Morgan Heritage’s sins are forgiven, but…
We’ll be back! Hoarse-voiced I’m Coming Home star Gramps Morgan said this before Morgan Heritage left Civo Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday.
By any means, the Royal Family of Reggae is going to return, the visibly excited reggae star said.
It must be love at second sight. The first coming left the band extremely doubted by fans wholly gutted by last year’s ‘live show with CD-packed instrumentations’.
Before the band jetted out, the media was already crying ‘raw deal!’
It appeared there was nothing to smile about, for a gang of millionaires had just robbed the poorest people on earth.
Of course, some ultras find these cries baseless as they would pay more just to gaze the Grammy award-winners doing nothing really.
Interestingly, gone is the mixed feeling.
This week, you don’t have to be an ultra to realise there was peace on Twitter and Facebook following the band’s return.
The prevailing stillness in places where people often rant before thinking could be classic of people who are quick to criticise and too slow to praise.
But nobody is obliged to praise entertainment outfits for doing their job rightly.
They are supposed to make people happy.
Gladly, the Morgans left Malawians speechless.
They lived up to their billing as a band worth the global renown they hog, not a bunch of CD-armed singers.
They redeemed themselves so well that many wish they came back again and again.
This is good news, for the aftershock of the famous flop loomed large as members of the reggae family went on the microphone and instrument had to be played singularly to prove there was no funny gadget with pre-recorded sounds in sight.
It takes a courage to say sorry and pure talent for repentant artists to make up with a resounding dose of what is expected of them.
Morgan Heritage atoned
Morgan Heritage’s sins are forgiven, but…in spectacular style.
I am hearing it will take decades if not centuries for Malawians to get another thrilling concert the size Lilongwe witnessed last week.
It was a lifetime experience, they say.
Even those who watched the band’s compatriot Busy Signal at Sand Festival last summer said as much.
This week, we learnt Busy Signal is not coming back soon and some opine the Jamaican whose bragging rights included being the best performing reggae star to have ever visited Malawi will need an elephant’s might to equal what the reggae family did.
Clearly, Malawians tasted what they deserve—the best.
For progress, promoters must strive to bring forth the very best to get the crowds, money and quality that was on offer when the reggae household was in town.
Most importantly, seeing Morgan Heritage live in a concert for hours should teach Malawian musicians to always offer their fans top-quality performances instead of the time-wasting they often vend.
When Malawians said No to Morgan Heritage’s well-travelled CD, they were saying they deserve better sounds. Revellers only get value for money when the stage acts summon their energy and invest their bodies, minds and souls in their job.
Morgan Heritage’s sublime performance was self-explanatory lesson: gold will be gold while sand remains sand. n
