Shanti-Lo steals Lira's thunder

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Monday December 6, 2010 00:00

 

Shanti-Lo was sharing the stage with the South African muso at the packed venue.

The Botswana songbird was the first to go on stage and immediately left many bewildered with his energetic gyrating moves and amazing vocals.

Shanti-Lo was also celebrating the release of his latest album, Lorato.  May be this is why he took his performance to dizzying heights.  He belted out tunes from his new album to the full satisfaction of revellers.  As for the old songs, he never closes the show without playing Ditshwanelo.  This is one of his favourite tracks.   It has also become a hit with his fans.  Shanti-Lo simply threw his fans into a party mood. 

Renowned for his strong eye for style, Shanti-Lo turned up on stage dressed for the occasion.  His fashion and even hairstyle would make any lady jealous.

It seems local artists are no longer intimidated by international acts. 

But this does not imply that Lira gave a mediocre performance.  A fashion model like Lira also lived up to her reputation as a music giantess.  But it was apparent that most people at the joint were not used to her music. 

She has her unique style of music that many were not familiar with.  Just like Shanti-Lo, Lira performed with a live band.

However, Lira captured the crowd with her stage appearance.  The crowd was just crazy about her. 

The woman of jazz was lively on stage and interacted with her audience well.  She could spend some moments chatting with the revellers and they clearly loved it.  But the heat from the stage lights became unbearable for her.  She even complained to the audience that 'go a shesa mona'.  But this did not deter Lira from doing her own thing on stage.

But at some stage during her performance, members of the audience seemed lost.  It was only towards the end of her show that she managed to get things into full swing again. It seemed she shook the audience with one of her tracks, Feeling Good, which is also the title of her album.  That Lira is a great performer on the stage is undeniable.  That you cannot take away from her.  If the crowd is not dancing, she can make them dance.  And this is what she delightfully did during the Friday show.   Soon everyone was enjoying themselves.  Lira also impressed with some cover tracks that she rendered.   After she left the stage, people were crying, 'we want some more'.