Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
OVER the last few years, a music revolution has been quietly taking place in Bulawayo.
To those that do not frequent the city’s nightspots, this revolution is largely unnoticed, as it unfolds in what some might consider the underbelly of society.
Bars, nightclubs, pubs and other such places of leisure are usually viewed with suspicious eyes by wider society.
These, after all, are the places that take husbands from their wives and children away from school as they seek to indulge in wise waters whose wisdom has always been subject to dispute.
However, it is in these joints, shunned but yet always fully subscribed, where true music innovation takes place. In Bulawayo, nightspots have led to a resurgence of the live band, with most joints playing host to some of the city’s best instrumentalists without whom, a night out now feels empty to some revellers. A few years back, Bulawayo was a DJ’s playground, as most bar owners found them more economic and therefore a convenient source of entertainment than the live bands of old.
DJs, after all, just need their decks and CD bag to get crowds moving and dancing.
Live bands on the other hand, come with an entire ensemble who all want to get fed.
As the DJs emerged at the turn of the century, it therefore made sense why bands began to fade from the spotlight in the City of Kings. Gone were the Ebony Sheiks and Maunga Jazz Band and in their place, young DJs playing the latest tunes from a wide range of dance music genres.
City of Kings
For a moment, it seemed that the live band, for so long a staple of Bulawayo night life, might become extinct.
In the last few years, however, the live band has made a roaring comeback in the City of Kings, reasserting itself as the crown jewel of the city’s entertainment scene.
Young people, who had seemed suddenly allergic to musical instruments when they discovered the Virtual DJ app on their laptops, were now suddenly picking up the drums and guitars, reviving an art form that seemed in danger of extinction.
Today, it is rare to find a nightspot that does have some form of live entertainment at least once per week.
Last weekend, this live music revolution reached a new crescendo, as the Bangani Gardens, located at the Bulawayo Chiefs Village, became one of the first to gather a number of the city’s bands in one venue.
On Sunday, Ramsay K and the Big Ray, Friends Band and the Fab 5 Band, all found themselves playing on unique setting, the roof of the Chiefs village. It made for a rare clash among these city bands, as they usually find themselves spread across various venues.
Speaking to Sunday Life on the sidelines of the gig, the entertainment manager of Bangani Gardens, Mr SK, said the battle of the bands was a feature that they planned on making a permanent fixture at the venue.
“This is a new place and we want to set new standards and set a new pace that other joints in Bulawayo will find it hard to keep up with. There are a lot of bars and pubs in the city and you need to have something that makes you stand out from the rest. That is where this concept comes into play. We want to have all these bands playing in one place because we want to be known as the official home of the live band in Bulawayo. Everyone else hires one band here and there but we will set ourselves apart by having them all together, which makes for a wonderful and unique musical experience.
“There are a lot of bands but not enough nightspots so at some point, we have to start hiring more than one at each setting. That is what we want to do here and from the look of things, people love the concept. It is no longer enough to just sell ice cold beers, which we have in abundance by the way. You need a wholesome entertainment package and as the new kid on the block, I believe that is exactly what we are bringing,” he said.
Mr SK said as an entertainment manager, he was proud to have seen the growth in the appreciation of live music in Bulawayo.
“A few years ago, we had a situation where we thought that maybe one day, young people would not even know what live music sounds like because the bars and pubs that they frequent rarely offer it. However, all that has changed. Live music is not something that’s played at weddings only now and I think for Bulawayo in particular, that’s very important because this city has a proud tradition when it comes to that.
“What we would like to see, is more of these young bands playing their own music and not just covers. Of course, owners would love to see their joints full because these covers are popular and right now, are bringing people through the doors. However, as Bangani Garden we will be giving them space to experiment and play their own music because we believe it is just a matter of time before people are jamming to these songs in the same way they love the old hits,” he said.