John opens festive gate

It’s official. John has opened the gate and the festivities and great times are in full swing. With or without Covid-19, it is party time all the way to 2021.

The song John Vuli Gate, which literally means ‘John, open the gate’ was the toast of the evening when South African artists Ntosh Gazi and Vukani performed at Mingle Club in Lilongwe. The two artists proved why amapiano music is taking over the continent with their captivating performances.

As if aware of the meaning of the lyrics, most female patrons danced wildly to the song.

But while the song is one to remember, it is the amapiano music and dance that has taken Malawi by storm.

The new music genre is a vibrant and heady mix of deep house and electronic feel that creates fun and funky sounds.

During the show at Mingle, formerly Cockpit on Friday, even the amapiano dance proved to have earned its place in Malawi such that the gig was like a scene in some club in Jozi.

The pouncing cat as the dance is described has left many yearning for more while sweeping dance floors in Malawi like a heat-wave.

With local artists such as Temwah and Avokado performing their amapiano inspired tunes, Dan Lu gave a mixture of local and reggae genres. But when the South African artist on the line-up Vukani took over the stage, it was strictly amapiano jams.

Best known for his song Gong Gong, he was seen to be taken aback in some moments with how Malawians have mastered the art of dancing to amapiano.

To the surprise of some, when Ntosh Gazi got on stage, he was accompanied by Malawian amapiano dancers who gave the artist a run for his money.

Even if it were in South Africa, the ladies especially, would have died of envy with the skill of the dancers.

After performing John Vuli Gate twice plus a number of other tunes, Gazi was joined by Dan Lu and Vukani to perform Uziyankha Phone.

Also from the same genre, the song, which has just been released, was the icing on the cake and the patrons continued with the amapiano dance craze.