Rain, poor patronage mar Mibawa trip

Mibawa bands’ three-day trip to Lilongwe started and ended on a poor note with two of the shows attracting a small patronage.

The bands, Mibawa I and Mibawa II, arrived in Lilongwe on Friday evening for a dinner and dance at Presidential Hotel.

On Saturday, the bands were at Chameleon Bar before a family show dubbed Oktoba Fest, which also featured Black Missionaries, at the Civo Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Director of Mibawa bands John Nthakomwa described the patronage as demoralising.

“It was a poor show in terms of patronage. A small number not worth mentioning turned up, but this did not affect the quality from us. We did our best to thrill those in the hall,” said Nthakomwa.

“The rain marred everything and the shift was so close to attracting a huge audience. We could not just return because we knew some people had planned for the show and so we went ahead to hold the show in the evening. We performed for about six hours and I talked to some people who confirmed that it was a nice performance by both bands,” he said.

Nthakomwa admitted that they missed it on planning by scheduling the trip when Lilongwe was hosting Standard Bank Cup semi-finals involving football clubs with many fans.