Hooliganism, a performer, promotera��s nightmare

. Bruce Ndlovu
DURING his appearance at the Castle Lite Block Party, a visibly heartbroken Cal_vin had to stop midway through his performance as missiles rained on stage.

a�?This is why Bulawayo cana��t have nice things,a�? the rapper said.

Fresh from a trip to Germany where he had received royal treatment from fans that side, the harsh treatment from Bulawayo seemed to crush the rappera��s will to go on performing.

a�?As a performer its very disheartening and you dona��t know what to do at that stage. You begin to realise that you are in harma��s way because these objects aimed at you are meant to harm you. Panic hits you and you are at a loss about what to do,a�? said the rapper a few months after he saw the ugly side of Bulawayoa��s notoriously hard to please revellers.

However, Cal_vin has not been the only victim of Bulawayoa��s boo boys who are making it impossible for local artistes to perform freely. During the Kalawa Homecoming gig, an unknown rapper was driven off stage before he had finished a couple of his songs, while the Black Motion gig was ill-tempered from beginning to end.

In fact, Black Motiona��s gigs in the city seem to attract big ill-tempered crowds that have little room or time for anyone but the tribal house duo. Last year, things turned ugly when one of Babongile Sikhonjwaa��s crude quips rubbed them up the wrong way.

For Mduduzi Mdlongwa of 3D Events, this only results in more losses for them as they bear the brunt of whatever is broken during the missile throwing sprees.

a�?The cost of fixing whatever would have been broken is too much and there is no need for the crowd to go that route because Ia��m sure that their grievance could be addressed using other means,a�? he said.