Will Macheso Copy Chimbetu?

By Garikai Mazara

In August 2014 I travelled to Masvingo to have a chat with Jonah Moyo who had just unveiled a tombstone for his belove wife, Philda. Philda was the inspiration behind Devera Ngwena Jazz Band’s Wangu P. It is during that chat, that Jonah Moyo fully explained to me the concept of “curtain-raising” a show, what it means – both literally and figuratively.

For example, he bragged about how they – Devera Ngwena that is – curtain-raised for UB40 and Paul Simon and how much of a big feather it was to their cap. Like you have to be a big brand to warm the stage for UB40. Or Paul Simon. He was trying to illustrate how powerful their brand once was.

If not that, they were warming the stage for Proud Chinembiri, otherwise known as Kilimanjaro in boxing circles. Besides being Zimbabwe’s heavyweight champion from 1982 to 1990, Proud was African boxing champion from 1982 to 1987. That is how hot Devera Ngwena was, warming the stage for such a brute force of power.

Or that they were so big and hot that they used to have Oliver Mtukudzi or even Leonard Dembo curtain-raise for them. That is how big Devera Ngwena used to be.

It is that context that I got to appreciate the constant haggling between musicians today on who goes to stage first during any live performances – it is a long-standing practice and norm, that whoever goes on stage first is the lesser act. It is like you are warming up the stage for the main, or major, act.

Reason why Winky D and Jah Prayzah always fight for that slot, neither musician wants to curtain-raise for the other. Besides egos, whoever goes on stage first conforms to that mentality, of warming the stage for the bigger – and better – musician.

But today my concern is not Winky or Jah, it is Alick Macheso and Diamond Platinumz. I got a whiff of this when my industry senior, Vivian Maravanyika, glowingly discussed how Simon Chimbetu (meant to be the stage-warmer) upstaged not only Koffi Olomide at Jamaica Inn but also Lucky Dube at the City Sports Centre. On different occasions that is.

That discussion got me worked up on how possible that Alick Macheso might upstage Diamond Platinumz this Saturday at Kadoma’s Odyssey. I have constantly moaned about how Macheso’s latest releases, not just the previous one, have been lukewarm and this criticism, justifiable to me, has been mistaken to mean that I am saying Macheso is past his prime.

Which is a wrong reading of my sentiments – anyone who knows Macheso live on stage will readily testify that the man can be wicked. And is wicked. One does not have to love sungura to appreciate his works on stage. And if he is able to summon all his energies on Saturday and probably mix that with a bit of anger from how his latest album has been luke-warmly received, then we are likely to witness a performance whose proportions we might not be able to describe.

Which means that Diamond Platinumz might need to come more than prepared for this epic clash. That Diamond Platinumz boasts a bagful of awards might not count for much, as Koffi Olomide might have witnessed when he was outclassed by Simon Chimbetu.

That was the time when rhumba music was music across Africa and even a significant part of Europe, especially France. But Chimbetu, the Master of Song, would have none of that and taught the colourful musician that this was his home-ground.

If Macheso gets into the same frame as Chimbetu that year, into the same mentality of wanting to show these foreign acts, that they can be novices, then we are headed for live performances only fit for the archives, come Saturday.

Saintfloew, Gemma Griffiths, Windy D, Jah Prayzah, Diamond Platinumz and Alick Macheso (not necessarily in this order) will be the line-up come Saturday, when Zimbabwe will converge in Kadoma.

See you there!