A Semester in The Gambia: Jermaine Jackson

Last night was the concert of the century. Jermaine Jackson, older brother to Michael Jackson, came to The Gambia to play a tribute concert to MJ. The concert was part of the Kanilai Cultural Festival, which is held every year in The Gambia and attracts a lot of West African artists, performers, and musicians. Many of these West African musicians played before Jermaine. There were Gambian rappers, Guinean singers, Senegalese calabash players, and a Jola (a tribe here in The Gambia) cultural group that danced, sang, and drummed. Tickets went on sale for 100 dalasis, about 4 dollars, but then the priced was dropped to 50 dalasis, 2 dollars, after the concert was changed from Saturday to Sunday evening. I think the reason they moved the concert back a day and dropped the price in tickets was because they didn't pre-sell enough tickets. Then, halfway through the opening acts, President Jammeh said the people hanging around the outside of the stadium could come in free of charge. But the concert did go on on Sunday and I think about 2,000 people attended. Jermaine was supposed to start at 8 pm. But, President Jammeh did not arrive until 10:30 pm, then Jermaine arrived at midnight and went onstage about 1:3o am. So, the concert only started five and a half hours late. He played a bunch of Michael Jackson's songs like Man in The Mirror, Beat It, Billie Jean, Black or White, and some Jackson 5 like ABC and I'll Be There. It was also Jammeh's birthday, so Jermaine sang Happy Birthday to the president. The sound technology was awful, but Jermaine was a good performer and an equally good singer, so it was really fun. President Jammeh got up and danced and the Gambians LOVED it. Apparently, Jammeh is a huge Michael Jackson fan. Jermaine played until about 3 am. I never thought I would go to the first ever MJ tribute concert while I was in Africa. However, it was a lot of fun and an once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Tiereney holding our Jermaine Jackson tickets.