Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
WHEN South African producer Vigro Deep took to the decks, well after midnight last October at the Umguza Yatch Club, it heralded somewhat of a new dawn on the Bulawayo entertainment scene.
For over a year, there had been no shows in the City of Kings, basically putting paid to the city’s often-claimed loudly title as the party capital of the country.
This of course, was no one’s fault. The City of Kings, like every inch of the earth, was preoccupied with the struggle to repel Covid-19, the highly infectious virus that was blazing a trail of death and illness around the globe.
But as cases decreased, and fewer lives were lost by the day, Government gave the green-light for the easing of containment measures.
For Bulawayo music promoters, this was the signal that they had been waiting for since the entertainment industry went into a long and financially crippling hibernation in March 2020. The floodgates were opened and South African artistes flocked to the city in an unprecedented manner.
Vigro Deep was followed by DBN Gogo, Major League DJz, Boohle and a host of other A-list artistes from Mzansi. Most, if not all of the shows, returned a neat haul for promoters, with the events usually oversubscribed, as Bulawayo succumbed to the bite of a party bug that seemed to know they had been starved of live entertainment for the best part of two years.
However, despite the overwhelming attendance in most of these shows, revellers have been feeling somewhat shortchanged by the service at shows hosted in the city, particularly since the turn of the year.
For one thing, the cheapest ticket at the shows goes for US$20, a tidy sum during a time when the Zimbabwean fiscus, like other economies around the world, is still reeling from knocks from Covid-19.
For that amount of money, revellers usually expect a flawless gig but over the last few gigs, that has not been the case, with glitches that have left many wondering whether they are getting value for their money. Run-ins with police, gigs shut down without explanation have become the order of the day.
However, arguably the biggest gripe has been over the failure of artistes that have been advertised to perform as promised. A few weeks ago, Cassper Nyovest, Amaroto and Naak MusiQ failed to take to the stage after law enforcement officers shut down their gig.
Last week, revellers were once again left wailing after only Sjava took to the stage, despite the fact that the show was supposed to be a triple threat, with Sir Trill and Felo Tee completing the bill.
Needless to say, fans were unhappy at having forked out US$20 for much less than the entertainment they had been promised. The organisers of the gig, Fife Street Events, said they had also been let down by the acts that they had booked.
“After doing everything in our power to ensure that all logistical requirements were taken care of, and having received assurances from his team that he would be able to perform, Felo Tee did not make the trip to Bulawayo.
But on the day of the event, the artiste’s team had informed us that he had sufficiently recovered from the bout of illness he suffered from during the week.
Meanwhile, Sir Trill missed his flight and also did not have a valid Covid-19 test as required. Attempts to make other transport arrangements for him were fruitless. We are now in talks with the artistes’ management teams to arrange new dates for the shows,” they said in a statement.
While fans might be unhappy at how the last few shows have turned out, promoters are also now sitting on the edge, as the number of mishaps happening at the shows is generally bad for business, as it discourages audiences from coming out. Twice bitten, many fear that revellers will be very shy whenever another gig is advertised.
While Sunday Life sources claim that Amaroto are reportedly set to return to makeup for the precious hiccup at Khumalo Hockey Stadium, according to Mduduzi Mdlongwa of 3D Events, the organisers of the show, they are not legally obligated to.
“In the event that the artiste comes through and there are hiccups on the side of the promoter, the artiste is not liable for anything because he would have fulfilled his contractual obligations.
It then becomes up to him, if he perhaps has a good relationship with the promoter, to say maybe he will come back at a later date. Maybe on that occasion he charges you less but you have to find a day when he is free. But if he wants to refuse, he can refuse.
“So, the situation that we had with Cassper, the artistes are not at fault. They are not obligated to come back and it becomes a relationship-based agreement whereby you ask them to redeem that time. They flew on time, they were there on time and they fulfilled their contractual obligations,” he said.
Mdlongwa said that sometimes promoters in the city were being duped by dubious booking agents in South Africa, leading to costly no shows.
“They know that they can be sued even if they are in South Africa. As long as the contract had been signed on both ends. That’s why when there’s a double booking, they are quick to want to refund you money.
This is very rare because this is business. If an artiste doesn’t show up, something would have happened. Usually when an artiste doesn’t show up, promoters would have booked using a wrong agent.
“For example, you use K99 to book for Maphorisa when he is in fact under Lawk Communications. K99 might take the money because they know they’re connected to Maphorisa but Thuli, his booking agent, would not know about the gig and maybe has already taken a booking in Malawi.
Meanwhile, you have transferred the money and you have started advertising and at the same time Thuli tells K99 that I’m sorry Maphorisa will not be available. This is what happened when we invited Black Motion.
Mdlongwa continued: “We had always used a specific agent to book them but we did not know he was no longer represented by Spirit Motion. So, when he found out that Black Motion would not be available he lied to us and said they don’t want to perform in Zimbabwe,” he said.
However, Mdlongwa said it was always a red flag when artistes did not post about their gigs on their social media pages prior to the event.
Last week Felo Tee had posted that he was forced to cancel gigs due to a sore throat. Meanwhile, Sir Trill, rumoured to be a “difficult” act to deal with, had been playing a game of hide and seek and after his no show, reportedly kept on telling promoters he would call them later on.
“Depending on the terms of the contracts that they would have signed, they’re not obligated to advertise your show unless if you pay.
However, a day before or two days before, they will inform their fans that they are coming. Let’s say if he misses the flight, he has to apologise and then you reschedule for another day. For you to know that they are coming, there has to be confirmation from their pages on social media.
“Even if the artiste doesn’t want to post, the booking agent will prove to you that the artiste is booked and he is coming. For example, Sjava didn’t want to post the show but his booking agent posted on other pages like his label page, Ambitiouz Records just to show that this guy is coming and that’s what we used.
Others are quick to agree, like Young Stunna who did everything that was asked. Cassper or Maphorisa refused and they posted a day or so before on their Instagram pages.
Maybe it’s because they are stars and they do these things at their own discretion. Blaq Diamond refused to do a video drop but they posted on their statuses and that’s what we used. If you see none of that then everything is a bit suspicious,” he said.