Mzuzu no-shows nothing funny

Good people, that Black Missionaries’ failure to perform at a charity concert slated for Sunday in Mzuzu left their fans disappointed is an understatement.

It left right thinking fans thinking less and less about the “the Peoples Band”. What is a people’s band without regard for a simple assignment to raise money for the education of the poor?

What is a people’s band if it keeps its ardent followers guessing when it matters most?

What is a people’s band if they allow their financial interests eclipse their promise to their fans?

Questions have been looming large since what was marketed as a Blacks’ show ended up being Skeffa’s.

But just who is to blame for the mess? Certainly not Skeffa the benevolent broke who saved the situation. Certainly not the fans who thronged Mzuzu Tourist Lodge craving the Blacks’ vibes.

Is it the organisers who couldn’t fish out more than K475 000 to get the band on the bus to Mzuzu or the band’s uncurbed lust for money?

Surely, artists are not slaves. They ought to be paid judiciously for

their offerings. But when service providers accept cash deposits or

part-payment, they are saying: “It’s a deal”. Learn to honour the

word.

On the same stage, I am informed R&B crooner Lulu will be back in Mzuzu on December 27, nearly three weeks after refusing to perform in protest to substandard equipment.

I am told hours after the well-publicised rebuff in Mzuzu the musician as astonishingly spotted at a Lucius Banda show in Lilongwe.

So, is Lulu just a choosy carpenter determined to get the tools he had asked for or a hunter of needless excuses whose heart was in Lilongwe even though the pay was in Mzuzu?

Taking sides might not be easy, but Mzuzu cannot wait to see Lulu and his preferred instruments.

Surely, this will not be a usual showdown. It smells like a show-dem moment when Mzuzu will keep the light on Lulu’s instruments.

And Escom be warned: Don’t switch off the power! Rather turn up the voltage for a truckload of Lulu’s multimillion megawatt implements is coming to the evergreen city.