Rema 02 Arena Live performance Review
Here is a review of Rema’s 02 Live Performance held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023
Hits
- Passion & Delivery
- Set costume
- Instruments & Musicality
Misses
- Arrangement of Set list
- Choreography
- Stage Performance
Rema 02 Arena Live performance Review
First, Rema’s entrance was actually iconic. The charade mask and the horse was a symbolism of an animated character called “Baserk The Skull King”. He started performing right there on the horse and opened his show with “DND” the lead track from his newly released “Ravage EP”.
The next song performed, even with the theatrics and dance, was a little underwhelming. But first, let’s also talk about Rema’s great haircut. A better job could have been done with the dress. It felt like just another show and it didn’t look like any effort was put into getting a dress for his 02 performance. Although the red dress change in the middle of the show was spot on.
Also, Rema 02 Arena Live performance review shows that it didn’t help that Rema didn’t have backup or background singers for most of the songs he performed.
His vocals are okay, but he needs more than just his voice to bounce off and blend in the arena perfectly. Without that, the crowd are less hyped up or less impressed by his vocals. Even his performance of “Dirty” from his debut album “Rave and Roses” had few audience reactions. Meanwhile, big ups to the saxophone player for doing the song justice.
His performance of “Ginger” was great and more enthusiastic in comparison to the earlier ones. The next song performed after that was even greater in performance and energy. He should have opened his performance with “Soundgasm” seeing as the song gets the crowd hyped up as a result of great instrumentation and musicality.
Rema 02 Arena Live performance review indicates that if there’s something about Rema’s 02 performance, it’s that it doesn’t take the moment for granted and he really wants to give the people a show and memories to go home with. His passion and intention towards his song delivery is applaudable.
But at best, the lack of definite choreography and random singing of songs just doesn’t cut it for a performance at the 02. One thing to understand when it comes to performance by Nigerian music artists is that there seems to be no bar to be held to. Hence, the artists are satisfied with not going beyond the bare minimum of singing or jumping around the stage. They don’t challenge themselves to engage in actual dance movements or choreography that could interest the audience.
For Rema, sure, his performance on the big great bird in the arena comes off as passionate and we love the costumes and set design, but it takes more than a big bird in the air and some beautiful aesthetics to put on an incredible show. On the bright side, it’s great that he keeps his vocals on a level that it becomes undetectable that he might be tired while singing for so long. Kudos on a great job on still maintaining great vocal presence in the arena.
Also, Rema 02 Arena Live performance review shows that one thing to note is that, it becomes obvious when an artist evolves or not. Rema’s “Rave and Roses” has so many songs that sound alike and only a few of them actually standout. So, it might be hard for the audience to not get lost in the sameness of song and sound. For example, we get really into the performance during his “Time N Affection” performance. Why? Because the song stands out from most of the previous one he performed before.
Also, it doesn’t help that it takes way too long for Rema to perform most of his hit songs. He doesn’t perform them at intervals, but only once in a while. Hence, the energy of the audience is not where it ought to be and it appears Rema is doing all the work and they are less enthusiastic as they should be. We need to remember that this is a performance, and the audience are supposed to be entertained, highly entertained.
By the time he actually starts performing his most recent hits like “Holiday”, his energy is already dropping and it’s then that the audience starts singing the song word for word. One of the greatest performance fumble was “Won da mo”. It was so unorganized and chaotic.
We really hoped we would get to hear each artist’s parts, but it appears Rema is convenient with taking everyone’s parts even as they are singing it. Why bring out the artists when you won’t let them sing their parts solo? Only Ayra actually pulls off her part and does very well.
“Ngozi” performance was chiller and perfect because it’s a duet that was sang calmly and in a very sweet manner by Crayon, who is actually a great singer. Also, can we just take a moment to applaud Ayra Starr when the audience screamed as “Rush’ began to play? It was her “I made it moment”.
Rema should have allowed her perform the song solo seeing as he can’t match her vocals in the arena while performing and he couldn’t also back her up appropriately or be that hype man. It was a little painful that she didn’t get to perform “Sability”. The place would have been set on fire.
It was only after this performance that we began to hear Rema’s actual hits, and then the back to back hits performance was not as hyped up as he envisioned. The energy was there, but there was no need to transfer all the fun of the show towards the end and make the beginning quiet boring. In other words, Rema 02 Arena Live performance review shows that the set list of the show should have been properly arranged to get the audience hyped and enthusiastic at every point of the show.
His performance of “Calm Down” and the accompanying instruments was great and nod-worthy. It was a really incredible ending.
Rema 02 Arena live Review
Rema is a great artist evolving and discovering himself. Meanwhile, his performance at the 02 shows that there is still so much to be learnt in terms of performance by the artist. The arrangement of the set list of the show made it quiet underwhelming, as it took too long to perform most of his hit songs.
Apart from this, there was nothing new, unique or entirely breathtaking about the performances. There was no outstanding choreography and Rema himself did not give the people a show in terms of dance movements and sequences. Sure, we do not expect a world-stopping performance, but this could as well be any other random show.
Artists, especially new male artists, need to start taking cues from their male counterparts dominating stage performance- examples of Usher, Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson. These people did not have anything else to prove but they always gave a unique and breath-taking stage performance every single time.
Rema’s 02 performance was fun, and quirky, he gave a really passionate energy and passed the vibe check. But it takes more than just that to wow an audience of this capacity. (You can stream Rema’s 02 Arena concert here
Rating: 6.1/10
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Profile
Divine Ikubor (born 1 May 2000), popularly known by his stage name Rema is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwritter and stage perfomer. He rose to stardom with the release of the song “Iron Man”. In 2019, he signed a record deal with Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records.
In 2018, Rema, posted a viral freestyle on Instagram to D’Prince’s track “Gucci Gang”.
The post caught the attention of D’Prince who flew him to Lagos to offer a record deal to the young talent.
Rema signed a record deal with D’Prince’s Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records owned by record producer Don Jazzy, in 2019.
He went on to release his self-titled debut EP “Rema” in 2019, which peaked at number 1 on Apple Music Nigeria.
On 21 May 2019, Jonzing World, and Mavin’s released the music video of “Dumebi”, a major breakout song from his self-titled EP, featuring a cameo appearance from Diana Eneje. The video was directed by Ademola Falomo.
In May 2021, Rema announced he will be calling his sound “Afrorave”, a subgenre of Afrobeats with influences of Arabian and Indian music which has led to him having one of the strongest fanbase in the country known as Ravers.
In September 2021 Rema was unveiled as a brand ambassador for the popular soft drink Pepsi alongside his label mate Ayra Starr
After Rema signed a record deal with Jonzing World, in 2019, he released his debut EP Rema. After two more EPs, he released his debut album Rave & Roses on 25 March 2022.
The album includes 16 tracks and features from 6lack, Chris Brown, AJ Tracey, and Yseult.
The album charted 10 songs on the US Billboard Afrobeats Chart following its debut week.
His single “Calm Down”, including a sample from fellow Nigerian artist Crayon’s track “So Fine”,then began charting five months after its official release.
The next august 26th of 2022, the singer released a remix of his song “Calm Down” with the singer Selena Gomez.
