Live bands storm Blantyre joints

Sunday afternoons present entertainment contradictions for Blantyre fun seekers at Club XL. Afro-jazz and roots rock reggae cannot share the stage but that is what has been happening at the Chikhwawa Road fun spot every Sunday for the past two weeks.

Soft jazz and radical reggae scarcely share the same stage but that is what Club XL offers to fun seekers, free of charge. Agorosso, with his mellow tunes, comes face to face with reggae scratches from Shutters Band.

Club XL joins other Blantyre joints resorting to live bands on certain days of the week to give patrons a new treat. Mibawa Band rocks the Mibawa Cafe, the Super Boys perform at Sunbird Mount Soche’s Sportsman’s Bar and Sunnyside Lodge while Slashers brings the fun to The Palace at Masm House.

It is a jazz affair at Ryalls Hotel’s 21 Grill where John Mlenga performs jazz every Friday with The Ravers Band rocking the hotel.

Resident bands are the in-thing in the Malawi commercial hub, reminding fun seekers of the nostalgic past, when bands like Kalimba and Makasu used to entertain patrons.

Last Sunday, some fun lovers trekked to Green Corner to get mixed sounds: Agorosso’s tracks, including Africa, Mafafanga and Fole coming back to back the Shutters’ reggae vibes and other copied numbers.

Club XL’s events manager Mphatso Chauluka said the joint had decided to bring on board a live band to give fun seekers more fun.

“We know fun lovers enjoy live music. For us, there is more to it, as we have brought out Shutters, a band that has been hanging on the wings onto the front to entertain patrons on an easy Sunday afternoon,” said Chauluka.

For ethnomusician Waliko Makhala, the recent trend in live bands is a good development for artists and joint owners.

“It provides artists with a platform to expose their art, while at the same time patronage at the spot is boosted. In fact, in some countries a hotel is not one without a resident band,” said Makhala on the sidelines of the Club XL performance.

Concurring with Makhala, MacFarlane Chingolo of Super Boys Band said they are happy to dish out all sorts of music for the pleasure of patrons.

“We play different types of music, from reggae to kwasakwasa through pop and vintage. Since the audience is multi-sectoral, we don’t want anyone to miss the fun,” said Chingolo.

The Shutters’ Innocent Mtoto said as a band they now have a home, where they can be brought to light.

“It is a proper way of getting promotion. For some time, we have been performing with other bands at some spots, but right now people will definitely know where to get us and when,” said Mtoto.