With Black History Month winding down, the surge of events celebrating African American History continues. Today, Chicago rapper Common and other performers appeared at the DuSable Museum of African American history for a concert. Many were eager to attend the $20 show which promised such acts, as Carl Thomas, Melonie Fiona, and Kim Stratton. However, attendees entered the theater slightly disappointed when notice of Carl Thomas being ill and not performing was announced. The show started off nicely with a moving performance by the Oakdale Children's Choir. Common, the host for the night, then took the stage to introduce gospel vocalist Kim Stratton. Stratton sung two inspiring gospel songs accented perfectly by her strong vocals. Following her was R&B up and comer Melanie Fiona, who gave a riveting performance of four of her songs, including her new hit single 4AM, besides being plagued with microphone problems. She left the crowd feeling excited and eager for another artist to take the stage, but all were shocked when a single radio personality thanked the sponsors, for the fourth time that night, and quickly said the show was over after a little more than an hour. Many thought the announcement was a joke, but when the houselights came on the audience began to unwilling disperse. Some yelled out about Common performing and the radio personality quickly corrected stating, "Common was the host." As people filed out of the theater, many began to voice dissatisfaction with the event. It would seem that a replacement artist or even Common perhaps could have performed to appease the crowd. However, being the event was only $20, had the likes of two Grammy winners like Common and Fiona, as well as a powerhouse vocalist like Stratton, it would also seem that the audience got their money's worth.
