DJs reign supreme

Bruce Ndlovu
A glance across the weekend artiste rosters for the Bulawayoaï¿½ï¿½s clubs and night spots gives one the impression that the main entertainment for most at night is provided by the cityaï¿½ï¿½s legion of CD bag totting DJs.

Bulawayo is the house music capital of the country, so it is not a surprise that the bulk of the entertainment should be provided by DJs, the greatest exponents of the genre.

While South African DJs pride themselves on being notable music producers in their own right, most of the cityaï¿½ï¿½s exponents are limited to playing sets comprising mainly music from other artistes.

However, although the cityaï¿½ï¿½s dance floors are filled with people getting down to the tunes dropped by the DJs, the effect of their popularity as main sources of entertainment has also had the effect of pushing live performers to the periphery.

Gone are the days when live acts would light up city clubs, bars and taverns with their magic. This has also had the effect of numbing the tastes of the city revellers, who mostly yawn at the prospect of watching an artiste strumming on the guitar than a DJ dropping their favourite joints from around the world.

This has led to a serious lack of variety on the local entertainment scene and also starved young upcoming artistes in genres where the DJ is not essential of exposure to the cityaï¿½ï¿½s well attended clubs and up-market nightspots.

For the entertainment manager of Cape to Cairo Bonasani aï¿½?Sannieaï¿½? Mafela, one of the few joints that have kept the spirit of live entertainment alive, it is a struggle to defy the expectations of revellers and provide live bands on a regular basis. Doing so means ceding a large part of your clientele to other nightspots and instead aiming for a aï¿½?matureaï¿½? crowd.

aï¿½?As Cape to Cairo we cater for a mature clientele and the music that plays at our place is line with the crowd we attract. We canaï¿½ï¿½t all be the same and have DJs because we need to diversify and also help give local artistes a chance to shine,aï¿½? he said.

However local DJs, who have also in the past complained of poor remuneration from nightspot owners as the city is flooded by amateur DJs willing to play for free, may also only be a product of their environment. New technology has meant that club owners can now cut down on the costs of hiring a full live band.

aï¿½?The DJ booth is the new stage. A club owner would rather pay one DJ than a whole band. Besides this is what the club patrons want in most cases,aï¿½? said DJ and Djembe Monks member Slimzaar Wa Afrika.