Morgan Heritage’s ‘good lie’
By Silence Charumbira
Showbiz Editor
Morgan Heritage may have finally came to Harare and proven they are worth every penny spent on their long journey “home” but the brothers lied.
How could you Peetah!
“Fireworks! I thought were here to play music!” Peetah Morgan said to journalists and fans at their press conference Thursday.
Yet apparently; anyone who attended the show will testify, the performance was nothing short of fireworks.
Why Peetah? Why?
It seems you will get away with this one; thanks to Mojo who said your performance in Zimbabwe would be 10 times better than your previous performances elsewhere.
They came; they flattered and conquered.
Well that may not be good enough to describe the pulsating at the Harare International Conference Centre Saturday night.
The set was befitting of their closed door four hour sound check where all Zimbabweans close to the gig were locked out of the venue save for one of their handlers and a few members of the sound crew.
Most of their instruments, including key boards were covered up the better part of the night and were left untouched.
On the local line-up Freeman had a good set; his act was upgraded by Winky D who enjoyed a handful of climaxes including Tuku joining him for Panorwadza Moyo.
By any measure Freeman has upped his game and is destined for greater heights but on the same token, Winky D remains the big brother for almost all dancehall artistes in the country; if not all.
Then came Tuku who nailed it with a wisely selected playlist that included Hear me Lord, the track that Gramps Morgan remembers him for.
All this while the instruments remained tucked like artefacts awaiting shipment until after midnight.
By Zimbabwean standards one would have thought what arrogant lot! Yet not.
Just as Jemere Morgan stepped onto stage after Tuku’s splendid act; anyone could tell Royalty was home.
He is virtually unknown on these shores and the majority remained still watching him while others danced; I suppose giving in to immense anxiety.
But when his father Gramps took over the lead mic the auditorium exploded.
The energy that had been exhausted by Winky D, Tuku and Freeman was renewed and I still wonder where the “filling station” was on the night.
Conscious tracks like Don’t haffi dread had the audience singing along and dancing the night away.
And the brothers are men after Zimbabwe’s heart.
“Hey you all listen, we are not just gonna come to Zimbabwe and play music, we are gonna talk, we are gonna share love and we gonna share. Everybody put your cameras on. I want you to video tape this moment. Turn your cameras on and when you leave this concert tonight, I want to post this on your social media and let the world know that Morgan Heritage came to Zimbabwe and Morgan Heritage said we love Zimbabwe.
“Now hear this, Africans, Africa is for Africans n, Europe is for the Europeans, America is for the Americans. China is for the Chinaman; Africa is for the Africans,” they chanted before bursting into another conscious track Cant’s get we out.
It was a good outing for the audience and the performers with Templeman and Gray B and Flevah and Etherton B enjoying good sets during the intervals.
For the promoters it was a splendid gig that has earned them a seat on the big boys’ table on the African continent.
