by C.
Sometimes, without thinking or really caring about the why, we find ourselves inexplicably smiling at a baby we see. At the grocery store, in the bus, on the way to a job interview; it does not really matter where we stumble on these beautiful, unemployed mini-humans but something about their purity, innocence maybe, draws us in and we can’t help but try to connect, even if it means making the silliest of faces because a smile back from these tiny cretins, devoid of any other emotion but genuine happiness at the strange, big being who sees them, fills us with such giddiness, it’s like nectar in feelings form.
Those same feelings of joy, piqued interest, contentment and all things in between were exactly what it felt like to be present at Dwin, The Stoic’s maiden show dubbed ‘An Intimate Evening With Dwin’ on Sunday, March 23, 2022, and I can’t help but wonder that asides being an amazing artiste and an even more beautiful person, Edwin must also be a wizard because everything he said to picture in his newsletter about the show, he delivered and more.
The venue, a café located in Lekki, set the subtle ball rolling in making guests feel comfortable before a note was even sung by being easily located and having good space for parking. You would walk in and be welcomed by a warm smile that confirmed your ticket, someone else making sure you felt like all the effort put into dressing up was worth it with the way pictures were taken and then be ushered in to choose wherever you wanted to sit, cushions and mats all over the room, a band playing cosy tunes, with lights that bathed the room in a warm glow and also made the temperature of the room feel like a hug from a dear friend.
It reads like a dream and such was the magic of the experience created, it feels almost disrespectful to refer to it as just a show, when it was more like a gathering of souls who shared a common appreciation for beauty and music.
I had stepped out of the cosy, straw-mat strewn, live band (with a wicked violinist!) playing, warm amber light lit room with the wine connoisseur (@Okunrin_meta) educating the room on how grapes are one of the best fruits on earth (not his exact words but aren’t they?!) to go do something I imagine was important.
I do not remember what it was; I do remember stepping back into the room and the energy that caressed me as I walked back through the doors – the sound of people who felt as beautiful as they looked, conversing with each other, wine glasses in hand and smiles on their faces, soulfully enriching sounds coming from the band and the way the light cast itself on those in its presence, giving them a glow that was perfectly fitting – and for what was no more than a few seconds but felt a lot longer, I basked in the warmth and beauty that Dwin, his team and his fans had created. The best part? The gap-toothed singer was yet to add the magic of his voice to the energy already palpable.
Then Dwin took the stage.
Having warmed up those present with a trick he likes to do, performing a song made up on the spot with words suggested from the crowd, he begun his performance for the evening. It’s one thing to connect to music because it speaks to you in the way only music can, it’s a whole new thing to hear from the artiste, the stories behind the words because as they say “context is a gamechanger” and by the time ‘Ifunayam’ was heard, even more than the glistening eyes and the chorus of voices that filled the room, something was undeniable: the man in the glittering robe and turban was gifted.
Everything about ‘An intimate evening with Dwin, The Stoic’ was beautiful.
Even TheStoics, officially named a few hours after the show, quoting Dwin, who for the purpose of the show had released the set list mere hours before the show, “covered the syllabus perfectly” and matched, as best as they could, the singer for every note he sung. This could not have been more apparent than when the ignis Brothers, the band Dwin is a part of, performed one of their creations ‘Alien at Home’ and by unanimous demand, had to sing it again.
It’s been more than 72 hours since the show ended and till this moment, even as this article is being typed, there isn’t a single person who is able to get the experience of Sunday evening and the lyrics of songs sung, out of their head. Such was the beauty that was An Intimate Session With Dwin and I for one, cannot wait for the next time I feel such beauty and perfection. Till then, I will settle for the iteration of that feeling that comes from smiling at babies and being smiled back at.
