If anything, music promoters are some of the most daring entrepreneurs. We cannot doubt that moves are calculated before execution. But the insecurity of investing thousands in a venture entirely dependent on the clientele’s impulse is a gamble with infinite risk.
The Sungura Blast held Saturday night at the giant HICC is testimony to this enlightenment.
With an all-star line-up of the biggest Sungura acts like Alick Macheso, Nicholas Zakaria, Mark Ngwazi, Sulu and Baba Harare the nets were cast not so far from the big catch.
However, Gateway Stream is that investor well-positioned to play this card and their determination to make a name in the music industry has proven to be eyeing the long-term side of things.
Amongst the highly sceptical armchair critics is this writer on whether the sungura faithful would fill this monstrous arena at a charge of $20 United States Dollars. Early bird tickets were billed $10. The sun eventually dipped and the hotel’s lighting began to expose the early birds who were on time for Armageddon.
The battle of my inexperienced business conscience against this dare by professional business planners. The clock soon raced to as late as 8pm with a sizeable number of revellers who surely anticipated a flop.
Kanindo female artist Shantel Sithole who warmed the stage with a class performance. Momentarily, seats began to fill and my crossed fingers simultaneously loosened.
Now at par with rationale thinking that Harare is a mad city. The beautiful dancers on the big stage silenced the doubts. It was game on!
Nicholas Zakaria ‘the senior lecturer’ emerged to perform to a relatively good crowd. This crowd treated Madzibaba as genuinely deserving of legendary status. For a man who has dined with the guitar for 47 years, a top-notch display would be the least of expectations.
Calm, collected and glued to the mic; the set lectured a great deal of class. Thanks to the beard that personified the grey hair wisdom the engaged music fans were in great support lighting the event to great shine like his clean shave. Bald and bold. The dancers took it further with what easily was the best choreography of the night.
He would soon be cut short to make way for the overly ‘naughty’ Baba Harare. His too would be a performance to solidify his ambitions as the city’s father. Something which has something to do with everything best censored for the dignity of mature music.
At this point, the festival was living up to the hype. The success became no longer a matter of attendance but music as a blissful experience. Mark Ngwazi is definitely a fan favourite. His place in the industry bridges the generation of sungura legends and its current crop of fans who appreciate this genre.
This claim was fully backed by the outfits his band were in; ‘gold’ chains and Nike T-shirts. Without wasting a minute the little crowd roared into a choral of denouncing hypocrite friends – ‘blame yourself for trusting them’ the guitar-led. It was a performance and a half from the prospective king of sungura.
It might sound very unfair to collect all these festivities and package them as curtain rising. But truly, the momentum and atmosphere drastically improved with the knowledge that it was now time for the main meal.
At a very fast pace, we knew the maestro is ready backstage. Have you watched the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team right before a rugby match? That ritualistic war cry. Orchestra Mberikwazvo is somewhat a replica of that energy.
Alick Macheso is a superstar. The VIP seats were left almost empty as revellers moved closer to the stage to reduce the distance between themselves and greatness.
‘Ayaya – ndoda kutenda weGateway, pasina imi vanhu tingadai tisipo’ he humbled himself as he did throughout the performance. The base guitar magician went on to hit those strings with a towel for Christ’s sake! In rhythm as the crowd cheered with amazement. Alick Macheso mastered his craft.
Rich bosses interrupted him with notes that we couldn’t count, but his reactions were snitching that yes it’s a lot of money. Well, deserved.
As the night touched its zenith, wee hours were left for Sulumani to wind down the festivities. The Dendera singer delivered his catalogue of hits as people joined in dance knowing that it was the last. ‘So much thank You’ type of performance to cap off the night of Zimbabwe’s undying genre of guitars.
Now that this is a review a lot could go unsaid because saying a lot still cannot be addressed in pages if you were not there. But back to the initial standpoint, did this gamble work for Gateway?
Not more than a third of the arena was filled so what happens to the investment? If $20 is a hefty price how much should it have cost? One fan revealed that Pamuzinda was a big success because of the attendance recently where Macheso had performed.
Is this about the venue? If people in the low-market suburbs could not afford the HICC, the people from the upmarket afforded and so what?
The target market definitely differs and for the same tomatoes, are not being charged differently because of these demographics which are low-key remnants of capitalism.
The Sungura Festival was a blast!
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