onlinemedia
Robson Sharuko
H-Metro Editor
CHIMURENGA music legend Thomas Mapfumo waved goodbye to his UK fans with a sold-out show, which attracted 3,000 fans, at the New Bingley Hall in Birmingham, on Saturday night.
During the same weekend, trailblazing hip hop artist Shone shared the stage with some of the world’s superstars, including Burna Boy, at Wembley in London.
Shone played before 90,000 fans.
Admittedly, Shone is just a small boy and cannot be mentioned in the same league as Mukanya.
But, for him to play at such a mega show, even just as a supporting act for British supergroup Coldplay, showed just how much the musical world has changed, even for the likes of Mukanya.
Shone doesn’t have a big profile back home and he will struggle to even fill the smallest musical venues in Harare.
But, what he has are strong business connections.
This is what has helped him to find his way into the circle of artists, who can be the supporting crew for a super group like Coldplay.
And, that is why he was able to play before a crowd of 90,000 fans at England’s biggest stadium at the weekend.
Inevitably, questions will have to be asked:
- How big would Mukanya’s farewell UK show have been, for instance, had the Chimurenga music legend established the same contacts which have helped the likes of Shone to rub shoulders with the likes of Chris Martin of Coldplay and Burna Boy?
- Would it have been before about 3,000 fans when the likes of Shone, thanks to his powerful contacts, can play before 90,000 fans at Wembley, even just as a supporting act?
- Did those, who were supposed to have established such links for Mukanya, fail him?
- If we are now having an estimated 27,000 women just paying their way to attend a Doek & Slay show, are 3,000 fans a good and fair number for a farewell show for Mukanya, even in the UK?
Whatever the answers, the brutal reality is that the musical world has changed dramatically and it just doesn’t sound right that a legend bows out before 3,000 fans and a novice plays before 90,000 fans during the same weekend, and in the same country.
The business of the game has also changed dramatically, too.
That is why someone like Shone, who is not even a household name back home, could become the first Zimbabwean musician to perform before a combined ONE MILLION music fans in just eight months.
These are staggering numbers.
Coldplay are playing 10 sold-out concerts at Wembley.
Depending on the number of shows he features in on this leg of the concert, Shone could end up having played before over a million fans this year.
The ten Coldplay concerts at Wembley, which are all sold-out, are set to attract a combined number of 900,000 fans.
Shone was also part of Coldplay’s record-breaking tour of India earlier this year.
He became the first Zimbabwean artist to play before a combined audience of 223,000 fans at two shows, spread over two nights, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, on January 25 and 26.
On the first night, on January 25, Coldplay played before 111,581 fans while 111,989 fans turned up for the second night, the following day. It is now the record for the largest-ever stadium concerts of the 21st century.
Billboard said this beat the record set by George Strait who, in June last year, played before110,905 fans at Kyle Field at Texas A&M in the United States.
However, this remains the record for the largest stadium concert in the United States.
Billboard reported that the Coldplay concerts in Ahmedabad hold the record for the largest-ever stadium shows of the 21st century.
Shone also played before a combined 150,000 fans during the Mumbai leg of the Indian tour.
This means that he played before more than 383,000 fans in India alone.
The Coldplay Music of the Spheres Tour started in March 2022.
A record-breaking10.3 million tickets had been sold by December, which is also a record for a tour by a musical group.
About half of those tickets, 5,2 million, were sold in Europe where over 87 shows have been held.
Coldplay has also set a new record for the highest attendance in music tour history, surpassing Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
The Guinness World Records announced that the band’s Music of the Spheres World Tour has sold over 10.3 million tickets, exceeding Swift’s 10.1 million.
And, that was before the final eight months of the tour were included, which means that the numbers will rise significantly when the final figures are factored in.
Online Reporter