Backtracks: A big rip off at live shows

like Stunner, Maskiri and ExQ due to their dexterity.
However, I am not a buff when it comes to their live shows due to the incessant lack of professionalism and the use of backtracks, which I think is a big rip off.
In most cases that I have been left with a bitter aftertaste in the mouth due to the short-cuts some of these cats employ to impress their fans.
At one time I really felt for young Brian Ngwenya when he was playing at a show in Gweru, where he was using backtracks which kept on skipping and jamming during his performance.
At one time the CD actually stopped playing and you could hear Brian’s voice trying to fill the void left by the jammed CD and it was really an embarrassment for the young man.
The crowd also got annoyed at the shoddy performance and started hurling all sorts of insults and threw missiles at the promising performer and I swore to myself that unless I would not attend any of the shows in which the young musicians use backtracks.
The use of backtracks makes it easy for some lazy musicians especially of the honswoggle type to manipulate and cheat the crowd, as they would simply lip-sync.
So it was with a pinch of salt and much hesitation that I attended Alexio Kawara’s performance last week at the 7 Arts Theatre during the Sunday Mail Bridal Gala Show.
To say the least I was made to eat humble pie by the delivery the young man gave, which was very polished and well choreographed such that I was left feeling comfy and really proud.
Alexio’s band – Shades of Black played the instruments with such experience and verve, that one would mistake them for old timers who have seen it all in the music industry. The playing of instruments put Alexio in charge of the flow as he managed to build a perfect rapport with the crowd and his crowd control was superb.
He could alter his choreographic moves with partner in crime Nesto effortlessly during the show without disturbing the flow of the music, which would have been impossible with the backtracks.
Winky D, according to his manager the affable Jonathan Banda is also now using instruments and he wanted to try out the new act last year at the Capleton show.
In fact, it was this new set up that made Winky D to pull out at the show dubbed by many as the “Show of the Year”.
To most people in the know of reggae music the late Gregory Isaacs is an icon who will always be remembered for putting that genre on the world map.
However, Isaacs suffered one of his worst embarrassments in his musical life when he staged a show here and put a sluggish performance where bye lip-sync over his songs.
The crowd didn’t like it and he was forced off stage. Had it not been for the timely intervention of the police a riot would have ensued. I think It’s high time that our urban groovers take a cue from Alexio and others and invest their takings in musical instruments, as I fear most will fall by the roadside if they don’t notice the winds of change which are sweeping across the plains. Just last week, celebrated South African artist Professor was in the “City of Kings” and much to the chagrin of his fans who attended his show in Bulawayo he disappointed with his lacklustre effort.
The Professor who was playing backtracks seemed to be playing only for himself without an aorta of concern to the public, who had parted with their hard-earned dollars to attend his show.
At the same show the self-styled King of Local hip-hop Stunner also didn’t endear himself much to the crowd with his performance which was also dominated by the use of the backtracks.
Stunner should start using live instruments instead of the annoying backtracks and with his experience in the music industry he should now offer a full package.
See Stunner is one of the best musicians in the industry garnering good record sales, usually sold-out shows and he is one of the leading musos in the country with the biggest endorsement deals.
So where is our main man getting it wrong, I think Stunner if he is Number One as he claims, he should lead by example and put his act at par with some of the leading musicians in the country.
Have you noticed during our national galas that the urban groovers always have the thunder stolen from them by the sungura musicians and I think it’s because of backtracks?
I am glad we have a good following of this column if the comments from last week’s The Ides of March were anything to go by and I would like to thank you for your observations.
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