Christmas in Nigeria means many things, and one of them is that there will be a lot of events surrounding it. My church, Father's House, is never last on the list to host one. As a matter of fact, they have been doing so for, ughh, I think over 15 years.
Keresimesi is the name of our annual Christmas concert, and it has always been the biggest for us and a massive one in the city of Abeokuta. It normarlly is scheduled to be held on a Sunday that's really close to Christmas day, so we had it slated for December 18th, 2022. Keresimesi means Christmas in Yoruba, by the way.
For months now, we have been rehearsing in and out over many songs and arrangements, and they have been intense. And personally, it has been challenging for me as I have had to deal with it and school at the same time. It is even more challenging because I am in my final year, and it is not in any way easier than it has always been.
At some point, I didn't want to participate any longer, and this was because the whole pressure was taking a toll on me. In the middle of preparing for the event, we had to juggle regular church activities like ministrations on Sundays and Wednesdays. And besides, I couldn't afford to pay for the uniform. It was going to cost me $25 to have my uniform sewn. And we all know how deep the dip has been lately.
I had earlier made a decision to not join them to perform, but I reconsidered it for certain reasons. I thought about the fact that it may be the last time I get to jam with my friends like 
Vheekthorjay and I playing with long-exposure camera settings
And moreso, Starstrings and I were the only guitarists (out of three) that were available. I couldn't leave him to learn and play all of the songs we'd be performing. It may have been a little too much for him.
Unfortunately, life happened, and Starstrings was no longer going to play. So it was all me for the program. That wasn't funny in any case.
Fast Forward to the D-day
The event was to start at 5:00 p.m. and then end around 7 p.m. But with my experience over the years, I knew we could start late, and that may result in the event ending really late, say, at 8 or 9 p.m. And leaving so late would mean that getting transportation back home would be hectic and expensive. So, I made plans for scheduling rides to and from the event.
Starstrings was eventually going to show up, but because he had not been with us for rehearsals, he was still not going to play. And then 
We got there quick enough, and while creativepearl went on to join the choir, I went up stage to get my guitar and effects pedal all set up. It took a little while as things changed; the sound system was different, and I didn't know where all my equipment was at first.
 That's me under the arrow with the guitar |
Now, you would expect that our uniforms should have been available before D-Day, say, the day before (at least).But no, it was a few hours before the show, and we still had not seen our uniforms. I, personally, did not like this as it did not allow me to prepare adequately for my dressing. I was even afraid that there may be errors, and had I been given my uniform the day before, I would have been able to correct the errors early enough.
Just after I had finished setting up my guitar, we began to soundcheck. Some choir members with microphones started to sing, and then we all collectively started to perform together, just to ensure that everything was right before the show started. The soundcheck lasted for a long time, and I really enjoyed it as I played really well.
Thankfully, we got our uniforms on time, and they suited me perfectly. I was really glad that it was fine and there were no errors, as it may have affected my mood that evening. Looking good was somehow a top priority for me.
Soon after, the show kicked off, and the energy we started with was already high. This was a good sign that everything was going well. And just then, we, the musicians, went to take photos and make some videos. At this time, we weren't supposed to be on stage, so we seized the opportunity.
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And here's me...
Our time to minister came, and we (the Crystal Sound musicians) had to welcome the singers (the Crystal Sound voices) with the montage we had prepared for the first session.
The video you see is the first montage we had for the first session. The only thing I didn't like about the video is that I was only shown for about five seconds. You'd see me somewhere in the video carrying a guitar.
As a matter of fact, I didn't even get to take photos or make videos of myself playing the guitar. I was really pained to learn that nobody helped with that. But I am glad I didn't even think about that before it was time to play; I wouldn't have been happy with that. Nevertheless, I had a job to do, and I was required to do it right, so I focused on what I had practiced for the show.
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Of course, we had to go eat at some point...we actually ate a lot that day.
From the beginning until the end of the whole performance, I played like I was not going to play anymore. Not that I went overboard, but I made sure to play what I had practiced and also enjoy myself while doing so.
We had the second session to perform, but because it was already getting late and the guest minister was yet to perform, they cut our time by a lot and we could only do a bit of the second session.
Getting home
Remember when I talked about getting home really late at night was going to be an issue? Well, our plan failed again, thanks to me, and we all had to struggle to get home with all our luggage in our hands.
The church had, however, arranged food for us to eat at the end of the program, but we couldn't wait to eat so we just left with our food in our hands and went on to struggle for food.
We mangaged to find a cab and we got home not too late. Although, I couldn't wait to get home before devouring the chicken I found in the plate of jollof rice and as well as the plate of rice in the cab.
We go home around 10 p.m. that Sunday night. I had a long day ahead of school ahead, and a lot of responsibilites unattended, and I was really exhausted, so I went to bed immediately.
I felt really fulfulled as I eventually performed that day. We all had fun together, made music together, ate a lot of junks together.
Here's a vlog that covered some parts of the show.
And the photos with the Keresemesi '22 watermark are from our IG page. The others were taken myself.
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