Chronicle Editor
Wayne Chiridza, Showbiz Reporter
Most artistes who performed at the Sjava concert at BAC Leisure in Bulawayo on Sunday failed to impress the event’s attendees.
This includes the main act who had people walk out during his performance.
Either the attendees were there mainly for the main act Sjava or the local artistes who included Asaph, Freeman and Napster were a bore as the crowd expressed mixed feelings.
From the beginning, most quizzed why Freeman, a Zimdancehall artiste, had been included on the lineup and they were justified as his performance was lukewarm. They hoped the artiste would redeem himself with the performance of his Ngaibake hit, but alas, that was not the case. He first performed the track for less than a minute to tease people. And when people were hyped up and expecting to hear the full song, he disappointed them by performing it for less than two minutes before running off the stage.
Asaph also did not have a good day as his performance left a lot to be desired showing how much of a misfit he was.
Only few acts like Ngoma Ingoma managed to impress the crowd with their hits including Amalobolo. The DJs Eugene and Napsta also managed to capture the audience by blazing current hits across all genres.
Sjava, the man for whom people had paid their scarce foreign currency to see perform live, let down many by delaying to take to the stage. By the time he eventually took to the stage at about 2:30AM, most were either fatigued or drunk. But upon hearing his introductory chant in his native language, people came alive and started screaming.
He performed hit songs like Ngempela, Uthando and Umama among others which the crowd sang along to. Fans who were impressed by his performance were left clamouring for more after the performance of his last song, Umama.
Most however felt that in order for them to fully enjoy Sjava’s performance, the South African artiste should have been given an earlier slot mainly because of his music genre which needs people to be attentive. – @waynecas
Online Reporter