I’ve never been one to criticize first, so I would like to kick off this review by hi-fiving the local acts that fired up an otherwise uninspired and sparse crowd. Here are a few of my thoughts on the performances in chronological order.
The youngster with a whole lot of soul Tamy opened the concert with all the necessary energy and an outfit whose questionability could be up in the air for a longass debate…but not today.
(Focus people, focus!)
The band Macy & the Red made for a great interlude, their lead singer Tanzanian born Macy Huber was an actual rockstar on stage reminiscent of a balanced combination of Diana King (Shy Guy – Bad Boys Soundtrack ) and Toni Braxton.
Award Winning guitarist Sylent Nqo gave us an enjoyable dancy-teaser of an interlude.
It’s hard not to pay attention when Sharky performs. What he has managed to do with the Hip Hop genre itself is noteworthy! There he was Mbira in hand belting out Shona Rap bars to Trap inspired instrumentals. His performance managed to draw part of the audience on their feet, “were they all there for him?” I couldn’t help but wonder. Although the Facebook Performance Contest winning Artist was good to watch we couldn’t help but notice he held back just a little bit. Perhaps it was a double take from the the poor turn out. (Insert a shrug emoji here)
Ammara Brown’s performance was absolutely regal, I can safely say watching her live is a new experience every damn time. The Mukoko performance with Tytan looked a little unrehearsed, I say this only because everything else was so well scripted. The duet with her sister, Chengeto of the Dancehall inspired ‘What you Want From Me’ was a nice touch so was their cover of the legendary Andy Brown’s anthem ‘Mapurisa’.
Toya Delazy is a lot of things, she’s an artist for one, a brilliant vocalist, a fantastic performer and an overall cool kid. Yet Harare did not get to see the first three of those in Toya Delazy over the weekend. At roughly midnight she was on stage eccentric and colourful band in-tow. A few more elements were brought onto the stage, a hoarse voice, fatigue, clear unpreparedness.
For all the criticism in the world, one has to be empathetic right ?! The woman has travelled across the continent under a self-publishing and independent label! Also it could be our fault Zimbabwe. If I had a bond note for every time a visiting artist (never Jamaican) had a sore throat, a cold or lost their voice just in time for their performance in Harare, Victoria Falls or Bulawayo – there would be NO cash crisis! Toya, Sinach, Beatenberg just to mention a few.
Perhaps we need to investigate our immigration process, could ZIMRA be taxing the artists’ talent ? Does talent pay duty at the border because this mystery is beyond understanding. Also there should be some form of favouritism because Jamaican artists NEVER have this problem. (or perhaps they just respek their fans more.)
If you have any answer at all please give us the scoop in the comments. Yours faithfully and thanking you in advance.
A number of brands suffered on Friday, which was a clear point of reckoning. Maybe, just maybe it’s time for to start putting money not on what corporates think Zimbabweans want to see but on the local talent that shows up and does a damn good job when it does. On the bright side people got to do a whole lot of mix and mingle with Toya after the show. (We told you she was a cool kid!)
