WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET . . . AND MORE: Experiencing K’naan in Nashville, TN Pt. 2

PUT UP YOUR FIST IF ALL YOU WANT IS FREEDOM, PUT UP YOUR FIST IF ALL YOU WANT IS . . .

K’NAAN! I’m sure you all have heard this verse from the song IN THE BEGINNING from his first album The Dusty Foot Philosopher. This is the song K’naan first performed to get the crowd jumping and ready to receive the beautiful gift he was about to give at The Rites of Spring Concert in Nashville, TN. If you are ever fortunate to meet K’naan you know exactly what I mean when I say “What you see is what you get . . . and more!”

HUMBLE, Kind, intelligent, witty, and an incredible musician and performer are all words that describe K’naan. I tried to prepare myself for the almost 3 hour drive from Knoxville, TN with friends to see K’naan. He was set to perform at 6:20 pm and we had just arrived at the gate at that exact time. Impatiently waiting as security looked through my bag and screen me I was scared I would miss the beginning of the show. Finally I made it through, and rushed to the stage to grab a close spot. No dimmed lights this time, we were in broad daylight. Then K’naan appeared with drum and fedora as if the sun had delivered him. The crowd ruptured with cheers! I knew how unbelievable his last concert was in Nashville at the Cannery Ballroom, but who would have thought it would get better the second time around.

ABC’S and IF Rap Gets Jealous set the crowd on fire! They danced and sang along to these songs as if they were on stage. Clapping, jumping and swaying to K’naan’s voice and Kirk Hammett’s instrumental, the momentum kept building! He gave us Take A Minute and the LOVE in Nashville kept growing!

WAIVING FLAG proved to be a crowd favorite! As soon as K’naan said “When I get. . .” the crowd immediately screamed “I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom just like a waiving flag.” A little surprised by the overwhelming response K’naan smiled. We all waived our arms like we had flags in our hands! Like I said before on my first blog, it’s hard to pick a favorite K’naan song. Actually it would be quite impossible to do so, but I think the crowd enjoyed that one the most.

K’NAAN in-between songs said that he was a little jetlagged from flying in from Paris, but personally I couldn’t tell. What he gives to his performances and to the crowd is an incredible spirit, a proclaimed emotion and unyielding beauty! Jetlagged or not . . . the man delivered! After the show I got another chance to meet him and give him a Jazz for Justice Shirt! Gracious as with the first time I met him, he asked me how I was. And then it dawned on me that he remembered me from the first show and blog I wrote. He truly appreciates his supporters. He proceeded to sign my CD and take pictures with me and my friends from Jazz for Justice! It was all so dreamlike, but that’s apart of Experiencing K’naan. For that time you feel everything he puts into his songs and the passion of his work . . . and that’s not even half of the Experience!!

SO, if you haven’t gotten to attend a K’naan show, I hope by reading this you know that all the great videos and personal interviews and articles about K’naan is what you will get. . .PLUS MORE! Again as I end I ask that no matter where you are or what you are doing sing with me. . .

“WHEN I GET OLDER, I WILL BE STRONGER THEY’LL CALL ME FREEDOM JUST LIKE A WAIVING FLAG”


Jayanni Webster