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Casper Nyovest

Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspondent
Entertainment, thrills, excitement and skirmishes marked the Casper Nyovest gig that was held at the Glamis arena on Saturday.

The gig was meant to celebrate Impala Car Rental’s 10 years of service.

The gig had two phases, namely the sungura afternoon and the dancehall and hip-hop night.

The fusion of these genres gave merrymakers variety and as early as 11am Glamis Arena action had started.

Sungura afternoon was poorly attended with most of the musicians performing for few people.

Somandla Ndebele took the stage early and performed most of his songs that gave him a household name.

During his performance the few fans were seated while others were already enjoying drinking beer.

“Makobvu Nematete” was one of the songs that managed to capture the mood of the handful crowd.

The musician set the ball rolling for several sungura musicians that performed including upcoming artistes in the genre.

However pundits said the young musicians need to change their game plan to lure the hearts of many music lovers who have shown their loyalty to other genres like dancehall.

“You can see this crowd it simply tells how sungura is losing lustre. These young stars need to up their game so that they lure back fans,” he said.

Lucky Kumene was among musicians who managed to please the handful crowd.

He performed popular songs much to the delight of the merrymakers.

He has hired controversial dancer Peter Kagomera and former Suluman Chimbetu dancer Tafadzwa Gwanzura who managed to spice his performances. Their dancing routines left the crowd excited.

Kumene proved his prowess and he is bound to change the fortunes of sungura music.

Peter Moyo also performed at the event and his stagework is improving by each day.

The Young Igwe, as the musician is fondly known, mesmerised the crowd with songs from his late father Tongai.

“I am happy that songs from our new album “Mopao Mokonzi” are fast gaining ground. This is an encouraging move that will see us developing,” he said.

The musician hailed Impala Car Rental for their efforts to bring back sungura at such big shows.

After his performance Romeo Gasa took the stage.

Gasa who made an impact with his album “Simbi Hombe” seems to be on the right track.

The young sungura musician has introduced ladies on his frontline.

The musician tried to give his best with songs “Dadi” and “Kutanda Botso” being popular among the crowd.

Another musician Simon Mutambi belted his popular songs that include “Prophet” that is topping charts on other radio stations.

Making waves with the popular song “Saina”, young Tatenda Pinjisi also made people happy with the hit.

Experienced guitarist and lyricist Gift Amuli proved his prowess.

The musician hired the services of chanter Gift “Shiga Shiga” Katulika and former Alick Macheso guitarist Donald Gogo.

By the time of Amuli’s performance the crowd was slowly improving.

Shiga Shiga kept the momentum alive with chants and jokes that left the crowd in stitches.

Alick Macheso proved why he is still the king of sungura, with his dances and songs that kept fans on their toes.

After the master of ceremonies announced the sungura musician’s arrival on stage the crowd began singing “Macheso Mai Mwana”.

The musician performed songs “Amakheboyi”, “Chengetai”, “Charakupa” and “Gungwa” much to the delight of the fans.

Suluman Chimbetu performed after Macheso and the musician managed to keep the momentum.

“Sean Timba”, “One Way” and “Alice Mbewe” were among songs that managed to thrill fans.

After the sungura night, thousands of music lovers thronged the venue waiting for Cassper Nyovest.

Among the performers was Jah Prayzah who took to the stage before the main act.

Cassper Nyovest was the biggest winner of the night with fans dancing to each and every song he performed.

For an hour the musician managed to keep the fans excited. Fans jostled to get closer to the musician after his performance and security details had a hard task to contain the crowd.

Freeman, Winky D and Soul Jah Love were among other performers.

However, Soul Jah Love’s delay to come on stage caused a stir as people protested by throwing missiles on to the stage.

Even when he finally took to the stage, he failed to live up to expectations and the crowd seemed not to be amused by his behaviour.

Several draws were conducted at the event with several people walking away with TVs, bicycles and laptops. A lucky winner went away driving a car.