The Sunday News
I DIDN’T go for the Nama awards in Harare this year. The honest truth is I wanted to watch Tuku sharing the stage with Ringo at the Large City Hall. It has been a while since I saw the old man — Tuku – on stage. It is a public secret that I am a die-hard Tuku fan. I am also a Ringo fan. Whenever I am travelling Tuku and Ringo are always my companions. The two go wherever I go — their music does something to my soul, something I cannot describe or explain.
So there I was, excited about seeing the two on the stage on the same night and in Bulawayo for that matter. I was over the moon until I saw a statement from Tuku music saying the old man was ill and would not be making the trip to Bulawayo.
Sure enough, Tuku did not make it for the show. It was left to one of Bulawayo’s consistent dance company Iyasa and Ringo to entertain the crowd. Most people were disappointed by Tuku’s absence. They felt robbed, cheated — I included. A huge number decided to stay away, with some going to Horizon for the Tocky Vibes show. However, if truth be told, those who turned up for Ringo were not disappointed. Ringo gave the crowd his all. His best. And the best parts of the show were the sing along moments. The crowd sang and danced with Ringo — most swimming in their own dreams of love. Yes. It was a good show. Way above average.
The negative were very little. Besides the absence of Tuku, which in all honesty cannot be blamed on the event organisers, there was no proper lighting system put in place. The lights in the hall are house lights. Event managers need to bring stage lights. The absence of proper stage lights made it difficult for the crowd to see the faces of the artistes who were on stage clearly.
There is also a need to work on the appearance of the stage itself. Those City Hall curtains are very old and very dull. For a show dubbed pre-Valentine Show, organisers needed to think beyond artistes’ performances. They need to try and provide an atmosphere or an environment people would talk about outside the show. Show business is about spectacle. It is about creating experiences.
Once promoters start to understand that then they will begin to see a big change in attendance during live shows. Again, once it was clear Tuku was not coming the organisers needed to slash the gate price by half. That way more people would have paid to watch Ringo. Unfortunately, the organisers were reluctant to do so.
Of course, you cannot blame them as they had invested too much on the show and were now focusing more on breaking even.
Arts promotion is surely a risky business. Ask any promoter. With Tuku not turning up the organisers lost out on serious revenue. It might take them months or even years to properly recover. Of course, no one, not even Tuku, could have foreseen the illness and prevented it.
It had me thinking that perhaps our arts promoters need to start engaging insurance companies and encouraging them to craft a policy focusing on arts events.
In other countries policies like that are available. Promoters insure their events against natural disasters and accidents. That way promoters are covered and can still continue in business. But as things stand the promoter or event organiser suffers alone — taking the full burden of the loss alone.
So after Ringo’s performance a few of us rushed to the Tocky Vibes show at Horizon Pub. And we were pleasantly surprised. The place was like a beehive. Whoever brought Tocky must have been smiling all night. The attendance that night proved beyond doubt that Zim dancehall is the genre of the moment. Youths are crazy about it. The only let down on the night was the sound system. It reminded one of the sound system one normally finds at a growth point. It was terrible.
The truth is I regret having missed the Namas. Yes. I do. Watching the awards ceremony on television was torture. There were too many technical glitches. I am reliably told that it was better watching everything at the venue. I also regret missing that five minutes of fame on the red carpet and obviously the other two minutes on the podium accepting the award. It was obviously a great night for Bulawayo artistes. A great night of celebration.
Let me conclude by congratulating all Nama winners, particularly from Bulawayo and the region. The 12 awards that came our way has more than united us. Hopefully these awards will open more doors for local artistes.
