The global acceptance of the Afrobeat genre has made music one of Nigeria’s biggest exports as artistes from the country consistently garner praises, accolades and features on top music charts across the world.
Nigerian artistes have also successfully performed and conquered some of the biggest music locations in the world.
Listed below are the three most iconic:
The O2 Arena, London
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London.
At 20,000 seating, it has the second-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the Manchester Arena, and as of 2020, the O2 Arena was still the busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales.
The seating arrangement throughout the whole arena can be modified, similar to the Manchester Arena. The ground surface can also be changed between the ice rink, basketball court, exhibition space, conference venue, private hire venue and concert venue.
The arena was architecturally built to reduce echoing, a common problem among London music venues.
Wizkid made history by being the first African artiste to sell out the O2 Arena twice, first in 2018 at the AfroRepublik concert held in the arena and in 2019 during the Starboy Fest. Other artistes that have performed at the arena include Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Davido who also sold out the arena in 2019 and a host of other Nigeria artistes.
Coachella Festival, California
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called Coachella or the Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.
The event features musical artistes from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures.
Coachella showcases popular and established musical artistes, emerging artistes and reunited groups. It is one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and the world.
Each Coachella staged from 2013 to 2015 set new records for festival attendance and gross revenues. The 2017 festival was attended by 250,000 people and grossed $114.6 million.
Nigerian artistes that have performed at the festival include Seun Kuti & the Egypt 80 band, Burna Boy and Mr. Eazi. Wizkid was billed to perform in 2018 but he missed the event due to visa issues.
The Royal Albert Hall, London
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. It is one of the United Kingdom’s most treasured and distinctive buildings.
The hall can seat 5,272 people. Since the hall’s opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world’s leading artistes from many performance genres have appeared on its stage.
It is host to more than 390 shows in the main auditorium annually, including classical, rock and pop concerts, ballet, opera, film screenings with live orchestral accompaniment, sports, awards ceremonies, school and community events, and charity performances and banquets.
In 2017, Wizkid made global headlines for being the first Afrobeat artiste to headline a sold out show at the Albert Hall.
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