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Chaos rocks Sama Festival

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LONDON — UGLY scenes marred the recent Southern African Music and Arts (Sama) Festival that was headlined by Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, Jah Prayzah and Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave in Leicester, United Kingdom.

LONDON — UGLY scenes marred the recent Southern African Music and Arts (Sama) Festival that was headlined by Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, Jah Prayzah and Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave in Leicester, United Kingdom.

BY NEL KATSANDE

Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave
Fungisai Zvakavapano-Mashavave

The music festival that was organised by Y2K Promotions had glitches from the onset, with chaotic scenes outside the Leicester Arena, spoiling what could have been a historical music festival.

Hundreds of people shoved and pushed their way into the venue for free, as there were no security personnel to man the entrances, while some fans, who had pre-purchased tickets failed to make it into the venue.

Pregnant women were seen being pushed and fondled in the melee.

One of the fans, Admire Murape, who attended the show said: “This is a waste of money. I should have stayed home.”

Away from the chaos, outside the venue, the public address system was so poor that fans could hardly hear some vocals, especially when Jah Prayzah was performing.

Over the years, some Zimbabwean music promoters in UK have been criticised for failing to invest in the state-of-the-art sound systems.

On stage, Ninja president, as Winky D is known to his legions of fans, proved he is a force to reckon with, with a polished act that left fans clamouring for more.

The Gafa hit-maker’s stage antics and voice were polished.

He had the crowd on its feet as he belted his hit songs, while Tuku’s performance on the night was below par, as he failed to ignite with his once familiar eccentric dance moves.

The Tozeza Baba hit-maker looked weary and brought his wife Daisy on stage to try and spice things up, but with little success.

Jah Prayzah, whose music is popular at parties and other gatherings within the UK among the Zimbabwean community, also failed to live up to the hype.

The sound on most of the songs he sang sounded distorted.

He waited until the last minutes of the show to sing his popular songs like Mudhara Vachauya.

Fungisai struggled to connect with the crowd.