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alongside Dendera maestro, Sulumani Chimbetu and emerging reggae star, Jah Prayzah.
The mega-show was held at the Midlands Hotel on the eve of Independence Day and the venue was fully packed.
The much-publicised show lived up to its billing as the musicians serenaded the fans until the early hours of yesterday in a manner that they never imagined.
First on the stage was Jah Prayzah of the Gochi Gochi fame. He opened his act at a time when the crowd was still trying to gain entry into the packed-venue, a car park that had been improvised into a musical theatre.
It later turned out that the venue was too small to host three of the country’s hottest musicians.
Jah Prayzah, with his mbira-fused reggae music, put up a scintillating performance, which left fans clamouring for more.
He performed for almost three hours before leaving the stage to the crowd favourite, Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi.
The legendary musician’s entrance on the stage was greeted by wild screams from mostly his female fans.
Tuku, as the superstar is affectionately known, played his yesteryear hits, spicing his catalogue with some of his latest hits.
Mtukudzi’s song Munendipasa Manyemwe proved to be the fans’ favourite as it got them on their feet.
The whole crowd could sing the song word for word and demanded an encore but the superstar did not oblige.
Tuku has indeed seen it all in the music industry and he led by example. He proved that he was still going strong in the music world.
His manager Sam Mataure described Mtukudzi as the father of Zimbabwean music who was doing his best to lift up the Zimbabwean music industry together with other artistes.
Sulumani later joined Mtukudzi on stage and the two performed their popular compilation Kwedu before Mtukudzi retired after performing for more than two hours handing over the night to the young artiste.
The supercharged Dendera star Sulumani did not disappoint either.
He put up a superb and polished act.
This was Sulumani’s first show in the City of Progress since December last year.
Sulumani described the Gweru Show as one of his best shows ever in the city.
“I loved this show. Thanks to our fans that continue to support us. Shamwari dzangu dzinomira neni pazvakaoma (my beloved friends who stand by me even in difficult times). We had fans that drove all the way from as far as South Africa, Harare and other parts of the country to come and just watch us perform,” he said.
Sulu who is riding on his father’s legacy promised Bulawayo fans a good party when he and his mentor Mtukudzi visit “Skies” in the coming winter season.
He said he was scheduled to perform in the city of Kings and Queens early this year but failed after cancelling his United Kingdom tour.
“It’s been long since I visited Bulawayo and I really miss the beautiful city of Kings. We have been invited by certain music promoters to perform in Bulawayo on a date yet to be announced,” he said.
Sulumani said the Tuesday show was part of his independence celebrations as the country turned 32 yesterday.
He said Zimbabwean independence did not come cheap but through a protracted war fought by the gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe.
“It is important for artistes to recognise independence which granted them the freedom to perform wherever they want unlike before,” he said.
Sulumani performed until to the wee hours of Independence Day.
However, this journalist could not witness the whole show’s proceedings as he was manhandled by a seven-member group of suspected ladies of the night for taking photos of them dancing with their partners at the show.
The group teamed up with three other men to assault the journalist and force-marched him to Gweru Central Police Station where the police released the journalist without pressing any charges.
Unsatisfied with the way the law enforcers had handled the matter, two of the suspected ladies of the night threatened to take matters into their hands and deal with the reporter.
One of the ladies claimed to be a lover of an army brigadier-general while the other alleged to be the girlfriend of a Member of Parliament.
“Uchachema chete iwe mwana iwe, tichasangana newe ne Thursday (You shall regret your actions. We will certainly meet you on Thursday),” said one of the ladies with short hair.
The ladies went on to take pictures of this journalist so that they would not forget him. They made it clear that they wanted to follow him up and beat him, once they find their pictures in the newspaper.
The ladies later came back to their senses and went on to plead with the journalists not to publish the photos, as they wanted to protect their marriages and relationships.
Online Reporter