SIMBARASHE SITHOLE
THE legendary Chimurenga musician, Thomas “Mukanya” Mapfumo, pulled a sizeable crowd on Sunday night at his farewell concert in his rural Guruve home of Mashonaland Central province.
At the concert, Mukanya shared the stage with prolific guitarist Progress Chipfumo, but an initial poor turnout forced a reduction in ticket charges to $5 from $10.
Most Chimurenga music fans reportedly lost confidence in Mukanya after he cancelled his Guruve show last week.
“We were not sure if the legend (Mukanya) would come to this rural area for this show since he betrayed us last time, so some of us could not afford to go to the farewell gig again since we had lost confidence in him,” Godfrey Zhuwaki said.
Some fans were of the view that the ageless musician was being sabotaged by the generation gap with most of his supporters preferring to listen to his music in the comfort of their homes.
“This low turnout might be a result of generational gap as very few outgoing people know or love Mukanya’s music, so you will find out that most of his supporters are old people who in some instances passed the age of attending shows, but would prefer listening in the comfort of their homes,” Vikela Mukuruwe said.
Some of his staunch supporters were, however, grateful with his performance despite a low turnout.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“We are elated to part with Mukanya despite the numbers. This is a Sunday and some people would be going to work tomorrow and I have also noticed the reduction of admission fee was announced late so many people were not aware,” Vale Nyanhete said.
