Music festival fails to impress

Naledi Sande: Arts Reporter

The second instalment of the Mosaic Music and Cultural festival failed to emulate the standard it set when it was launched. Marred by technical glitches and a low turnout, the event that had performers like musician Clare Nyakudjara, poet Peggie “Umind” Shangwa and rising hip hop artiste Sharky was a big yawn.The few revelers that attended suggested that rain fears could have led to the low turnout. But it seemed the organisers had not invested much on the stage setting as it was difficult to identify the performers on the poorly lit stage.

For an event which they knew would go into the night, they should have made a provision for good stage lighting. Event organizer, Kudakwashe Mkudu however said the stage equipment and lighting was Motor Action club’s responsibility.

“The venue owners disappeared but they were the ones responsible for that and there was nothing we could do about it,” he said.

About the poor turnout, he said the rains might have scared the people away since it was an outdoor event. The sound system did not help the situation in any way as it lacked clarity and artistes struggled to execute their sets smoothly.

Sharky had to improvise to finish his set as the microphone was no longer giving clear feedback to the speakers. Despite the technical misgivings, there were a couple of positives at the Festival.

Upcoming rapper, Dexter Baysiq wowed the crowd with his song titled “Vhurai Masuwo”, which lifted the merrymakers` party mood. Host for the night, radio personality Lady K also did a splendid job coordinating and directing proceedings on stage. Her continued interaction with the crowd ensured that the closing acts still had someone to perform for, despite the frustrating sound and stage set.

One reveler, Tapiwa Gwaya blamed the organizers for focusing their marketing efforts towards a certain exclusive demographic.

“The organizers targeted the Twitter communities known as Twimbos, they should have spread their efforts to the greater Zimbabwean community,” she said.

She said they limited their scope to members of online communities neglecting other marketing avenues like physical posters.