Mtukuzi displays musical panache at Botswana Craft
Chippa Legodimo | Monday October 13, 2014 15:01
The world-renowned singer’s performance at Botswana Craft during the 20th edition of the Mascom Live Session left many shouting “encore”! He and his band were outstanding, combining humor with skill to the amazement of the audience. Hundreds thronged the secluded venue, leaving very little space to maneuver, let alone dance.
Tuku, as he is adoringly called, and his backing band of four men and a female vocalist seemed to enjoy the attention and applause from the large crowd, which seemingly spurred them to dish a brilliant performance.
The instrumentation was simply superb, with some raucous snare drum, a roaring combination bass-guitar drum, a synthetic effect of a harmonic keyboard spearheaded by Mtukudzi’s lead guitar.
The fans, who had waited patiently as the engineers prepared the sound for the famous musician, were thrilled just to see him appear from backstage with his guitar. There were ecstatic cheers, with each competing to capture him first on their smart phones.
Within minutes on stage, the elderly musician had taken the jubilant crowd on a musical journey, as they cheered and whistled to almost every gesture and sound of his guitar.
Mtukudzi’s songs were mostly in Shona. Not surprisingly, the Zimbabwean contingent of the crowd were especially ecstatic as they rode in paradise humming along happily as they could easily understand the lyrics.
The audience was also treated to a sample of some songs from Mtukudzi’s latest release.
However, it was classic songs like Zenzeni and Neria, which thrilled the already fans.
Mtukudzi’s modern dance moves were the cherry on top as he wrapped up the fun night.