Zimpapers Logo

Mbulelo Mpofu, [email protected]

OVER the weekend, Bulawayo was alive with a plethora of events lighting up the city in pure showbiz fashion.

One of the events was the 41st anniversary of the imbube ensemble, Black Umfolosi on Friday at the Bulawayo Theatre, patrons in the city were treated to music, fashion, art, and motion pictures.

Black Umfolosi was formed in 1982 and has gone through line-up changes, but amid all of that, Sotja Moyo has been the only founding member standing till this day.

Now joined by his two daughters, Luzibo “Luchi Shiki” Moyo, and Lulamile “Khaxa” Moyo, Moyo said the imbube scene has changed as it was synonymous with being a genre sung by only males.

What could have been a Black Umfolosi gig without songs such as, Unity and Ngikukhulisile Mntanami?

A lot has changed with choreography and re-jigging of old songs being the anchor of Black Umfolosi now.

DAB Three Events are onto something and the showbiz sector should definitely take note as on Saturday, its inaugural DAB Three Events All Stars gig got off to a flyer at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. Fashion was intertwined with music as the House of Urban Fusion fused different types of fashion during interludes in between artiste performances. On the runway, models clad in diverse artistic pieces were a spectacle.

One by one, DAB Three Events’ artistes made a beeline to perform and these included their resident DJs, Adoe, Marvellous, Mandie Mae, UGagisa, Great Stars Ijongosi, Mzistozz Mfanafuthi, and guest performer, Khwezi.

A stone throw away at Ster-Kinekor, movie aficionados watched the première of Jewel Embryonic Studios’ “Lights Out: Book of the Blind”.

At The Oasis, jazz singer, S’coo stood her own, performing in front of a few people who had made the trip for the gig with nascent mbira player, Sahii also catching the eye.

However, one thing to note about these shows is that they were not satisfactorily attended. This may be due to certain factors inclusive of ticket pricing, venue placement, and the mere idea of them being hosted on the same day.

With the exception of the 41st commemoration of Black Umfolosi gig, the rest of the shows were staged on Saturday.

S’coo’s gig at The Oasis, a venue in Belmont, out of the CBD may have posed transport challenges to some patrons who wanted to attend and that may have affected attendance, but with the DAB Three Events All Stars show, attendance might have been negatively affected by the S’coo gig which ran simultaneously as these were both day into night gigs so there was competition for fans.

Elsewhere, the long-awaited Vusa Mangena album launch slated for the Word of Life Auditorium flopped due to “administrative mishaps”.