'Village Pope' takes Gabs by storm

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Tuesday December 15, 2009 00:00

The man from the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, gave a riveting performance during the GabzFM's 10th anniversary celebrations held at the Gabrone International Convention Centre (GICC) grounds on Saturday. Tshola was the main act at the show, which also featured local artists in the likes of Punah Gabasiane, Kearoma Rantao, Nono Siile and Nnunu Ramogotsi.   Theo Kgosinkwe of the South African Afro pop group, Mafikizolo closed the show with another awesome performance.  There was also a performance by local DJs but that was not what the revellers had turned up for.   Tshola, who opened the show, lived up to his reputation as an Afro jazz giant.  Like an old wine, he seems to be maturing with age.   He is still commanding a strong voice on the microphone.  Waving a traditionally crafted walking stick, Tshola took revellers down the memory lane as he belted out tracks from his days with Sankomota.

For some of the old timers in the audience, he reminded them of his days with the late Frank Leepa when they were with Sankomota.    But Tshola also delved into his stuff as a solo artist.  By the way, as his sobriquet implies, the Village Pope is also a man of God.

He could indulge in gospel as well. Tshola performed non-stop for about an hour.  Those who missed Tshola's early performance felt ripped off.   Other people felt that the show was over after Tshola had performed since he was the star attraction of the concert.

They wondered how the main act could be made to open the show.  But according to information circulating at the concert, Tshola was billed for another show in South Africa that same evening.  Apparently a plane had been chartered to take him and his band to South Africa after his performance. 

After Tshola's performance, the local divas kept the home fires burning.  As usual, they had revellers eating from the palm of her had as she rendered her Afro jazz tracks.  After their individual performances, they wowed the audience with a joint performance. They were followed onto the stage by South African entertainer Kgosinkwe who had a backing band, but performed as a solo artist.  He also had a brilliant performance with his band. 

There was an embarrassing moment during his show when our own ace guitarist John Selolwane was thrown out of the stage.  Selolwane, who likes hijacking other people's shows, jumped on the stage but was pushed out.  The South Africans could not allow a stranger to take over their show.  Kgosinkwe diplomatically quipped that he was happy with his band. For a P300 entrance fee, the attendance of the show was not bad. 

Actually the tiny arena was almost packed.  One of the remarkable things about the show was the well-designed state-of the art stage. 

The stage was also equipped with television screens monitoring the show.  During the show, there were also fabulous prizes that were won, including Kenya Airways sponsored trips to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.