert Hall on 851 Prospect Avenue in the Bronx, on the night of July 5th 2003, you should have been able to sing along with Ghana's megastar, the dreadlocks-wearing, cool-singing Kojo Antwi. The self-dubbed "Mr. Music Man" really lived up to the term by treating a jam-packed (perhaps a bit too packed) theatre audience, from across the tri-state area and beyond, to some of his finest and latest (and also earliest) hits.

I was stunned, but also impressed, by the level of knowledge the audience demonstrated of Kojo Antwi's songs. Hardly did he played a tune that the audience did not join in, oftentimes drowning the sound of his voice, making it practically impossible to listen to him; this despite the high volume coming from the huge speakers strategically positioned around the hall.

The highlight of the concert was Kojo Antwi's fishing for new backup talents from among the crowd. He had temporarily "dismissed" his backup singers, saying the next song belonged to the ladies. A la business executive with job offering, Kojo Antwi then went around - armed with his microphone - interviewing the ladies. But the toughest part of this "interview" was that the candidates needed to be able to sing a second verse of the chorus of the tune "Densu," after he introduces them to the first one. Believe me, there were no shortages of talents. For, within minutes, Kojo Antwi had formed a new backup group for that song from the enthusiastic crowd. And these new singers weren't bad at all, it appeared.

In another moving highlight, Mr. Music Man introduced a 70-year-old great grand mother, obviously a good fan of his. He humbly expressed his gratitude to her for coming to his show. Kojo Antwi then told every one how proud he was to have people of all ages interested in his music and coming to his concert. To Mr. Music Man, this is significant, since it shows how far he has come since his early days with the Boom Talents, a Ghanaian musical band of the 70's. Needless to say that there were children, 6 years old and younger, at the concert.

I must confess that I had left home grudgingly after a tedious and long week of work, not knowing what to expect at this concert. But by the end of the show, I wasn't disappointed. Kojo Antwi was totally, totally awesome, down-to-earth, and mesmerizing.

The only grudge I have, though, is directed towards the organizers, the so-called promoters, whom I understand to be Prestige Tour and Travel. Boy, those guys are terrible; they almost ruined the concert. Prestige did not have the decency of having the air conditioning system turned on. Was the cooling system defective? Or was Prestige just being simply cheap? The truth is nobody from the travel company came forth to express some form of regret or apology - or at least give an explanation as to why there was no cooling system in the concert hall, whose temperature had risen that night to a whopping 100+ degree Fahrenheit. I don't know about you, but my days of doing business with Prestige, or going to a Prestige-promoted concert, are over. I hate it when promoters take customers for granted.

Despite this relatively minor setback, though, when the summer is over, Kojo Antwi's concert at the Olympic Concert Hall in the Bronx, on July 5, 2003, may end up being the concert that defined the season. No! Let me take that back - I mean the concert that defined the year.

 US TOUR DATES:	     LOCATION:			PROMOTER: 
 JULY 4TH, 2003      GCG GHANA FESTIVAL, DC	GCG + AFRICANSPICE.COM 
 JULY 5TH, 2003	    OLYMPIC THEATER, BX, NY	PRESTIGE TRAVEL& TOUR 
 AUGUST 2ND, 2003    NEWARK SYMPHONY HALL, NJ	AFRICANSPICE + BIG MAN