LOS completes circle
The return of the Lake of Stars (LoS) Festival to Chintheche Inn in Nkhata Bay last Saturday was completion of an unprecedented circle.
Since its shieft from Chintheche in 2007, the event has been to Sunbird Livingstonia Beach in Salima and Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi with a one-off appearance in Lilongwe as the City of Stars in 2013.
And this year, the event could not return to where it started in 2004 any better than seeing local musicians dominate the proceedings on a big stage where they took turns with their international counterparts from some parts of the continent.
LoS founder, Will Jameson, said this year the festival has marked a full circle as it has been held in all the regions of the country, saying this is part of the organisers’ commitment to sharing the festival with all fun-seekers nationwide.
He admitted that the festival used to be mainly an English affair in its infancy, but stressed that what happened at this year’s event was continuation of changes that started seven years ago, with local acts dominating affairs.
“When we started off, it was more international. But when we moved to Salima [in the Central Region] and Mangochi [in the Southern Region], the trend changed. We now have 70 percent Malawian and 30 percent international musicians performing at the event,” he said.
The LoS, especially during its early years at Chintheche, has been criticised as a western affair taking place on the shorelines of Africa’s third largest fresh-water lake.
But this year, Malawian outfits dominated from the beginning of the event on Friday, mesmerising hundreds of patrons that decided to grace it.
Leading the local outfits was Nkhata Bay-based Gasper Nali, who has made a name, especially in Europe, for his skill when plucking a babatoni—a huge one string bass guitar played with a stick and an empty bottle.
Other local outfits gracing the stage included Patience Namadingo, who has chosen a rare brand of music, fusing gospel themes with some traditional beats.
His hits Msati Mseke, Sindinjenjemera, Moyo Wakumwamba and Mtendere left patrons craving more from the artist, who—despite patrons’ hunger for him to perform a little bit longer—could not stay on stage because other performers had to present their acts.
Urban musician Piksy also got patrons’ feet stomping and heads nodding when he delivered his masterpiece Angozo.
Sonye, who last year impressed with the hit Tsika at Sunbird Nkopola in Mangochi, was mesmeric with Kanda which he performed alongside Tay Grin.
The two were later joined by Zambian Roberto—who is famous for his song Amarula—to premiere Sugar Mum, a hit that was officially released a day before the beginning of the festival.
Roberto was joined by South Africa’s Freshlygound as the other international act at this year’s festival.
In between them were other performances, including a stunning one by Lusubilo Band of Karonga, whose choreography around ndingala, chilimika and malipenga, from the northern shores of Lake Malawi, left patrons oblivious that the group mainly sang in Kyangonde, a language widely spoken in Karonga only. n
