Crazy Castle Lite Block party
The joint was teeming with all kinds of party hunters on a Saturday night. So it was the first time ever that the city had experienced a street party on this scale. If at all.
Forget the whole thing about Bulawayo folk not loving the casual night out. Suddenly, the space along Eighth Avenue at the corner of Fife Street was this amazing sea of party ready people. The atmosphere was thick with ecstasy and the groove was pumping.
Beer flowed and ebbed like the sea. The night was one of revelry. I saw all kinds of beautiful women. There were the fine young things and middle agers out to grab a moment of bliss on a summer night filled with the promise of total inebriation from the Castle Lite beer on special price.
DJ after DJ, the likes of Mzoe, Ms Pam, Kead Wikead, Crazy Black and Sikhonjwa took turns to get the frantic crowd more frantic. I saw booty shakes like horses on steroids. I saw bum shorts and tight pants. I saw jean trousers that were drooping near to the ground. I saw crazy.
My crew was filming the joint and so we tried to reach the VIP spot. We had all over looked the need to get accreditation. And so though the bouncers let us in, Miss Thang at the entrance to Horizon night club wouldn’t budge.
Outside the mood was truly crazy. Watching from a distance I just saw hundreds of people. Maybe a few thousands. Someone said people came for the beer. Someone added that it was not about the beer only but the music too.
I left early before I had a chance to see Calvin the current hip hop king in Zimbabwe. How so?
He won all the major awards last year at the hip hop wards. That’s why. Fresh from a Germany tour, I wanted to see how he would come out on the very big stage.
I was thanking the organizers for recognising genuine talent. The young man is really that good. So imagine my chagrin to read press reports in the aftermath that some threw cans at him on stage. Hooligans…
It is perhaps too late to stop the youth. Zimbos do hate so well sometimes. But let’s learn to back the genuine articles in terms of talent. Calvin has since responded in a video about the show. The video clearly shows the technical glitches as he is trying to get the engineers to fix his mic.
My sense is to protect serious brands and Calvin is one of Zimbabwe’s rising hip hop brands. Bulawayo doesn’t have that many trading on the national state anyway.
Cassper Nyovest pic Timeslive
And so in my view people were supposed to show the boy love on potentially his big big night.
South Africa turned out for Cassper to fill up both the Coca Cola dome and Orlando Stadium. That’s what time it is!! That’s how you grow them and export them. The word is affirmation.
Question time
The question should be who was behind the public address system? Who was jacking our boy’s flow on a big stage like that? Was there negligence or sabotage even?
Yeah I want these questions posed to whoever was behind the scenes. How is that possible on a Delta Beverages funded stage?
This was no cheapskate stage. Top dollar means top dollar sound. Or does it?
Another question might well be: did our boy pitch up for sound check? My colleague believes sound checks prevent such situations…
As for hooligans and can throwers, these must not be allowed to mess things up for everyone. Competition can also plant spoilers next to the stage. Security ought to deal with malcontents of that ilk. Even at soccer matches they are a usual occurrence and security must always deal firmly with them. They needn’t disturb ballers as they ball. You feel me?
Ultimately, Delta Beverages did well to bring the party down here. It needn’t be a once off. These kinds of events are big stages for our serious arts brands and urban music purveyors can do well to piggy back on this type.
