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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent

SOUTH AFRICA’s DJ Fresh believes that the now defunct Visions Night Club was integral for artistes like him as it is through this popular joint that they realised how big house and kwaito music was in Zimbabwe.

Visions Night Club, undeniably one of the best in Bulawayo, was among the first nightspots that South African artistes visited in the city during the prime of their careers (from mid-90s to mid-2000s). Artistes such as DJ Fresh himself, Oskido, Christos, DJ Cleo, Spykos, Brickz, Mono T, Mafikizolo and DJ Glen Lewis graced the nightspot during its heydays and often got positive feedback.

The club was however, closed in 2011.

Speaking to Babongile Sikhonjwa during the Groove Saturday show on Skyz Metro FM this past weekend, DJ Fresh said: “Visions gave us a perspective on how far and wide house music had gone. The assumption was that in Zimbabwe, people mainly preferred hip hop and RnB.

“There was no understanding of how big house music and kwaito was in Zimbabwe and the crowd at Visions opened up our eyes.”
During the interview, the SA DJ, who was in the city for a show at Cosmopolitan Night Club, also reminisced about another popular nightspot, Talk of the Town (ex-Hustlers and now #Hashtag) saying he partied there in the early 90s when he was in his teens.

“I partied at Talk of the Town once when I visited Bulawayo to see my cousins during my high school years. That was the time I got introduced to Radio 3 (now ZBC’s Power FM).

“The lasting memories from that experience at Talk of the Town was the huge speakers that looked like wardrobes,” said DJ Fresh.

After the interview, DJ Fresh took people back into history with his music at Cosmopolitan on Saturday evening. He was accompanied by a drummer who complemented him well.

Although the venue was not as packed as previous shows, the die-hard DJ Fresh fans had a great time on the dancefloor as the DJ shifted from electro dance music to this year’s Amapiano beats.