Stompie�s launch flops

Chippa Legodimo | Tuesday May 26, 2015 17:13

On a weekend littered with live shows around the town, revellers had a tough choice ahead of a night of entertainment.

Could the low turnout have been as a result of the young musician’s long absence from the scene, or perhaps the fact that the release itself has not created any excitement in music circles?

The youngster, who broke records with Tichara Stompie seven years ago, took a long break from the scene to focus on his studies.

Apart from the annual free Maitisong Outdoor Festivals at Stompie’s place of birth, Old Naledi, there were several other shows around town including one by Slizer.

The line-up at Trekkers was mouth-watering.  Apart from Stompie and Slizer, other big names included Astely Gops, Tyte, T.H.A.B.O, Street Gang, P-Mac, Kast, Mingo, Zulas, Exodus, Gaolatlhe, Thabile Mazolwane and DJ Fondo Fire. It, however, seems this was still not enough to lure the crowd to the show.

Constant power cuts at the popular joint, coupled with the opening of the indoor facility only compounded Stompie’s woes for the launch of his new album, Makarapa.  Stompie’s mother, Jenny Wanthata, who also acts as his manager argues that the low turnout had nothing to do with her son’s fading popularity.  “Remember we were supposed to start at 2: 00 pm but there was load shedding. We organised a generator which also failed to power the sound system and the lights and we had to wait until 7:00 pm when power returned.

Then we experienced those power cuts at the venue.  A lot of people came but could not stay because of the darkness.

Many of the artists did not perform only a few managed to perform, “ she said.

She indicated that a meeting was scheduled between her and club owner to find out what could have gone wrong with the power supply.

“But surely we shall set another date for the launch because we believe that the launch could have been much better if it was not for the power problem,” Wanthata said.