Namadingo, Lawi, Umali glitter at Pa MD
Praise Umali brought his guitar on stage. Lawi and Namadingo followed suit. It was a battle for glittering guitars and Pa MD in Chileka, Blantyre was the set.
It was a rare outing for three of the country’s music artists who are best known for their acoustic prowess. They met on Saturday under the Macheza amaGitala banner and from the outset it was clear it would not be an ordinary night.
Event host DJ Gene announced the arrival of the first act of the night Praise Umali. In his trademark dreadlocks and looking fresh and relaxed, the Afro-soul artist set the tone for a memorable musical night.
His renditions by his compositions such as Tachoka Kutali, Ndakukonda and Plan had the audience on its feet as they sung along to his songs. However, occasional power hitches, threatened to dampen an otherwise wonderful night.
On more than one occasion, the performances were forced to stop because of the power outages.
After Praise Umali, it was the turn of Afro-jazz artist Lawi to come and show his magic on the guitar. He gave a good account of himself. He took the party-goers on a musical journey through songs such as Amaona Kuchedwa and Lilongwe.
The last man to appear on stage was Namadingo. He had the task of taking the guitar showdown from Saturday to the early hours of Sunday. It was a task he performed with vigour and profound energy.
There were moments when he dropped his guitar to concentrate on the vocal. It did not matter anyhow, he still maintained a firm grab on the proceedings throughout.
He stepped off stage minutes before 2am.
