Music fans in Bulawayo have taken a swipe at promoters, accusing them of fleecing them of their hard-earned cash through bringing in musicians who stage lacklustre performances.
The city has in the last two months seen musicians coming from mainly South Africa to perform.
The performances have however been mired in controversy after very popular musicians performed for only a few hours.
Making the situation even worse was the fact that most of the shows were pegged at $10, which has become a fee for just more than one-hour performances by musicians.
The latest of these developments was E’lvovo Derrango’s show that was held over the weekend.
While many were hoping that he would be on stage for a long time, the musician only performed in the wee hours of Sunday morning and left the stage quite early.
His disc jockey had to take over from him. A sizeable crowd witnessed the performance at Queens Sports Club.
Revellers who were keen to see him on stage clearly enjoyed the performance and danced the night away but his early departure was a disappointment to many.
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Last month, another kwaito star, Professor, left his fans clamouring for more following his short performance.
“This is getting out of hand. We had a similar situation when Professor came and we have been further disappointed in the same way. I think these promoters have to seriously discuss this issue with the musicians. It is not proper for them to milk us this way,” said a disgruntled fan. Another fan who was at Professor’s show registered his disappointment.
“We are sick and tired of these promoters who just want to take our money. All the time they bring in musicians who don’t give us value for that money,” said Senelisiwe Sibanda, a fan of kwaito star Professor.
Professor performed in Bulawayo last month. He is actually a star, a highly respected musician in Durban where he hails from.
Professor, who is from the Kalawa Jazzme stable, however angered his fans by performing for just an hour when they had been waiting the whole night for him to make an appearance.
“We deserve to be respected and not taken for a ride. These promoters need to be told once and for all that what they are doing is bad for business,” said Mncedisi Ndlovu, a fan of house music. A music promoter who refused to be identified hit back at the fans saying “they are people who do not attend shows”.
“People who come to the shows hardly complain. In fact, the only complaint I heard was the one about Professor’s show. We cannot please everybody,” he said.
“People in Bulawayo like to attend shows that feature disc jockeys. We give disc jockeys much time because that is what most fans enjoy. If a disc jockey plays for up to five hours, that is what fans want,” he said.
