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Bongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
SOUTH African kwaito musician Zola, real name Bonginkosi Dlamini, stole the show at the Kalawa Homecoming party in front of an estimated 10,000 revellers who braved the rain at Queens Sports Club on Saturday night.It was real Celebration of 20 years of kwaito music as the Kalawa Jazzmee Homecoming Party brought nostalgia of the heydays of the genre.

From a galaxy line up of the best in the game during their time that included Mandoza, Alaska and Mduduzi Masilela, Zola was the pick of the crop.

The artistes were relentless and entertaining when they were on stage.

Zola represented the era between 2000 and 2006, while Mdu represented the pioneers of kwaito music from 1994 till 2000. Mandoza took over the mantle with Zola and had glittering careers during their stints in South African showbiz.

Zola who was performing in Zimbabwe for the first time got on stage amid wild cheers from fans who nearly broke down the barricade at the front. Bouncers and police had a torrid time keeping the crowd at bay during Zola’s performance.

Zola reminded people of how he used to dominate the kwaito scene with his socially conscience lyrics that resonated to South African youths and was a major influence in the pop culture in Bulawayo.

Each and every track Zola performed fans sang along. Popular tracks were Mdlewmbe, which is the title track of his 2000 award winning album, Seven, Don’t Cry and Ghetto Scandalous.

Those who were old enough to watch Mandoza in his prime in 1998 in Bulawayo would testify that he brought that same energy on stage 16 years ago.

Songs like Godoba, Nkalakatha, Sgelekeqe, Uzoyithola Kanjani? And 50 50 were a hit.

Earlier on, the godfather of kwaito music, Mdu, went on stage and was also a crowd favourite. His laid back husky voice and lyrics flowed seamlessly with the familiar beats of his music. The Tsiki Tsiki hit-maker had people jumping on their feet dancing to his tunes. He performed tracks such as Mazolo, Tsiki Tsiki, Is Vokol Is Niks, Mdu or Die, Tshomi yabana.

When fellow kwaito artiste, Brickz got on stage to feature in the track Vuum Vuum the crowd seemed overjoyed that he had returned to stage.

The Sweety My baby singer put up a splendid performance during the show and he was also a crowd favourite.

Other artistes that also impressed were Alaska of the Zimbiri hit, Uhuru of the Tjukutja fame and Character who showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with in the kwaito game.

Before Character went on stage Jah Seed of the Bongo Maffin fame, brought some dancehall to the whole scene and played songs by local artistes such as Tocky Vibes, Soul Jah Love and Killer T.

Local girl Berita Khumalo went on stage and also did her part to be counted among the artiste as she sampled tracks from her new album Songs of Empowerment and the ever popular Thando Lwethu.

Kwabatsha Generalz, Skaiva of House Rebels and Defined House also got the crowd on their feet.

It was a case of technical glitches when Buffalo Soldier and Queen Vee went on stage as in some instances the bass was low or not there.

The crowd lost patience and started gesturing for them to leave the stage.

Fans started lining up as early as 5PM and by 6PM the queue to enter the show was very long as people tried to enter the venue as early as possible.

While people were waiting to enter the venue, the heavens opened up and there was a heavy downpour that lasted close to 30 minutes.

Rather than running for cover, most of the people who were in the queue stayed and got soaked.

At 8PM the queue was now longer. This was because those who had paid in the afternoon and went away returned and those who were paying to enter. There was no separate gate that catered for those who had tags and also those who wanted to enter the VIP or VVIP had to also queue although they were paying more. Some were so patient that they waited for close to three hours in the queue just to enter the biggest show in the city during the festive season. There were many that left the venue after waiting for too long and went to other night spots in the city.

Nightspots such as Club Eden and Horizon were charging $10 to enter and patrons packed the places to the brim.

Inside the much coveted VIP and VVIP became a free for all after some revellers discovered that they could evade security and go round the back and enter the area. The incentive for this was to get into the VVIP area to be close to celebrities.

Most fans stayed in the VVIP area where they were seen taking pictures with the South African artistes.

However, there was little or no advantage of being in the VVIP area.

Buying drinks was a headache unless of course one was drinking expensive whisky, wines and vodkas that were ordered by the bottle.