AmericanAnDerTU

One of the things that I love about going to concerts is that if you have a real artist playing in front of you, the art will always be presented differently each time. Presentation is key with all things in life - think about how products are presented nowadays. If you don’t do it right or get people excited, no one is going to care.

There’s a moment in my life from last year that I really treasure. I got to go to K’Naan’s concert here in Vienna right after the World Cup and it was one of the single coolest experiences and perhaps the best concert I’ve ever been to. It was in a small place called Club Szene that fit maybe a few hundred at best - a really intimate venue. Best of all I was right in the middle in front of the “visual stenographer” himself.

I’m sure most people know K’Naan for the song “Waving Flag” that he did for Coca Cola during the World Cup (a song so successful that more people thought IT was the official song for the games rather than Shakira’s track). I heard the song and really liked it but it wasn’t until I heard the album version and got my hands on K’Naan’s original material and his newest album that I really fell in love with his music. Once you’ve heard the album version and listened to the lyrics and then also seen him perform live, the other two versions that get the radio airplay don’t even compare… Let me show you…

This version from the Vienna concert isn’t the best, but this is how it starts. Below are other videos that continue the song that are of a better quality.

Now wasn’t that just touching? You’ll see in the comments I left in the video - I cried a bit during the song. The performance itself was a bit longer than in the videos and to listen to him live tell his stories and the atmosphere… simply wow. Here’s the album version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znVB25YFZiQ (embedding disabled - for whatever reason)

Keep what you’ve heard above in your mind and listen to the Coca Cola version:

Now the Coca Cola version isn’t bad. It lacks the touching lyrics of the album version, but I can get why they made the changes they did. It’s understandable. Up next, however, is the absolute WORST version… The upcoming version embodies all that is wrong with mainstream music and the destruction that can be wrought when something becomes popular and is chewed up by the industry to make it for the masses. The album version itself was perfectly fine and with a tasteful video could have been made into an excellent release. Instead we get this piece of trash (sorry to K’Naan or anyone affiliated with him, I’m pretty sure you guys had nothing to do with this).