Great Angels mesmerise multitudes in Mzuzu
Nearly 3 000 people attended the re-launch of Great Angels’ Mwasankha Ine in Mzuzu, cementing the choir’s standing as probably the most popular gospel singers in the country.
Big crowds might be a byword of the Great Angels, but the winding queues that welcomed them to Sunbird Mzuzu’s Boma Park on Sunday afternoon could be a confirmation of why they are altenatively called ‘People’s Choir.’
A nearly 200-metre line persisted for almost an hour from 2pm to around 3pm and tallies by gate-fee collectors show slightly over 2 800 people paid their way in to get a glimpse of the brains behind the spiritual songs of the moment, including Tadikira, Musalore Mulungu, Samadziwa Kanthu and Kodi Alipo.
The unprecedented numbers in the leafy city represents another success story of the group’s fourth album launched before about 6 200 viewers at Sheaffer in Lilongwe on January 1, said the choir’s director of music Ephraim Zonda.
According to Zonda, the choir has already sold about 85 000 Mwasankha Ine CDs—with 2 800 of them sold out during the Mzuzu leg.
“We thank the almighty God for giving us the wonderful chance to spread the gospel to all parts of the country. The public response continues to be overwhelming everywhere we go. We feel lucky and blessed because we have no money or power to make all this happen the way it is unfolding,” he said.
Such is the magnetism of the spiritual singers that the open-air venue was jampacked and scores of viewers sought refuge on stage, eclipsing distant onlookers from following the angelic performance powered by Jai Banda’s equipment.
The show, which was curtain-raised by Peter Uyu Mlangeni and Mzuzu’s Donnex Muva, saw the Great Angels dishing out 10 tracks from their newest release and five more from its famous precursors, Gwireni Dzanja and Ndiyende Bwanji. The afternoon show ended around 7pm, with fans asking for more even after the late-hour bowout.
Looking forward, the group plans to tour Karonga, Kasungu and Thyolo as a way of taking their latest to district’s often sidelined by music outfits, said Zonda.
The Great Angels will be back in Mzuzu next Sunday for a concert marking the launch of MultiChoice Africa’s digital terrestrial television, GOtv, in the Northern Region.
