2013, the year foreign musicians rocked Malawi
The year 2013 is gone, but not its stories, especially in entertainment. It was a year pregnant with music shows by stars.
It could be a normal year if the list was dominated by only local artists, but for the first time, foreign artists proved that Malawi is never the same.
The message is clear—the country now has the potential to host artists of any calibre. It will definitely go into history of entertainment—Malawi hosted over 10 international musicians in the year, among them Earl Klugh, Nigerian stars PSquare and 2Face, HHP and Ric Deja. Theatre also brought in some foreign artists through art festivals such as City of Stars, Mwezi Wawala and Blantyre Arts Festival, but it could not out-scoop music in terms of patronage and popularity of the artists in the country.
PSquare’s concert at the Lilongwe Golf Club (LGC) on March 16 organised by the African Movie Academy Awards (Amaa) proves it all.
Despite heavy rains that soaked the venue for about two hours on the day, thousands of people from all corners of the country braved the weather to watch the duo of Peter and Paul Okoye on stage. Hiccups did not spare the performance time. The show which was initially scheduled for the afternoon ended up being a night show, but the fame behind the names was enough to influence the patrons to wait.
PSquare are popular in Malawi and rarely does their music miss at public performances. Their hits Forever, Chop My Money, Beautiful Onyinye and Alingo are favourites in Malawi.
It is an achievement to host PSquare because it is not easy to hire artists of such calibre. Malawi was on high in 2013. Courtesy of Africa Film Academy (AFA), the country hosted another international music star Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Face in July. It was like balancing,for PSquare performed only in Lilongwe while 2Face was in Blantyre at BAT Ground.
However, despite the two artists sailing on equal status, 2Face got a cold shoulder in Blantyre. His music show attracted a handful of patrons. It was scheduled for afternoon, but in a drive to wait for a bigger turn out, the show started around 7pm.
2Face could not disappoint the long-waiting patrons. With a list of his popular hits, which he performed with more energy, the African Queen and Love hit-maker tickled the audience with his three-hour performance.
The music taste in the year was beyond just Nigeria. The best from the United States of America (USA) also stepped on Malawi soils for a music performance. The jazz master Earl Klugh performed at the Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe during the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz event held on September 21. The high profiled event attracted various dignitaries such as former vice president Justin Malewezi. The night, which was curtain-raised by Malawi’s self styled Peter Mawanga, favoured both the young and senior citizens as the artists made sure the performance featured both old and modern hits.
Zambia was another country that rocked Malawi.B1, Organised Family, Mampi and Sulu among others prioritised the Warm Heart of Africa with their performances. And to date, it is hits by the quadruple that are most favoured hits by Malawians.
Other artists that rocked the year are Liqueedip and Zahara whose previous trip to Malawi saw her performing only in Lilongwe.This year,she performed in Blantyre.
Fare thee well 2013.
