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Entertainment Editor
Tocky Vibes, Oliver Mtukudzi and Alick Macheso staged good performances at Ice and Fire Pamuzinda on Friday night. It was an interesting combination of genres as the musicians took turns to entertain the huge crowd that thronged the venue. Tocky Vibes was first to perform and did justice to a slot that he was given to warm the stage for his elders. In fact, he went further than warming the stage and almost stole the show from Tuku and Macheso.

Given that Macheso’s performance was marred by sound hiccups, Tocky Vibes could have been the man of the night but Tuku showed him how it is done.
Tuku provided the best act of the night to prove a point. Earlier in the day, there was rumour that the musician was seriously ill and admitted at a private hospital.

The musician performed with zeal that put to rest any doubts about his energy on stage that night. He played most of the songs from his latest album “Mukombe WeMvura” and dug deeper into his bag of old school tunes to the delight of the audience.

For about four hours, Tuku played hit after another. The show was meant to celebrate his latest album and he did just that.
He was in a celebratory mood and he introduced each song with serious energy. “Matsva here paIce and Fire?

“Tambidzanai mukombe wemvura mupedze nyota. (Are you feeling thirsty at Ice and Fire? Share the calabash of water to quench the thirst),” Tuku shouted as he belted the song “Kamungurungude” from the latest album.

He also explained the challenging situation in his life that led to the composition of his yesteryear hit “Dzandimomotera” in the 1970s.
Tuku kept fans on their toes throughout his performance before Macheso joined him on stage at around 2am. Macheso paid tribute to Tuku’s bass guitarist Enock Piroro and drummer-cum-manager Sam Mataure when he did an impromptu chant for the instrumentalists.

Tuku and Macheso danced together for sometime before the latter broke into dancehall chants that sent the crowd into frenzy.
When Tuku left the stage for Macheso, the sungura musician had a bad start in office as engineers took time to balance the change-over of instruments.

About three songs that Macheso played at the beginning of his slot were marred by poor sound and he had to repeatedly remind the engineers that all was not well on stage. Some people had started moving out of the venue when Macheso found the solution. From then until daybreak, the musician gave a spirited performance.
Fans danced until sunset as Macheso unleashed hits like “Charakupa”, “Madhawu” and “Madhuwe”.

People went crazy when he did his “Simudza Chaunacho” routine in an exciting way. He ended his performance with some fancy footwork that reminded people of the musician’s old days of serious “borrowdale” dances.

It was an exciting end to a night that had been started well with Tocky Vibes blessing the stage with his fast-improving live act.
Tocky Vibes proved that he can stand his ground at any show. The crowd loved Tocky Vibes’ tunes.
They sang and danced along.