Burning Spear’s belated coming
The history of our entertainment industry is somewhat dark due to multiple factors.
Apart from limited financing power, the political environment, especially during the pre-democracy period was not as conducive for other aspects of the showbiz trade to thrive.
Stories about how other international artists were barred by the political leadership then from performing in the country on flimsy grounds. Some were deemed not appropriate simply because they wore dreadlocks and others just because of their lifestyle.
That meant the entertainment train just passed us by in most instances. The leadership chose to maintain what they believed was a virgin and sinless State free of any deemed external bad influences.
Even after the country had attained democratic rule, the money factor continued to haunt our showbiz. The visits by reputable international artists were mainly sporadic. The engine just could not grind as fast as our colleagues in the region.
That meant that a number of generations missed out on the possibility of watching the artists of their time perform live. They just had to contend with listening to their music on the radio and some few lucky ones watched them through video cassettes.
The situation is different from the experiences the now-generation is going through. Nowadays people have the luxury of foregoing some international artists when they visit. In fact, others do perform without any fanfare.
That is in stark contrast to the situation decades ago. When an international artist came, people could travel from far areas just to watch them perform. It was a huge obsession and an experience not to be missed.
Two weeks ago, news filtered in that one of the legendary reggae artists Burning Spear is set to perform in Malawi as part of his One People Africa Tour. It took some days for the local promoters to own the communication and confirm the news.
During that time, some dismissed the news as one of those fake elements meant to excite the social media space. But as it turned out, Sound Addicts Live and System Club stood up and confirmed the upcoming show.
Though this is the case, the show promoters are yet to announce the venue, which is a bit worrying as the event, slated for October 26, is not too far away from now.
The visit of the 79-year old artist has understandably come a little too late for a number of people. Most people who followed and loved The Spear are somewhat old now, battling the little embers that remain of their youthful life.
That age bracket is not the one which fills up entertainment halls nowadays. This is a group that sits at home and make commentaries about things based on memory and rarely on current experience.
The excitement the coming of Burning Spear has brought among this group is prevalently huge. Here is a man whose conscious reggae lyrics defined their youth, inspired their upbringing and shaped their world view.
Now the question that remains is how many of these people are prepared to drop that elderly tag and once again run in their youthful boots to rock the night away with Spear? This is where I feel the show promoters have work cut out for themselves.
The now-generation will surely let this pass as they can hardly relate with compositions such as Identity and Christopher Columbus. The older generation, yes! they are happy to see one of their own perform in the country, but will they honour the invitation? This will certainly be a tough one. n
