Makomo Gala lives up to hype

Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor
THE generally sleepy town of Hwange came alive on Friday when the crème de la crème of local music descended on the coal mining town for the Makomo 9th Anniversary Gala.

A brief loss of sound around midnight, when Peter Moyo was almost concluding his set and a few skirmishes between police and revellers who wanted to get closer to the stage, did not dampen the electric mood inside Hwange Stadium.

Sungura maestro Alick Macheso led the star-studded line-up, which included the first family of gospel music — Pastor Charles Charamba and wife Olivia, Selmor Mtukudzi, Killer T and South Africa’s Mafikizolo.

Macheso demonstrated why he is arguably the greatest sungura artiste of all time — no disrespect to Leonard Dembo — after putting up a polished performance that closed the musical fete.

He belted some of his most enduring tracks such as “Mundikumbuke” and “Shedia”, plucked off yesteryear albums. Macheso’s bass guitar strumming prowess — including slamming it with towel but still producing a refined sound — together with his electric dances, have turned him into an institution.

The nimble-footed dancer, Selemani “Majuice” Mpochi, and the rest of the team, gave full value to revellers who paid $30 to dance the night away.

Peter Moyo showed he is maturing with each performance as he dished out a stellar show. He played tracks such as “Chubvu”, “Rudo” and “Muchina Muhombe” to the delight of revellers.

His voice may not be at its best as yet, and he acknowledges in a track on the latest album “Mwana we Murozvi”, but he has great command of the stage with the able assistance of top chanter, Shiga Shiga.

Mafikizolo arrived marginally late but didn’t disappoint once on stage, belting out their hits such as “Emlanjeni”, “Love Potion”, “Sfuni imali”, “Nisixoshelani” and “Udakwa Njalo”.

Earlier, Pastor Charamba and Selmor Mtukudzi had also delivered scintillating performances.

Pastor Charamba performed his hit songs “Sarudzai”, “Machira Chete”, and “Tauya Kuzomutenda”, among others.

Selmor won herself admirers after playing “Perekedza Mwana”, “Mutserendende”, “Ngoma Yauya”, and “Wakandipedzera Nguva”, among others.

The celebrations had started in the afternoon at Makomo Resources’ mine where delegates gathered to celebrate the company’s ninth year in operation.