Low turnout at clubs during Easter

Showbiz Reporter
The Easter holidays have come and gone, leaving no sign that they were there. Back then during this period, people would still be nursing hangovers after a long weekend of serious partying — especially after having celebrated Zimbabwe’s Independence Day and Easter.This year, nightspots were generally empty during the holiday. Victoria Falls was most disappointing because as a tourist resort, one would think it would have been a hive of activity, but alas, clubs were close to empty.

On Independence Day and Good Friday, one of the resort’s prime clubs, Wild Thing, had a record 10 people in the club. Of the 10, there were probably three who had paid to enter the club — showing that people probably had little to spare for clubbing, especially considering that it was mid-month and most people had not yet been paid. On Saturday, the club got a number of clients as there was a Zimdancehall invasion which saw King Shady performing. Though King Shady put up a spirited act, the event still did not attract as many people as expected.

Other spots though like Explorers and Shoestrings had a sizeable number of people, but still it was not good enough. Tour operators said the reason why there was a low turnout in clubs on Independence Day was that most tourists were scared.

“The Internet has really killed Zimbabwe. It’s quite sad because on Friday, tourists generally did not go out because there is still this myth that Zimbabwe is not a safe destination. They were scared that MDC and Zanu-PF would have fights on Independence Day so they did not want to put themselves at risk,” said one tour operator.

In Bulawayo night spots also recorded an average turnout, starting with Jah Prayzah’s album launch at the Rainbow hotel which attracted less than 200 people.

A local DJ, Mzoe said there was a slump in the number of revellers who went out to nightspots. “This year, business started on a low note, yet in previous years Easter Eve used to draw large crowds as patrons would come in their numbers.

“We only got a significant number of patrons on one night when one of our shows drew a bigger crowd. All in all, business was just average compared to other years,” said Club Forty 40’s DJ Mzoe.

Mzoe’s counterparts at other clubs attributed the low business to the cold weather stating the fact that people had also gone to church conferences. In Zimbabwe, people usually celebrate by partying or going to church. It seems most clubbers went to church as most nightspots had few revellers. Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa’s Judgment Night held in Harare on Saturday attracted almost the whole country as people attended the event in numbers with South Africa’s gospel diva, Deborah Fraser providing quality entertainment.

Noble Maphosa, a regular Wild Thing patron put the blame on promoters and club managers saying the low turnout was caused by their lack of creativity.

“Although people may not have had much money to spare, I put the blame on promoters for failing to line up gigs during the holiday when everyone is not in a hurry to go to work. Generally there was no show worth spending money on as the resident DJs tend to play the same music anyway,” said Maphosa.