A deserved salute for Sound Addicts, Misnomer

If you ask any event organiser the worst thing that can happen when preparations of an event are underway is to fail to secure the services of your already announced headliner.

That was the fate that befell Sound Addicts as they prepared for the highly anticipated Mingoli Bash. With few days before they event, the organisers were hit a heavy blow after it became clear that they will not be able to bring Jamaican reggae dancehall artist Alaine.

Led by team leader ShadreckKalukusha, the Sound Addicts team faced up a large group of journalists during a presser to announce the unfortunate news that Alaine will not be part of the Mingoli Bash.

With the number of press houses represented on the day you can be assured that within an hour the news will filter countrywide. But they had to do it anyway. One still wonders where Kalukusha mastered the courage to break the ice.

Sound Addicts said due to the prevailing shortage of forex they had failed to secure Alaine as they could not pay her in time. Admittedly this was a hard moment for them and their fans as well.

It is not uncommon that an event has been faced with such a predicament. A number of events has faced such eventualities and the versions that have been offered explaining the reasons have at times been believable and at times not.

That must have made things even harder for Sound Addicts. It was easy for others to see them as one of the pretenders who promised the moon only to deliver a candle. But on their end it was apparent that they were also hurting inside with the outcome.

“We secured funds for this event long time ago. We made part payment already to the artist, but what has been the challenge is to secure the forex to transfer to her. As I am speaking now we have enough kwachas for that purpose,” he told The Nation in the aftermath.

The organisers were quick to lineup a replacement for the Jamaican as they roped in South African amapiano star Daliwonga. Beyond that the team made a pledge to sustain the agreement with Alaine to eventually finish off her payment and bring her here before the year ends.

But that is not the real gist of this entry. What came out at the event and subsequent reactions from people is what has compelled me to write about Mingoli Bash and Sound Addicts. The drawback that the organisers faced was enough to derail all the focus and energy they had invested in preparing for the show.

But after the unexpected fall, the team quickly picked themselves up and dusted themselves and kept their gaze on the ultimate goal. What they wanted to serve Malawians with a good show, one to be remembered for long.  And that they did.  Kudos to Kalukusha and team!

And then…

It will be a big miss if I don’t let in on this one. The premiere of the Malawian produced movie Misnomer over the weekend.

After its premiere in South Bend, Indiana, in the United States, it was now the turn of the local film lovers to have a feel of the production. Two premieres were held in Lilongwe and Blantyre.

Well, when it comes to such kind of things I have trained myself to expect anything; whether of good standard, bad or even poor. I always go with an open mind to lessen my disappointment in case the production goes east.

But Misnomer had me wound up with its magic. By any standards the movie is very good. You talk of the selection of the cast, the application by the cast members, the storyline and quality of production. Everything was on point.

The local movie industry needs to be showing that it is making strides in terms of quality of its productions and not just in numbers. And with productions such as Misnomer one can safely say that we are on the right path.

Congratulations to director Chawezi ‘Chaz’ Munthali and his team which included Brenda Nselu, DipoKatimba and Ben Wandawanda. Next time aim to beat these standards.