Wyclef Jean to perform free show during FIT homecoming
MELBOURNE — International hip hop star Wyclef Jean will perform a free concert in downtown Melbourne during the Florida Institute of Technology’s Homecoming Fest, honoring his late friend, fellow Haitian and Space Coast soccer legend Fidgi Haig.
The concert takes place Oct. 14 on New Haven Avenue during Florida Tech's annual homecoming street party. Robert Deuterman, the promoter, labeled the free show by such a talent in Brevard County a "very rare" event.
Wyclef, former frontman for the Fugees, has produced, written and remixed songs with Shakira, Destiny’s Child, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas and Mick Jagger, among others. His six solo albums have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, and he has won three Grammy Awards.
He filed to run for president of impoverished Haiti in 2010 after an earthquake killed more than 200,000 people; appeared on the ABC series "Nashville in 2012-13; and performed during the closing ceremony of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"Wyclef is an international speaker and spokesman for the humanitarian side of the United Nations. And he's a musician who doesn't play very often. This is going to touch a lot of people, a lot more than one genre of young college kids," Deuterman said.
"He's not like the big country stars that have come through (Brevard). That's country music, and country fans like country music. But Wyclef is a whole other ball game: His music touches the young people. His message touches the world, because he's on a world stage. So you're going to see moms and dads and college kids, everybody intermingling," he said.
"You don't see him very often doing entertainment anymore. I've seen him on a couple different big-festival looks in the United States, but he doesn't do tours," he said.
Bond with Fidgi Haig
Haig died of a heart attack at age 47 in April 2015. He did extensive charitable work in Haiti, and he was teaming with Wyclef on a project combining music and soccer in their home country when he passed away.
Community says emotional goodbye to Fidgi Haig
After arriving in Melbourne from Port-au-Prince, he played forward for Florida Tech in 1988 when the Panthers men's soccer team won its first Division II national championship. He later coached the Satellite High girls soccer team to back-to-back state titles, racking up a 231-18-8 record in nine seasons.
Haig then spent nine seasons coaching the Florida Tech women's soccer team, leading the Lady Panthers to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2010.
Wyclef sang a medley of church hymns during Haig's memorial service, which took place at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Indialantic. About 1,200 mourners attended the emotional ceremony.
"Fidgi? What I do with music is what he's done with soccer," Wyclef told FLORIDA TODAY after the ceremony. "In the sense that, as big as the universe is, it is actually very small, and you can tell the people that are shakers and movers of communities but never forget where they come from."
Bino Campanini, Florida Tech vice president of the office of alumni affairs, talked to Wyclef and Haig's relatives after the memorial service, and the concert idea was hatched.
"That's the tie-in. That's why someone like this — Wyclef Jean, international recording artist — is coming down to play our Homecoming Fest. It's because of the connection to Fidgi Haig," Campanini said.
'Carnival' street theme planned
Wyclef's concert takes place Oct. 14 during the Friday night Florida Tech homecoming street party.
“We’re going to try to really theme it up this year. One of things that we’re doing with Florida Tech students is, we’re going to have them do window painting on some of the downtown businesses to really paint the town crimson for FIT," said Jarin Eisenberg, executive director of Melbourne Main Street.
“We’re also really trying to go into the theme of ‘Carnival’ because of Wyclef. And so we’re looking to have some stilt-walkers and street performers,” Eisenberg said, referring to the artist’s multi-platinum 1997 debut album.
Last October, organizers combined FIT Homecoming activities — headlined by a free concert by Matt and Kim — with the 22nd annual Melbourne Main Street Fall Festival.
Florida Tech homecoming, art fests combine in Melbourne
The fall festival is now defunct, replaced by the Melbourne Food and Wine Fest on Nov. 12. Wyclef’s concert and the Florida Tech street party will combine with the October Friday Fest, Eisenberg said.
“I’m sure we’re going to draw from well beyond Brevard County for this show. I’m not sure that you can see Wyclef anywhere else in Florida this year," she said.
“We’ve definitely raised the bar by bringing in Wyclef — which leads to the question of what we’re going to do next year.”
Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter
FIT Homecoming Fest headliners
2012: Mighty Mighty Bosstones
2013: Taking Back Sunday
2014: SOJA
2015: Matt and Kim
2016: Wyclef Jean