Chronicle Editor
Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
YES, it’s true. The much-anticipated “Big Boys Party” which was scheduled for last Sunday in Bulawayo flopped and was apparently marred by ugly and embarrassing scenes as it was shut down by the police.
South African artistes Cassper Nyovest, NaakMusiq and Amaroto were supposed to share the Khumalo Hockey Stadium stage with local acts, POY, King 98, Noreen Moira and a host of local DJs.
Lately, shows involving international acts have been characterised by police interference as the events are said to be violating stipulated curfew times.
Apparently, residents near Khumalo Hockey Stadium complained of noise from the venue and it is alleged that the police shut down the show due to violation of lockdown regulations.
Before the shutdown, a few local acts had performed and these included Noreen Moira, POY and DJ Liz.
As a move to pacify revellers who had paid to attend the show, the organisers issued a statement apologising for the mishaps and said they were in talks with the South African artistes to reschedule the gig.
“3D Events Management would like to express its profound and sincere apologies to valued patrons on the shutdown of the Sunday Summer Big Boys Party on 27 February at the Khumalo Hockey Stadium.
“The shutdown was unforeseeable as we had done all the logistics to our level best to make sure that the show was a success. We are in talks with the artistes’ management to organise new dates for the show,” show organisers said.
They organisers advised those who had paid to attend the show to get in touch with them.
The Big Boys party’s flop as well as that of Major League DJz in Harare four months ago and the Scorpion Kings concert in Bulawayo that almost failed to take off due to the same reasons opened up conversations about what can be done better to organise shows that would be successful.
Apology issuances and getting to the root cause of the nuts and bolts of the matter are two different things and a survey of patrons who attended the Big Boys’ Show had mixed feelings on shows being hosted nowadays.
Noreen Dhliwayo said the problem is with the timelines that organisers prefer to use to introduce their main acts.
“Most of the times, I’ve noticed that headline acts do not perform until late into the night. I attended the Blaq Diamond show last year and I remember they went onto the Umguza Yacht Club stage right after midnight and performed for two minutes. I wonder why promoters do that.
“Those are some of the things that ultimately spell their demise and risk their shows getting shut down. Why can’t we just start gigs on time rather than wait for midnight? On the Big Boys’ Party shutdown issue, staying up all night meant no sense as the following day was a Monday and everyone was supposed to rest enough in preparation for work and school,” said Dhliwayo.
Another patron, Thomas Ngulube said such shutdowns are avoidable if performances are done before 10pm.
“If we attend a show and by 10pm the headline acts step down, everything will be alright and shutdowns by the police may be avoided.
Plus, you wouldn’t want to risk robberies happening in the night, would you? So, I think if shows are done by 10pm, then we’d be headed in the right direction,” Ngulube said.
Most of the sentiments shared bordered around the timeline of the shows and it was only fair for promoters themselves to weigh in on the matter.
The subject itself was touchy-feely and a lot of promoters preferred to be missing in action, but Ralph Sibanda, one of the organisers of the 9ice Festival stayed put.
Sibanda said there are lot of factors that make it a viable decision to stage headliners late, chief among them being making a kill on alcohol.
“Usually, organisers cash in more on alcohol and food sales at the venue. Having the act perform early means less revenue. This is mainly because international artistes are expensive to book and gate takings don’t really make these promoters a profit.
“Besides that, there’s been a general culture since Kalawa Homecoming and shows such as Black Motion DJs to have acts perform late,” said Sibanda adding that sometimes, it’s not even about trying to maximise sales, it is just a bad culture among music promoters.
In South Africa where most of these artistes come from, it is common to perform early (AKA once performed at the Huawei Joburg Day at midday in front of thousands of people). Big festivals in the world like Rolling Loud and Coachella stage artistes during day time and this raises a question of why we still host night shows that risk being shut down.
A classic example of how even night shows can thrive is the Major League DJz gig that was hosted at The Smokehouse last year. The show started at about 7pm and by 10pm, people were filing out, heading home.
Sibanda added that international acts usually arrive early for shows making it very possible to stage shows early.
“South African artistes usually arrive as early as 4pm so there’s really no need for them to perform after midnight and risk the show getting shutdown,” he said.
With regards to residents complaining about noise levels, it was suggested that show promoters call on the services of professional sound engineers who will have the know-how of managing sound.
“The Hockey Stadium is located in a residential area so DJs and Sound Engineers had to know their decibel (sound) limits in order not to disturb surrounding residents.
DJs and sound engineers need to be trained or consult experts on that issue since most stadiums and venues are in reality, actually located within a stone’s throw of residential areas. However, a compromise will somehow need to be struck with regards to noise caused by gigs.
Even after some hockey tournament, it’s not unusual for there to be some sort of gig to close the tournament. Also, the venue just can’t stand there idle waiting for the next hockey tournament,” commented one.
So, what’s the way forward for event organisers? Should they continue doing what they are doing now with the hope that they will negotiate with the police on the sidelines of the show?
Sibanda suggested new ways to package shows so as to alleviate current problems.
“Going forward, promoters need to find new ways to package their shows so as to make more revenue and make them more appealing such that crowds can be drawn even during the day. A classic example of this is Munch and Sip, a local daytime event that always sells out without the help of international artistes,” he said.
Another issue that arose was that of having international acts touring the city before they perform as part of their “meet and greet” with fans.
Sibanda said all of that depends on several factors which include the artiste’s willingness to do that free of charge, communication between management and the promoter (sometimes the artiste may feel like it’s promotion work and they invoice you for that. Also add car hire and convoy costs to that list and promoters usually avoid that option because it’s costly).
“There’s also an elitist culture in the mix as promoters and their friends want to be the only ones with access to the artistes since they would be the ones who brought them in.
That’s why even after performing, they guard the artiste jealously and make it hard for the artiste to interact with their fans. So touring and taking pictures with the artiste becomes a stretch,” he said.
What do you think should be done? Send your suggestions through. – @eMKlass_49
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