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Alick Macheso

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
IT was a year since Sungura maestro Alick Macheso last performed in Bulawayo and the first time he did since he launched his album Dzinosvitsa Kure and his fans were thirsty for his music and on Friday night he gave them what they wanted.

The setting was Khumalo Hockey Stadium for Macheso’s date with his Bulawayo fans as they had not sampled songs from his new album live ever since it was released two months ago.

But the droves and droves of fans that normally attend a Macheso show were not there on Friday night. Many in the crowd were not too impressed by the venue that was chosen by Extra Basso and crew saying it was too far from the city centre and they were concerned about the safety of their cars.

Also some were concerned for their safety as it was not a walkable distance to the CBD when the show ended. Even the bars that were dotted around the venue were not receiving as much business as they anticipated and ended up knocking down prices of alcohol from $2 to $1.50 in a bid to up sales.

Macheso got on stage at around 11.30PM and got down to the business of the day. He gave the fans one of his songs from the new album Chikuru Kurarama. Fans had been waiting for this moment to sample the new album with their star as they have done before with previous albums. They sang along as Orchestra Mberikwazvo led by the Macheso belted out the notes to the tune while he plucked away at his bass guitar.

With that he had warmed up and the show started delving back to his selection of hits from his previous albums. And what is a Macheso show without the antics of his dancers led by the enigmatic MaJuicy. Fans requested, demanded and clamoured for MaJuicy to show them his nimble feet and athleticism of which he obliged. While he was doing that, in the crowd it was the same, people were dancing with some rolling on the ground in joy or pure drunken stupor.