lagos nights, broken beats, and a sweaty dance with the heat
i landed in lagos with a cracked cymbal bag and a half-broken snare stand, because touring session drummer life is nothing if not chaotic. the weather greeted me like a jealous ex-temp: 30.37°c, feels like 34.94°c, humidity at 66%, and the kind of sticky air that makes your shirt cling like a needy fan. i just checked and it's still there right now, hope you like that kind of thing.
first night, i'm hauling gear through obalende traffic, sweating through my band tee, when a street artist stops me. "you look like you need palm wine and a story," he says. i take both. he tells me about the old live music spots that used to dot lagos island-now mostly replaced by rooftop bars with overpriced cocktails. i heard that the real jams still happen in basements in yaba, but you have to know someone who knows someone's cousin.
next day, i'm hunting for a practice space. everyone keeps pointing me to ikeja, but the noise complaints are real-someone told me that the cops will shut you down if your snare cracks louder than a car backfire. instead, i ended up at a tiny community center in surulere where the house kit looks like it survived a hurricane. but the groove? chef's kiss.
if you get bored, abuja and port harcourt are just a short drive away, but honestly, lagos eats your time like a hungry metronome. i kept meaning to check out the national museum, but ended up trading drum licks with a kid who could barely reach the hi-hat. that's the kind of city this is.
the reviews online talk about lagos like it's either heaven or hell, but the truth is somewhere in between-loud, hot, generous, and always ready to surprise you. just bring extra drum keys and a tolerance for chaos.
links for the curious:
- tripadvisor lagos things to do
- yelp lagos restaurants
- lagos state tourism board
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