Where there’s an August bank holiday, there’s a carnival, and where there’s a carnival, there’s an after party – one that raves on longer and louder than the rest.
This year’s most fabulous after dark affair came courtesy of Choice FM, who held their start-studded Carnival After Party at Proud O2, at the O2 Arena, London.
And of course, we at FAB had the hook up (thank you Choice FM!), sliding in among the many lucky attendees who made it out to see the UK’s finest urban artists perform live to an intimate setting of 1000s of ravers in the carnival mood.
Choice FM’s much loved Kojo and Max hosted the event, which unfolded with the likes of Ms Dynamite, Wretch 32, Chipmunk, Loick Essien, Bluey Robinson, Talay Riley, RD, Starboy Nathan, Cover Dive, Rizzle Kicks and Harvey, who all tore the stage up sufficiently for the excitedly riled crowd.
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- Ms Dynami-te-hee spitting bars and fiercing things up
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- Harvey and the ‘special guest’ he selected from the crowd…
The night’s memorable moments include: Starboy Nathan’s shirt fail (he tried to strip but couldn’t free his hand from his sleeve and couldn’t quite style it out, which was surprising considering his otherwise sexy-smooth set. How we chuckled…); Harvey from So Solid dry humping a fan (Yeah… he pulled an excited and bootilicious girl on stage, bent her over and violently humped her… memorable but hopefully forgettable…); Bluey Robinson’s killer kicks (BOY, that Bluey can move!); and Chipmunk being revealed as the second special guest of the night, coming out to join first special guest Wretch 32 on a freestyle over Kanye West and Jay Z’s “Otis” (Charming new rapper plus charismatic young talent = live performance perfection).
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- Talay dressed all dapper while belting one out on stage
The Rizzle Kicks guys bouncing off eachother on stage
But of all the stellar showcases, the higlight came in the cocky shape of one Loick Essien – a FAB favourite who gave a very confident performance and perfect vocal. The RnB singer (and our issue 5 cover star) had all hairs on end when reaching his impressive high notes and boasted star quality like no other. Stage presence? More like stage ownership.
Bundle of energy and joy to watch Loick lighting up the room with his set
After treating the audience to exciting live performances, Choice FM’s finest DJs played the night out to a fab mixup of all the good stuff: Hip Hop, RnB, Reggae, Bashment, Funky House, etc – not that you could find a still spot on the dance floor to bust a move, being that the venue was so packed.
With the anticipation already set in for next year’s bash, a huge thank you goes out again to Choice FM for keeping our carnival night going till 5am – FAB left the venue smiling, still jiving and thinking there wasn’t a thing missing (‘cept my camera!) that could’ve made this night any better (…Gytptian who?)
Well worth the sore feet, hips and head, and definately our choice for next year’s carnival mashup.
(All images courtesy of John Phillips – PA Photos)
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