It was an issue about how some musicians end up ditching promoters for various reasons to try and host shows on their own.
I also touched on the importance of promoters in lessening the burden for musicians in as far as organising shows is concerned.
As events on the local music industry unfolded towards Independence celebrations, there was a gala in Shamva where one Joseph Kufandiko, a known promoter in the mining town, decided to bring renowned musicians to celebrate this important day with his community.
He blew a very loud trumpet, inviting people from all parts of the country to come and see how people in Shamva valued Independence Day. It was a noble cause because such an event of immense national value.
However, as it later turned out, the celebrations became chaotic because of intermittent power failures that disrupted the show.
In as much as we would not spare responsible authorities of power provision in condemning this boob, I feel the promoter needs a poke on the ribs to remind him how a professional show should be run.
I understand he fell-out with Pastor Charles Charamba because of a mishap after the musician’s decision to quit his performance.
I am also privy to information that Charamba had to grapple with power outages for at least seven times during his performance before he called it quits.
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But judging from the barrage of criticism that Kufandiko unleashed at Charamba through all possible channels of public information, one would be forgiven to believe that Charamba had actually caused the power outages.
Kufandiko fumed and called Charamba all sorts of names blaming him for breaching his performance contract and threatening to take legal action. I do not want to defend Charamba’s action or blame Kufandiko for going ballistic on the issue because the gospel musician was the main attraction at the event.
My concern goes to the whole organisational process of the event.
I believe it is far-fetched to blame failure of any event on power problems in Zimbabwe.
We have seen promoters deliberately assuring music fans that power problems would be countered at most shows.
How often have we seen the phrase “Generator riri tii” (Back-up generator available) on gig advertisements?
Kufandiko had a back-up generator and was simply supposed to announce that they would sort the problem, say, after about three stoppages.
Why did he wait for so many stoppages and anger the musician to start rectifying the issue.
I feel it is unfair to heap all that blame on Charamba. To say the least, it was such a frustrating experience and anyone would have behaved in a similar or even worse way.
Honestly, how would one feel about having so many disruptions at one go?
This should be a lesson to promoters. Organising a show demands that one gets prepared for any disruptions and it is common knowledge that power outages have been the highest risk at live shows.
Promoters have gone further to erect tents to curb rain fears and hire extra-security personnel to ensure that cars and fans are safe.
Such should be the way to organise shows and Kufandiko is just exposing himself by blaming Charamba for walking off the stage.
It is commendable that he managed to solve the problem and have the show proceed but he should also understand how musicians feel when they are on stage.
I have talked to various musicians and they value the tempo that each show presents.
Besides their own efforts, musicians get inspiration from things like sound system, audience response, marketing hype and the general flow of the show.
If Kufandiko knows such issues, he should understand why Charamba behaved the way he did. That Charamba is a gospel musician and a pastor does not mean that he should compromise the quality of his performances.
He is a musician just like any other and considers various facts when he is on stage.
After all, music is a business that demands seriousness and professionalism from all parties involved in an event or production.Feedback:[email protected]
