Fantasia cries at truth Concert

Tears came to the singer’s eyes and flowed freely during the last few songs of her hour long set causing many audience members to respond with their own tears, cheers and shouts of “We love you!”, supporting the singer who has had many personal struggles in her past including a suicide attempt two years ago.

Dressed in a red cold shoulder evening gown and silver stilettos, the singer, whose last name is Barrino, came through the cheering crowd to get to the stage minutes to 12 am. The cheers increased from the first note she belted out. From the onset, Fantasia let the crowd know she was not on stage to be cute. “I’m gonna take my shoes and give you your money’s worth,” she said, before asking the crowd, “Can I be me tonight?”

She then began her repertoire with “It’s All Good” from her first album, Free Yourself. Taking off the detachable part of her gown, Fantasia informed the crowd that singing her music gave her peace of mind and she proceeded to sing her own “Free Yourself”, “Collard Greens and Cornbread” and even soul hits like Tina Turner’s “I Can’t Stand the Rain” and Prince’s “Kiss”. This led to an impromptu dance session on stage when Fantasia showed off her newly acquired wining skills gained from her birthday party held on Friday night at Casa De Ibiza, Long Circular.

“When I See You” and “Ain’t Go Beg” switched the mood and Fantasia began giving lessons she learnt about love and life. It was when she began singing “Bittersweet”, the singer described as down to earth began tearing up and covering her mouth, listening to the crowd sing the words of her song. She told the audience to let go of negative people and negative situations in their past and began, “Even Angels” while struggling to gain her composure.

At the end of the song she mouthed “Thank you God” to the sky then spoke to the crowd about counting their blessings and speaking about hers, despite having to deal with the many negatives of the music industry using the example of the late Whitney Houston.

“One person who never left me through it all was Jesus”, she said before beginning VaShawn Mitchell’s “Nobody Greater” ending the set on an uplifting spiritual note, greatly appreciated by the audience, most of whom were on their feet, cheering and singing along to the entire performance. Fantasia continued crying as she left the stage, stopping to hug a handicapped fan who was wheeled on stage to be a part of the experience and then she was stopped by a fan who embraced her at the bottom of the stage steps.

Technical problems and delays put a damper on the night which was billed as an intimate experience featuring the US based American Idol winner as the main act. The average sized crowd had to endure delays and a late start to the concert performances which began about half an hour after the 9.30 pm scheduled start.

Opening acts, Big Brown and the LE Family and US based Nina Foxx only received a lukewarm response from the crowd. Both acts gave the crowd different musical styles as Big Brown performed some classic soul and modern pop while Foxx performed two hip hop songs from her own repertoire. After one of the many pauses for the night, locally born, British based, Ifa Sayo (Sandra Forson) took to the stage singing “Happy Birthday” to Fantasia, who celebrated her 28th birthday that day. She then gave the crowd “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” originally sung by British superstar Adele, then performed one of her own songs.

Local artiste, Kimba Sorzano took the stage next at 10.55 pm and continued mixing up the musical genres with his soca “Rude Gyal” and continued with JW and Blaze’s “We Time” on the same Maserati rhythm during which he left the stage to get closer to the crowd in the general admission area, which was poolside.

He returned to the stage to perform “Maria” and “Over You” before there was an intermission to make way for Fantasia which was hampered by more technical difficulties. After the main act performed, some patrons remained to enjoy the after party which ended at 2am.