AS predicted by NewsDay in August, Jamaican musician Kalado, born Eton Gordon, got a rude awakening during his debut Zimbabwe tour when missiles were thrown on stage from all directions during his set on Saturday at Old Hararians Sports Club.
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It is becoming the norm for visiting artistes to disappoint, leaving Zimbabwean artistes to rule the gig.
As what happened in October last year when Nigerian musician D’Banj failed to live up to his billing at the Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival, Kalado failed to perform to expectations.
Despite the fact that some of his tracks receive airplay on local radio stations and of course on the clubbing scene, his performance left a lot to be desired.
His performance was reduced to some pornographic show when he got up close and personal with local female dancers one after the other.
And sadly he did not get it as he later told NewsDay soon after his set that he believed the throwing of missiles was in appreciation.
“It was my first time performing in Zimbabwe and was impressed by the crowd. On the cans I thought it was a form of appreciation since I don’t understand the Zimbabwean language,” Kalado said.
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He said he was not affected by the behaviour of Zimbabwean fans and if invited again he would come for a second dance.
“Zimbabwe has the talent I have done some free-style with Killer T and Tocky Vibes,” he said.
Prominent wheel spinner Godfather Templeman defended Kalado’s performance and said local fans should be patient with foreign artistes.
“Zimbabwean fans are not patient. Kalado is just an upcoming artiste in Jamaica and he came here to perform for Zimbabweans not Jamaicans unlike in the case with local artistes who went to perform outside the country for Zimbabweans migrated to those countries,” said Templeman.
“There was nothing wrong with his performance. You find that if he was performing for Jamaicans living in Zimbabwe missiles could not have been thrown.”
Templeman said, on dancing with local girls on stage, the promoter of the show (Digital One) was to blame. “Kalado performs in United States of America and probably does the same dance routines, but it is only that here the environment is different and certain acts might not be appropriate and tolerated like abroad,” he said.
As has become the tradition Winky D was a darling of the audience when he gave a top notch performance, while Tocky Vibes had fans stampeding to get closer to the stage.
Winky D came on stage around 1am after the self-proclaimed Queen of Dancehall Lady Squanda put up a stellar performance during her one hour-long act.
Just like an ordinary artiste with no grand entrance, Kalado came on stage in the wee hours of Sunday.
The You Make Me Feel singer found it difficult to match the previous performers who had set great standards and missiles started raining on stage resulting in him cutting short his performance.
Tocky Vibes had to come to his rescue from the hostile crowd jumping onto the stage clad in a purple gown to the applause of the audience.
For a moment Kalado was reduced to a backing vocalist with the youthful chanter proving his prowess on the mic throwing in hit after hit among them Kure Kure, Aenda Nenyika, Ndini Ndinorira, Simudza Maoko and Mhai, among others.
Tocky Vibes went on to apologise to the fans for his failure to perform at the recently held Harare Dancehall Cup Clash show organised by Chipaz Promotions where he was bashed by the soldiers.
The singer went on to do a free style track: “Ndaingonzwa zita rangu muchidaidza, vakandirambidza kupinda masoja akandidhaivhira kundibata sikipa kunge zikeeper mukabva maitenga.”
The MC had a tough time introducing Kinnah to the stage as fans kept asking for more.
