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The Charambas, made up of Pastor Charles Charamba and his wife Olivia, were joined on stage by sungura gurus Sulumani Chimbetu backed by his Orchestra Dendera Kings, and Utakataka Express fronted by Peter “Young Igwee” Moyo.
The normally sleepy town came to life when the three well-known groups descended on Hwange Colliery Stadium for a night of song and dance.
The three groups first made a brief appearance in the afternoon at Makomo Resources Mine where Sulumani also took the opportunity to congratulate the Minister of Mines and Mining Development, Dr Obert Mpofu, who recently turned 61.
At the stadium, first on the stage around 7pm was the local group called Orchestra Farai Mose, which warmed up the stage until the Charambas, backed by the Fishers of Men, came at about 9pm.
All dressed in white, the Charambas delivered one of their best live performances.
Pastor Charamba and his wife Olivia were a marvel to watch as they took turns belting out songs from chart-toppers like Vhuserere, John 3:16, Verses and Chapters and Exodus.
From his latest offering, Pashoko Pangoma, Pastor Charamba played his songs that included Moriya Ineminana, Jehovah Ndiye, Nyika yeZimbabwe and Regera Kundisiya.
While singing Nyika yeZimbabwe, Pastor Charamba took some time to pray to God for the country to receive abundant rains during the coming rainy season.
Soon after his prayer, Hwange received its first light showers of the year.
Amai Charamba, who started off as a backing vocalist for the Fishers of Men, also showed her own musical prowess.
Boasting of three albums, namely Amen, Daily Bread and The Gospel, she played hits that included Rute, Zvanga Zvakanaka and Africa Restore Identity.
Then it was time for the Young Igwee to entertain the fans.
Wearing red shoes, a pair of black trousers and a red shirt, the Young Igwee did not disappoint either when he came on stage at around 12 midnight.
With his very energetic dancers jumping off and on to the stage, running around and dancing with fans all over the stadium, fans were left asking for more.
Peter played mostly hits done by his late father Tongai, which included Naye and Pindapanyanga.
He then made way for Sulumani, who arrived on stage in style.
After his band had played for about seven minutes and with the fans asking each other where he was, a top of the range car made its way to the stage and Sulu came out dressed in all green and jumped onto the stage much to the delight of the crowd.
The fans were also thrilled by Francis Dhaka, popularly known as “Franco Slomo” in action under Sulumani. He jumped ship from Orchestra Mberikwazvo to Orchestra Dendera Kings.
Eusabia Rayire of Eumo Promotions, the show organiser, said she had been impressed by the behaviour of the fans as the show was incident-free.
“This was a well attended show, a full house, an incident-free show and a splendid performance from all the artistes with Pastor Charamba praying for rain. Thanks to the people of Hwange and the corporate sponsor, Makomo Resources Mine,” she said.
Online Reporter