On Saturday, Ctrl.Alt.Shift ventured over to Wembley's Banqueting Suite to celebrate the 52nd Celebration of Ghanaian Independence. With Eddie Kadi, Richard Blackwood, and Mobo winning saxophonist YolanDa Brown on the guest list, it was always going to be a big party, that's even without mentioning the headliner himself Sway Dasafo.
Walking towards the venue I spotted about six or seven men with some of the meanest looking dogs I have seen (it soon became apparent that this was the security). This was the first time I have seen dogs used as a deterrent to queue dodgers, blaggers or anyone choosing to come to the event with any intention other than having a good night. For a night that was celebrating the independence of a nation, it did feel a bit weird in the queue when dogs were being hyped up and scaled up and down as nothing more than a scare tactic - they may as well have been packing AK-47s with the fear they were creating.
Without focussing too much on the security methods used, when we got inside the venue we were greeted by an amazing vibe, one completely different to the one we left outside, one which was full of happiness and expression inspired by the bright colours of the Ghanaian flag. Just about every dress that was being worn that night was gleaming with red, yellow and green; groups of girls walking around in mad on point colour coordination, and the men circling from a distance across the two huge dancehalls of this double-story venue. There was a real positive feeling to the night, mixed in with the feeling of teeth-shaking bass that was constant all the way to lights-on.
This was the 52nd annual celebration of Independence of Ghana, the first African country to achieve independence from the empire of the UK. While admittedly the nation was initially led by a dictatorship under Dr Kwame Nkrumah, since 1992 Ghana has conducted democratic elections to determine the President of their country. With poverty still a huge issue, and corruption institutional, it is sometimes difficult for the value of independence to be recognised. But try telling this to the people who were celebrating with pride and freedom of expression throughout the night.
Eddie Kadi was the MC on the night, and the man from the Congo was all about the love on the night, claiming that this wasn't just about Ghana, but the whole continent of Africa: "I grew up in a time when it wasn't a positive thing to be from Africa, wherever you were from, but today we have so many people who can represent our continent and the youth have a reason to be proud of their heritage."
Richard Blackwood performed a comedy routine with radio partner Kat. When asked about Ctrl.Alt.Shift Blackwood was full of enthusiasm about the potential of our youth initiative: "Projects like this (Ctrl.Alt.Shift) are so very important, the youth collectively have a lot of power because they are the generation of the future, but at the same time they need to recognise that instead of using their power to cause destruction and mayhem they could utilise it in the right way and be a force to be reckoned with."
We were also lucky enough to catch up with talented YolanDa on the night who was also eager to talk about the importance of the role that our generation have to pay in the future: "The youth have all the power - they are the next generation and they need to understand that they are shaping communities, careers, families etc. Once they understand that is not a burden, but the responsibility that they hold, I believe they will step up to the plate and be the role models for each other."
Ghana's golden boy Sway DaSafo capped off the night full of positivity and pride when he performed his headlining set at around 3am, leaving the crowd satisfied that their £10 entry fee was well spent.
This was a night of madness, incredible talent and unity. There was a clear picture given of the passion, focus and the potential of not just Ghana, or Africa, but the people of those nations residing in the UK showing everyone an enlightened look into a promising future.