The ManicaPost
Liberty Dube
Entertainment Correspondent
SUNGURA maestro, Alick Macheso’s show at The Platinum Leisure Centre ended prematurely last week on Saturday after he was forced to leave the stage by law enforcement agents.
The show had every signs of becoming one of his greatest performances at the venue as the bassist and his band members put up exceptional and inimitable choreography.
It was not clear why the show was called off as Macheso was reportedly instructed to stop performing at around 3.35am, leaving scores of fans who thronged the venue disappointed.
Scores of disappointed fans had to troop out of the venue way before dawn.
Macheso usually finishes his shows just before dawn.
However, some uniformed police officers had been seen milling around the VIP area just before the incident took place.
It was the first time for a show to end prematurely at the venue.
On the night, Macheso opted to belt out a series of his old compositions from his yester year albums such as Vakiridzo, Simbaradzo, Zvido Zvenyu Kunyanya and Zvakanaka Zvakadaro before churning out songs from his recently released album, Tinosvitswa Nashe, which is one of the attributes that made the show memorable.
Heir to the Utakataka throne, Peter Dhewa Moyo, who was the supporting act, put up a sterling performance before Macheso’s performance.
The venue’s proprietor, Isau Mupfumi and Alick Macheso, through his manager, Tich Makahamadze, confirmed the incident.
They both apologised to the fans who parted with their hard earned cash to watch their idol in action.
An ordinary ticket was being sold for US$10, while one would pay more to enjoy the gig from the VIP section.
Said Makahamadze: “It was an unfortunate incident. We would like to apologise to our fans who thronged the venue for the inconveniences caused. We always value our fans because Orchestra Mberikwazvo is their band. It belongs to the people, hence the tag Band Revanhu. We are, however, happy that our fans remained calm and collected after the calling off of the show.”
Mupfumi, who was in Harare when the incident happened said: “This is the first time that a gig has been called off at the venue. For the past 20 years we have been doing shows, nothing of this sort has happened.
“I was so worried when I heard about this incident as I was away. We would like to apologise to our fans for the inconvenience. We will ensure that nothing of that sort will ever happen again in future because we value our patrons,” said Mupfumi.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Norbert Muzondo could neither confirm nor deny the incident.
