Two facets of the human being \u2013 fragility and passion\u2014 dominated the scene during the Malawi Institute of Tourism (MIT) Social Weekend held in Blantyre Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
During an entertainment-starved weekend in Blantyre, patrons started flocking to Mit campus as early as 6 pm, setting the mood for an eventful night characterised by free style dancing displays and energy-laden musical performances by DNA of \u2018Ukandipepesere\u2019 fame, Piksy, Blak Jak, the Dare Devils, Blaze, M Twice, Dali and Mit Ladies.<\/p>\n
As early as 7 pm, the fragile nature of human temper surfaced as some patrons, apparently flying high on the wings of alcohol, exchanged blows in front of the stage. But such incidents were as far between as security was tight.<\/p>\n
Mit Ladies warmed the stage with \u2018College Number One\u2019, before the Dare Devils\u2014fronting GD and Marcus, and ably supported by Zeze\u2014 set the serious-business-ball rolling with a typical display of poetic lyricism when they performed \u2018Ukudziwa Kale\u2019 and \u2018Khala Pansi\u2019 on the open-air stage.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ukudziwa Kale\u2019 is a sanctuary crammed with the self-admission that the Dare Devils are better than anyone else of their musical ilk. As GD, Marcus and Zeze sung the refrain Ukudziwa kale\/Ukudziwa kale<\/em>, some of the patrons could not do otherwise but jump on stage.<\/p>\n Granted, the Dare Devils are a post-democracy outfit, but one cannot be faulted for saying that the duo went down the \u2018memory lane\u2019 when they performed \u2018Khala Pansi\u2019. The track, which foretells the inevitable crumbling of those who dare imitate the duo, was well received as some patrons sang along while a few disgruntled ones invaded the stage.<\/p>\n It could be said stage invasion and a braai-perfumed atmosphere were some of the unannounced \u2018performers\u2019 that evening<\/p>\n Nevertheless, director of ceremonies Panther persistently complained about stage intrusion, but said nothing about the braai aroma that added a salivating flavour to the atmosphere.<\/p>\n Blaze was next in line and he performed two tracks including \u2018Akazanga ndi dhilu\u2019. This is the story of a male persona who cannot derive any sense of satisfaction from anyone else other than his wife.<\/p>\n He was followed by M Twice, who dished out \u2018Undipatse mpata\u2019, a track which depicts a discarded lover who eats humble pie and asks for the proverbial second chance. It is not clear whether the offended lover will respond in kind, or flight.<\/p>\n But M Twice nearly spoiled things when he fell into the trap of giving a eulogy at a wedding party by singing about a persona who tearfully asks for a favour from dear mum. Panther lost his patience:<\/p>\n \u201cNyimbo zodandaula pano ayi <\/em>[Do not play music that invokes sad feelings]\u201d, said Panther.<\/p>\n DNA\u2019s turn, as people always knew, came and the gangly artist performed \u2018Ukandipepesere\u2019. In it, a persona realises that only mediators can stand as a bridge between a disappointing lover and disappointed lover.<\/p>\n Piksy must have known that there was no chance for stage sleaziness and, visibly on top of his game, set the venue ablaze with tracks such as \u2018Amakhala Kumudzi\u2019, \u2018Uncle Short One\u2019 and \u2018Ponya mwendo\u2019.<\/p>\n He was the only artist to be invited back on the stage, by popular demand.<\/p>\n By 11 pm, the frame of Blak Jak loomed large backstage and it was anybody\u2019s guess as to who would be next on stage. The artist did not follow a familiar script because \u2018Wadya iwe\u2019 was not on the performance menu that evening.<\/p>\n But perform he did, and \u2018Yes or no\u2019, \u2018Tumpale\u2019 \u2013 a hit that put the defunct Nyasa Guruz on the national map\u2014 were some of the four tracks he dished out.<\/p>\n It can be said that the blackout that blighted the bright atmosphere for some ten minutes did not kill the live mood that characterised the event.<\/p>\n No wonder, GD sang praises for the organisers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a good show in the sense that this was the first time a lot of musicians shared the stage\u2014 some for the first time,\u201d said GD.<\/p>\n Blak Jak shared similar sentiments.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, they could have done better but, overall, it was cool and fine,\u201d said Blak Jak.<\/p>\n He is, maybe, referring to the half-full dancing area.<\/p>\n Again, during an evening characterised by a cool breeze, it can be said that the only performance-related \u2018cool breeze\u2019 to the Mit lively atmosphere was the lack of variety. It was music throughout.<\/p>\n All music without poetry, jokes, comedy, and what have you, is a sure way of making the proverbial Jim a dull persona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two facets of the human being \u2013 fragility and passion\u2014 dominated the scene during the Malawi Institute of Tourism (MIT) Social Weekend held in Blantyre Saturday evening. During an entertainment-starved weekend in Blantyre, patrons started flocking to Mit campus as early as 6 pm, setting the mood for an eventful night characterised by free style […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27294"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27298,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27294\/revisions\/27298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}