Macheso fails to pull crowd

Bongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
PROBLEMS in Alick Macheso’s private life seem to have not dented his confidence as evidenced by his performance on Friday night, but his fan base in Bulawayo is slowly dwindling. Macheso performed in front of about 400 fans at the Amphitheatre. His last show two months ago at the same venue attracted over 1,000 fans.

Maybe it was the cold weather or it was the liquidity crunch but what was evident was that they were fewer fans than last time.
Macheso’s performance was under scrutiny by fans who thought his usual buoyancy was dented because of Tafadzwa Mapako’s comments in the media about the size of his manhood last week.

Fans were waiting to see if he was goijng to sing Tafadzwa, a hit from his 2011 album Zvinoda Kutendwa showing that he dedicated to his now estranged wife, of which he didn’t.

The song was composed by the Sungura maestro when things were going well for the two. In it Macheso encourages Tafadzwa not to lose hope in all that she does and to trust in the Lord, the giver of blessings.

It was both a song of encouragement to his new love as well as a prayer to God to bless Tafadzwa and grant her wishes and dreams.
Some sections of fans were clamouring for the hit and other mischievous elements were remixing a song and reciting what Mapako said about his manhood likening it to a caterpillar.

This did not deter him as he invited Chase Skuza to stage and the duo performed together and promised to hold joint shows with Bulawayo musicians in his upcoming shows as he appreciates that they are in the same struggle to entertain people.

“My brother Chase, I have been coming to Bulawayo for a long time and I wish we could hold a show together.
“However, I failed to locate you all this time until now. I want to promise you that we will hold a show together next time I come here,” he said.

Skuza took the mic and thanked Macheso for his offer saying it would be an honour to play alongside Extra Basso.
Thereafter Macheso on bass guitar played Banolila much to the crowd’s delight, with Chase Skuza leading the vocals.

The lanky musician led Macheso’s crew in dance and thereafter went off stage with a round of applause.
Alan Chimbetu, who fans thought would not come as Macheso went on stage at 10.30PM came on briefly after 1AM to assure them that he was there.

The Dendera muso was dressed in a grey suit with a red shirt and also performed with Macheso.