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Moses Ngwenya

Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
ALTHOUGH there was a low turnout at the Splash Festival Re-Energised and the Soul Brothers show at the Large City Hall in Bulawayo on Friday and Saturday respectively the entertainment value was high.

Splash Festival Re-energised was being held as a make up for a washed out show last month and Soul Brothers were making a return to the city for the first time without their late lead singer David Masondo.

The shows were expected to pull scores of fans who had last seen Soul Brothers over 10 years ago and Dan Tshanda three years ago. It was also days before Christmas and people tend to let loose during this period.

However, this was not the case as people only started trickling into the venue on Friday at 8PM for the Splash Festival Re-energised.

On the poster was Tshanda, Matshikos, Dalom Kids, Peacock, Mpho Majika and the crew delivered.

In 2010 when Splash held their show at the Khumalo Hockey Stadium, as early as 5PM before gates were opened scores of people were already milling around the stadium and until late into the night there were long queues of people trying to gain access.

The euphoria surrounding Dalom Music at that time was that Dan Tshanda was riding on a hit song Lufuno. The last time Tshanda and crew were in Bulawayo was three years ago at Hartsfield Rugby Grounds, but the numbers of people at the show, though big, showed signs of waning.

On Friday it was a different story as, there was no jostling at the gate and the venue was virtually empty. It started filling up at around midnight with supporting acts entertaining the crowd.

As with any show there were some incidents. The crowd were constantly being annoyed by two MCs —DJs Woza Dynamite and Ntokozo from South Africa.

They disrupted everything on stage during breaks with their antics and soon the audience’s patience started to wear thin. Sensing that their uncouth behaviour might cause chaos, organisers resorted to switching off their mics whenever one of them had it in hand.

Apart from those two forgettable characters the show went on and it was a good night out for Dalom Music lovers as the artistes delivered.

The next day at the same venue the Soul Brothers headlined the show.  It was also a low turnout, but it was a more mature crowd.

The show was vastly different from the previous night’s which was punctuated by wild dancing, sing-alongs because of the high levels inebriation among fans.  At the Soul Brothers show, fans were seated watching attentively. When artistes such as Ihashi Elimhlophe, Zinja Ziyamluma and Steve Kekana had finished their acts they were given a round of applause each time.

Wild cheers ushered the Soul Brothers to the stage.

Although they do not have the enigmatic velvet voiced Masondo, the group still had a well-choreographed act.

Moses Ngwenya, the only surviving founding member of the group, was at the top of the stage playing away on two keyboards.

All in all the show was a good outing for Mbaqanga music lovers who are the older generation.

Perhaps if the show had been held in the afternoon, at the same venue more of them could have attended.