It seems like a long time ago since we last saw Jamaican artistes in Zimbabwe and the likes of Ex-Q, Nutty O, She Calaz, Jah Prayzah, Alick Macheso, Alexio Kawara, Enzo Ishall and Winky D belting it out live on stage.
in the groove
with Fred Zindi
Remember the unalloyed joy of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with screaming, sweating strangers? Or being doused in some liquid thrown from somewhere behind you, hoping it was beer? The life-changing shows where the bands played the songs you love, and you singing along and it felt like they were playing them just for you? Do you remember the noise, the lights, and the ceremony of it all? That’s all gone now, seemingly indefinitely. Covid-19 has killed what the anti-rave police officers, some soldiers and what the elders in the righteous churches couldn’t kill.
At the moment, the idea of breathing the same bodily fluid-filled air as hundreds of strangers is as appealing as licking a hospital doorknob. So, for now, we sit at home, watch television and listen to our favourite albums on the radio, dig through old vinyl or CDs, tune in to streamed gigs and wonder whether a warm can of Castle lager, a bottle of coke or some gochi-gochi braai might make it feel a little bit more like the real thing. We all know that these things are not the real thing.
There was a lot of excitement among musicians a fortnight ago when President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that musicians could open the showbiz sector after he reacted to lobbying fromsome musicians.
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He said live gigs could resume on condition that the number of those in attendance does not exceed 50 and that they were to follow all the Covid-19 protocols, which include the wearing of masks, sanitising and keeping social distance.
However, as we all know now, the next thing was that Health and Child Care minister Constantino Chiwenga, a few days later, banned all gatherings except a maximum of 30 people at funerals. That means that music shows have also been banned.
So this news about re-opening of gigs has turned out to be a damp squib. Even before this ban, many musicians saw the opening of gigs for 50 people as one big joke. For musicians to make money, they need large crowds.
Early this year, drummer and former Oliver Mtukudzi’s manager, Sam Mataure, who has now left this country to go to the United States of America, at some point tried to organise a gig at the Holiday Inn in Mutare.
He was scratching his head about being allowed only 50 people at the show. He said the band he was going to engage, The Jazz Invitation Band, had seven members. He, the promoter was the eighth person and he needed two doormen to make it 10. Then he would also have to hire two bar-men and one sound engineer.
Mataure told me: “By the time you start to let people in, your numbers will have dwindled to 30 and if one has to charge them $5 each, you only come up with $150 and that does not pay the hotel bill, the cost of advertisements, transport costs from Harare to Mutare and food for the musicians.”
“On top of that, one wants to make a profit in order to pay the band so that the musicians can also live.In addition, all the other helpers have got to be paid also. Not everyone will buy drinks at the bar. To organise a gig for 50 people at such a huge venue is, therefore, a big financial risk. That is impossible.”
Anyway, although the gig had been extensively advertised in Mutare, it was later cancelled on second thought.
Now that gigs have been banned, it is hard for any music promoter, musician or any other entertainment artiste to make a living. A lot of artistes have moved on.
One Kadoma-based guitarist tried to sell me his Fender Stratocaster for as cheaply as US$100. He said that he was quitting the industry for good. I told him to try and keep his guitar if he could as it was worth more than 50 times what he was trying to sell it to me for.
For as long as the lockdown continues where entertainment places are shut down,.musicians will continue to suffer.
The pandemic and its socio-economic consequences are having a disproportionate impact on the rights of musicians and on all the fun-loving persons. However, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we all have the highest attainable standard of health.
Zimbabwe is expecting an imminent third wave of Covid-19 cases following recent increases.
Recently, I listened to former minister and hip-hop artiste, Fortune Chasi at the launch of the Culture Clash Hip-Hop Festival where he talked about local artistes organising themselves and that they should lobby the government in order to come out with policies that can turn the arts into a functional industry.
However, under the present circumstances, lobbying the government to lift its ban on music shows would be a futile exercise. That would not only be against World Health Organisation’s protocols but also against the maintenance of our own health standards.
According to Chasi, there are very few people in government who understand the intricacies of making music and the challenges that young people face in making music.
“Musicians should not expect that government will wake up one day and do good for them, because you don’t have those experts there,” he said.
When Chasi and Energy Mutodi were appointed ministers in the Zanu-PF government, many musicians were excited as they thought that they now had a platform with experts who will represent them in government and assist in shaping the course of Zimbabwean music. However, their stay in government was short-lived. That became another damp squib.
I wonder if indeed musicians would have been better off today if these two ministers were still in government. Or would they have been more pre-occupied with their ministerial duties to worry about the plight of the suffering musicians in this covid-19 pandemic era?
Although Chasi in his speech went on to say that the society has seriously underestimated the music industry and that it is not giving sufficient acknowledgement and promotion to music, he did not go far enough to offer solutions on how this could be done.
This is where government has to come in and say: “Yes we have banned musical shows but anyone with financial problems will be considered for financial assistance”.
Or ask musicians to lobby the government to give them pieces of land to grow agricultural products which will sustain their livelihood. These are some of the ideas that will help musicians to indirectly advance their industry.
Meanwhile, some of those musicians who cannot hold shows due to this pandemic are busy in recording studios and shooting videos. 2021 has been a terrible year for even the top musicians in this country. Despite massive airplay for some of their recordings, sales of these recordings are poor.
Resilient musicians have continued to do the best they can under the circumstances. This year alone, there has been several releases with songs and videos from the likes of Freeman who is currently enjoying airplay with his tune, Pombi, Poptain who has recorded a tune entitled Before, Blaq Diamond with Summer YoMuthi, Mannex Motsi with the song Diamond in The Ruff, Tammy Moyo and company who have come up with something called Mrs Rilbaadshan, Tekenyedza by Ex-Q, and Provhoka by Jah Prayzah. Also making waves are ditties such as Maidei (Peanut Butter) from Ishan, 263 by Gemma Griffiths and one from Takura called Wind of The Beat.
Now you can imagine what a lot of fun it would be if all the above tunes were being churned out live. What the Zimbabwean musician wants today is the ability to play in front of big audiences. I am sure that time will come soon, but as for now, we just have to abide by the rules.
- Feedback: frezindi@gmail.com