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27 March 2008
By Brilliant Pongo
It was indeed one of those I was there moments, or was it really? Dubbed the tour of the legends this was supposed to be a showcase of the best of Zimbabwean music.
But for the hundreds that had hoped to sing along to the famous Tuku, and Mukanya tracks, disappointment was the order of the day. First it was a last minute change of venue then a cancellation of the show. Good Friday quickly turned into ugly Friday for hundreds of Zimbabwean music lovers who had come out to see the ‘legends’.
Nehanda Radio spoke to a number of fans that had hoped to spend Good Friday dancing the night away but ended up confused and left out in the cold when police informed them that the show had been cancelled.
A number of those we spoke to expressed disappointment and anger at the promoters.
“ How could they have booked a venue that would fail a health test. Is this not something that is done days before the booking. There was something unprofessional about the whole thing, someone is not telling the truth,” said Dzapasi from Wolverhampton.
The Promoters of the show ZimTownship released a statement in which they blamed the authorities at Aston Events Centre for the last minute cancellation of the gig. The venue had failed a health and safety inspection.
David, Mareya from Walsall town just outside Birmingham said, “We hope to get a full refund. I can not travel to London to use this ticket who knows there might be problems there as well, I am so disappointed I was so looking forward to this show there was so much publicity given to this event we really did not foresee this sort of ending nothing was good for us this Good Friday”
As it so happens the fan from Walsall, David was not further from the truth in predicting problems at the London gig. There were disturbances at London’s Stratford Rex when the controversial Chimurenga maestro, Thomas Mapfumo refused to perform claiming that he had not been fully paid.
A close friend to the American based Mukanya told Nehanda Radio that the promoters checked out of their hotel early in an attempt to dodge Mukanya when they realised that they did not have the money to pay him. “The promoters had hoped to raise money from the Birmingham gig but could not because the show was cancelled,” said the source.
There have been a few problems with a number of gigs promoted by Zimbabweans in the past and fans are fast losing faith in these over rated promoters. The Tuku/Soul brothers gig was one such were the promoters had to wait till the last minute to announce that the lead singer of the South African outfit (SoulBrothers) could not make it because of poor health, fans were then subjected to an anticlimax with a pathetic performance by some wannabe soul brothers.
Then there was the L'vovo Derango/ Mafikizolo gig were fans were left to queue up outside and pay their hard earned money with the hope to see Derango in action only to be told he did not make it. The question is why do they not let the public know in advance given that they already had this information and perhaps even half the entry fees given that it is no longer the full bill as advertised. Surely you can not expect someone who paid for a full-length trouser but gets shorts to be happy with that delivery.
‘We are sick of these robbing crooks that give excuse after excuse but never our money back. Give us what we paid for or our money back. I am sure that ZimTownship the promoter of the (TOUR OF THE LEGENDS) knew way before the start of the Stratford Rex gig that Thomas Mapfumo was not going to perform but chose not to say it to the paying public until the very end of the gig. In short I am saying they mislead the hundreds at that venue into believing that Mukanya would be performing after Tuku thus, the fans had not been given notice that what they thought would be a long night of dance and song would be brought to an abrupt end,’ one fan wrote to Nehanda Radio.
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Nehanda Radio: Zimbabwe's first 24 hour internet radio news channel.