Tshanda�s birthday bash marks career milestone
Chippa Legodimo | Monday December 1, 2014 11:06
Apart from celebrating a half a century of life, the legendary singer commemorated an illustrious career spanning over 28 years.
From the time of that flop album Mr Toni while Splash still traded as The Flying Sounds, to his latest release Delele, Tshanda has sold millions of records, set trends and inspired many through his music.
A sizable crowd turned up for his birthday bash and while it could not be classified as a blast, the festival left many good memories in the minds of those who attended it. Many in the crowd learnt for the first time that the man behind the everlasting Happy Christmas classic is Pat Shange. For the first time, some saw the powerful creator of another very popular oldie, Come Duze, Zizi Congo.
The veteran Congo pumped so much life into her performance that many could have mistaken her for a 30-year-old vocalist. Such is the popularity of the track that even the youngest members of the crowd could easily relate to the sound and danced along. Another yesteryear star, Thiza of popular 1988 release Saka Dibombong, could have impressed but his performance was spoilt by poor sound. Returning to Botswana for the first time in 21 years, the Tlhabela Pele Moshanyana hit maker looked well tuned on stage but could only make the best of what was available at the time. Sidney Mogopodi had attracted little attention from the crowd with a variety of his songs until the last moments when his all time hit Mama’s Baby brought the house down.
Hot on his heels was Senyaka who did not have to do a thing to make the crowd shout for him. A mere mention of his name drew wild cheers from the crowd.
On stage, Senyaka superbly mixed comedy and music, first introducing his band members using all sorts of funny descriptions then belting out Peace Magents. The fans simply loved it and when the sounds of the famous Chesa Mpama echoed from the keyboards, everybody felt the true moment had arrived. The seasoned performer would go on to mix the song with another very popular track, Romeo wa Nkolota just to add the cherry on top.
No one could ignore the sheer brilliance of Om Alec Kgaoli and the excitement brought by his Zekuru hit song. William Mthethwa combined his disco and gospel oldies to take the crowd to another level. However, Mercy Phakela disappointed on the night. The elderly pantsula who competed for the lime light with both Brenda Fassie and Lina Ebony Khama in the 1980s and 1990s was out of sorts on the night and the audience was not impressed with her talking much and singing less.
The last session of the show was reserved for Dalom Music groups. Dalom Kids led by Jabulile Sambane added spark to an otherwise good show. Sambane, as the only old member of the all female quartet was expected to lead the two new vocalists-cum-dancers in front of a capacity crowd and she did not disappoint.
The former Matshikos back up singer took over the leadership of the group following the departure of Jacquline Nombulelo Rotwana. Kicking off their performance with the fast paced Ngiyabonga, the group diplomatically selected their songs and lured the crowd into emphatic celebration song and dance.
The second offering Manyalo, though not one of the group’s most popular, proved effective on the night as it provided variation from the normal line up. The crowd felt the fulfillment of such a show when the group offered the hit song, Keneilwe to wrap up its performance.
The master immediately stepped up the stage to continue the festivities and although there was no Delele, the fans still ate out of the palm of the 50-year-old star.
Questions had been asked about the future of Tshanda’s pop-reggae group Matshikos, following the departure of another lead vocalist, Albert ‘Mavilos’ Malahlela. But Tshanda put the queries to rest when he introduced Bafana Kunene to lead two Matshikos songs on the night.
The fans were quickly reminded of the late vocalist, Penwell Kunene when his younger brother performed the tracks Emhlabeni and Mama.