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Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi

ALL eyes will be on Zimbabwe’s music superstars Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi and Thomas Mukanya Mapfumo when they share the stage at a concert dubbed the Big Bira at Glamis Arena in Harare on April 28.

The much-anticipated clash on home soil brings a lot of fond memories way back before Dr Mapfumo, as he is lovingly called by his legion of fans, relocated to the United States in self-imposed exile.

Already, word on the streets is that the concert has been renamed TukuMukanya.

Dr Mapfumo has been living in Oregon for the last 14 years where he has been touring and teaching mbira at different universities among other things.

He has not set foot in Zimbabwe since that time and the closest he performed at home was when he staged a concert last year across the Limpopo where things went haywire due to poor marketing, so he claimed.

However, this time, Mapfumo also known by such sobriquets as Hugo Hurricane or Gandanga (Cde), will be all out to prove a thing or two since his long absence from the Zimbabwe’s mainstream music scene.

Thomas Mapfumo

In a previous interview, Mapfumo made it clear that he was homesick and wished to come back home.

“My wish is to come back to Zimbabwe, there’s no place like home, but the country has become inhabitable due to Mugabe’s misrule and bad policies,” he was quoted saying.

Currently, the guru is rocking the airwaves with the politically and socially charged album titled Danger Zone. One of the tracks is Chauya Chauya kuZimbabwe Kusiri Kufa Ndekupi which has political undertones on Zimbabwe and provides power for positive change and unity.

For Mtukudzi, this show will be an opportunity to redeem himself as he has been clouded by the likes of Winky D and Jah Prayzah. This will also be a good platform for him to properly unveil his 10-track Hany’ga album which he recently launched at the Pakare Paye Arts Centre.

Tickets to the show have been pegged at $10. – GemNation/Showbiz Reporter