Akon: ‘The Superfan Tour’
Legendary Senegalese-American singer Akon kicked off his ‘The Superfan Tour’ in style at Birmingham’s O2 Academy on 27th April. On arrival, queues were lined all the way up and around the street as gig goers flocked to hear Akon’s nostalgic discography live in the flesh.
Fog concealed the entire stage moments before the genre-hopping icon appeared, at the top of some white stairs, shortly after 9pm. Akon materialised in front of the crowd, dressed in an extravagant, pure white fur-style coat with silver jewelled accents, effortlessly exuding opulence with his opening outfit. The stage design offered incredible lighting and captivating backdrops throughout the evening, ensuring fans always had a superb view of the illustrious singer. Throughout the concert, Akon changed his outfit a few times to refresh his appearance which was a fun addition to such a visually and audibly striking show. About a quarter of a way into the gig, he started to play the bongo drums, infectiously jamming along with his brilliant band.
Afrobeat artist AMIRROR, who is signed to Akon’s ‘Konvict Kulture’ label and collaborated with him with on a track titled “Far Away” late last year, was a frequent star of the night, as she not only performed her amazing collaboration with the headline act but was also given the platform to perform some of her solo records afterwards. Akon told the crowd that with every new album he releases, he introduces the world to a new artist and this time it was fellow Senegalese-American AMIRROR’s time to shine, and shine she did.
Fans of the internationally-acclaimed singer were treated to an hour and forty-five minutes of his musical catalogue with over 30 songs in total! During his substantial setlist, Akon performed a variety of hit songs he has featured on, including David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch” and “The Sweet Escape” with Gwen Stefani, as well as an array of absolute classics such as “Locked Up”, “Right Now”, “Smack That” and, of course, “Lonely” which I vividly remember being played on UK radio stations religiously around the time when it was released in 2003, when I was a mere 8 years old. It is always incredibly surreal to see an artist or band live as an adult, after their music was such a staple during your childhood, and Akon is undeniably still smashing it after almost thirty years in the game.
In the latter segment of the show, the soloist stood on the steps directly behind the barrier as he performed closer to fans at the very front. He also recorded videos and took selfies on lucky fans’ phones within the crowd, before he even crowd-surfed to the middle of the pit where he then performed various more songs. Surrounded by surprised faces, Akon climbed on a random fan’s shoulders before he began spraying water from bottles all over roaring fans, culminating an unbelievably epic show on a high note.
The African-American artist ended the evening with a poignant performance of his track “Freedom”, and explained to the crowd how immensely difficult it was to be accepted amongst his American peers, being of African heritage, when he first moved to the United States to progress his career. Spanning from 1996 to the present day, Akon’s career has been deeply successful and inspiring, as he has collaborated and performed with some of the biggest names in the industry such as Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, continues to sell out shows around the world and use his influence for good with his notable philanthropy.
After witnessing Akon triumph on the first date of his 2024 tour, it’s safe to say everybody in the room that night left the show as a ‘superfan’ if they weren’t already.
