By Desire Tshuma and Richmore Tera.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News of The South) – WHEN a musician holds a free show, there are many things that will be at play.
Its either the artiste will be having his fans at heart and therefore wants to give them something to smile about in the form of a free show.
The other reason could be that the promoter of the gig also wants to do something for the community that has been with him for years.
Both reasons were the driving force behind Dendera musician Suluman Chimbetu’s free show which he held at Dungane Meat Farm recently.
The gig was part of the annual “Hurungwe Family Show” whose aim is to honour members of the local community as well as patrons of the meat-processing company which was established in 2006 by farmer Hashmon Matemera.
The first free gig was held in July last year and it featured gospel musicians Mathias Mhere, Chiedza Chevatendi, Vabati VaJehovha and Vatumwa VaJehovha.
But this year, the “Hurungwe Family Show” went a notch up when music lovers in the area got a chance to witness Sulu and his outfit, Orchestra Dendera Kings, live in their backyard.
Sulu was performing for the first time at Dungane Farm after the owner Matemera had booked him for this massive outing following their chance meeting in Karoi where Sulu had a show sometime late last year.
From the way that the audience loved songs like “Tenda Gore Rapera”, by his late father Simon Chimbetu, “Dzamutsana”, “Non-Stop”, “Fireguard” and “Nyuchi” and which he featured dancehall chanter Soul Jah Love, it was clear that the show shall remain entrenched in the minds of many and some revelers could be shouting that the talented make a comeback sometime.
“What I liked about this show is that there were no or few incidents of violence since members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police from Karoi and Tengwe were out in full force to contain the crowd,” said Dungane Meat Farm’s general manager, Edson Hwenhira on the sidelines of the show.
He made this comment while taking journalists on a tour of the farm premises which include cattle ranching area, meat processing factory, poultry, crop farming area as well as other facilities like a guest house meant for the visitors and a sports field.
“We decided to engage Suluman Chimbetu this year owing to requests from our patrons that we invite Sulu whose music they enjoy very much. If all goes well, we are hoping to host such shows after every three months just as a way of obliging our patrons. This is one way of paying back our patrons who by virtue of being based in the rural areas sometimes never get the chance of seeing their favourite artiste live on stage in their area,” Matemera said.
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