This and That

Goodbye a year of no-shows

 

Good people, the festive season is over.

In my world, we are no longer talking about the things we have done or what we should have done during the once-in-a-year duration.

Enterprising minds are already looking to the future with a new set of resolutions.

Elsewhere, lovers of flashbacks are sick and tired of gazing at flaccid wallets and single-zero bank statements that adds more pain to the wounds that reckless spending and partying bring.

I am no saint either.

Now I look at the massive lump of air that has filled my wallet knowing there is nothing that I have not done in the name of Christmas and New Year.

Just as there are no trophies for spending our hard-earned cash the way we wanted, there should be no apologies for doing what we did when numerous parties came calling. We have to carry our crosses!

But this is a just a cry for things that we never came to enjoy just when time was ripe for all that jazz.

Take a moment of silence and remember the promised public entertainment that did not happen as advertised.

Remember the hype that was created ahead of what was supposed to be the second coming of Mafikizolo. In their minds, some organisers envisioned themselves bringing South African music outfit in the season of merriment.

However, the nation will never know the whole truth as to why the group failed to come to this Warm Heart of Africa. As was the case in the year ended, we wonder if at all the organisers had enough muscles to fish out adequate cash for the group that has earned its way to the top of the continent’s beat.

But it is not our job to speculate. Some are only happy to have saved some cash from a trillionth way to blow your money with limited opportunities to replenish it.

But no, thanks. We need no more unpredictable shows in 2017.

Last year, the country earned some reputation as a nation of crooks—and many show organisers need to repent and learn rules of the game.

In a world of showbiz, it is almost impossible to disappoint a top-notch artist without putting off multitudes that follow them.

Every time self-styled show organisers mishandled artists flying in, the country lost its credibility as a favourite destination for credible international entertainers.

Remember the drama that welcomed South Africa’s gospel music veteran Sipho Makhabane in Lilongwe where he ended up stranded at the door of the venue, being comforted by a few sympathisers amid a futile wait for his host-cum-paymaster stuffed in some overcrowded police cell just when the show was supposed to begin.

If what led to the cancellation of that concert is not intolerable in world gig culture, this surely is the stuff meant for bizarre pages of brainless tabloid. No thumbs up for the organiser who took his sneaky ways to these horrible heights.

And there were an artful many who seemed to take pride in churning out life-size posters peppered with portraits of artists who had no idea about the shows being advertised. That was theft by trick if not deceptive marketing.

As 2017 pans out, I hope organisers of shows will be decent enough to embrace the tenets of fair trade, honesty and integrity. My friend Peter, you know Peter Who, will add patriotism and hard work to the list.

Let us learn to do things as if we will have to account for how we did them at all cost. Should my day come, I would hope that I would have no single bit of talent, energy and work left, and I could tell the world: I used every good thing you taught me.” n

 

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