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Mbulelo Mpofu and Brandon Moyo, Showbiz Reporters
DESPITE a low turnout at the inaugural The Boss Festival in Bulawayo, the event managed to give the few fans who made their way to ZITF Hall 1 on Tuesday evening, a good time.
If the Boss Festival is to be the replacement for Kalawa Homecoming, then the event organisers, Boss Entertainment have a strong case as the South African artistes that they booked stood up to the plate, just like the yesteryear Kalawa acts.
Performances from award-winning rapper Nasty C, Njelic and Robot Boii demystified the norm of international artists performing less than 30 minutes and gave revellers a good show. For a long time, South African acts have been labelled disrespectful and for some reason, Nasty C, Njelic and Robot Boii seemed to be in the country to correct the wrongs with polished performances.
From well-rehearsed choreography, lyrics and a compelling stage presence, the artistes provided a show of merry-making proportions. The proceedings at ZITF started off slowly but quickened the pace when drum-gurus Djembe Monks took to the stage and warmed up the crowd.
The trio who performed at the start of the event gave the fans a good run for their money. The energy they had was unmatched and the skill was second to none.
They started their performance with most revellers seated but by the time they left the stage, most of them were on their feet. Multi-award-winning dancehall artiste, Buffalo Souljah could not even keep up with the momentum but managed to give reggae lovers something to talk about.
Holy Ten, coming in after Voltz JT, managed to keep the revellers on their feet again, with both artists during their stints on the stage, giving fans a taste of one of the biggest songs in the land, “Fire Emoji”. The much-awaited main act, Nasty C took to the stage in the early hours of yesterday and gave his fans a run for their money.
The whole crowd was up on their feet when the “Hell Naw” hitmaker owned the stage. The show would not have been complete without the hit song, Hell Naw and the rapper left the city’s revellers in their feels, closing the set with “Send Me Away” a song where he featured Rowlene.
Nasty C was followed by Amapiano singer, Robot Boii who mesmerised the crowds with his well-rehearsed choreography and a few hits that he has, ending his first-ever performance in the City of Kings and Queens by performing “Salary Salary”. Multi-talented Amapiano artist Njelic, who is a DJ, vocalist and comedian was the last act of the show, taking to the stage at around 3.30AM to conclude what was a poorly attended show.
On their part, event organisers may want to seriously consider marketing their event next time as this one was poorly marketed. Efforts to market the event using a digital truck a day before the show did not do much to salvage the situation.
Another factor that could have affected them was competition as two more shows were staged at The Boundary and Eyardini on the same night. ExQ and Nutty O seemed to have attracted the most patrons as another South African duo, Murumba Pitch had a fair attendance at Eyardini. – @eMKlass_49/@brandon_malvin
Online Reporter