SandFest’s bittersweet ending
After a frustrating wait for the main headliners at the Sand Music Festival (SandFest), fun-seekers had a great time when Master KG and Diamond Platnumz jumped on stage from 5.30pm on Sunday.
The headliners were initially billed to perform on Saturday evening, but were delayed due to heavy rains that soaked patrons and equipment.
In reaction, SandFest founder Lucius Banda announced a suspension of performances after their technicians advised them to do so.
He promised the fun-seekers that performances would restart on Sunday from 9am. But that was never to be as performances only started after 5pm.
At 5.15pm, South Africa’s rising star Master KG of Jerusalema fame jumped on stage, much to the relief and excitement of patrons.
He started his performance with Xola Moya Wami before he was joined on stage by two dancers as he gave out Waya Waya, Skeleton Move and Super Star.
But, still, the sound was not good enough and at some point, Master KG was visibly not amused with the output.
However, the strength of his performance lay in his effort to make things work while the fans supported him by singing along and showing enthusiasm.
After dishing out Qinisela, he moved to Jerusalema, the global anthem that has united people of all races.
As anticipated, the fans roared when Jerusalema was being performed as they danced and sang along to the hit before Master KG, real name Kgaogelo Moagi, finished his set with Skeleton Move.
After a lengthy sound check, Diamond Platnumz jumped on stage to dish out sound of I Want to Marry You while fans chanted his stage name ‘Simba’.
As an artist who has thrived on collaborations with other African stars, his playlist was dominated by such hits.
From Yope, Tetema and Inama, Diamond Platnumz, real name Naseeb Abdul, performed backed by a band and a CD playing in the background.
As a pure ladies man that he is, Diamond called on stage women whom he danced with as he performed Nasema Nawe. But in a dramatic turn of events, the women refused to get off the stage after their lewd dancing with the star attracted cheers and jeers alike.
He invited another woman who played the role of a sassy video vixen as he performed Jeje. He pulled yet another woman from the audience and danced with her throughout the song before switching to the hit Hallelujah, originally done with the Morgan Heritage.
However, the set was lacklustre as it was characterised by too many breaks.
Whether by default or design, most of Diamond’s songs were not performed in full.
The sound too was not perfect for a main headliner.
At the peak of his performance, Diamond and his dancers changed clothes and came back with a bang to the sound of The One, Number One, Nana, Time to Party, Kodogo, African Beauty before performing Yope and Tetema once again. He finished with Baba Lawo and Love You Die in a performance that lasted one and half hours.
For some fans, the show was over as the main headliners had performed while others remained for Lulu, Ethel Kamwendo-Banda, Rudo Chakwera, the Great Angels Choir, Zambia’s Esther Chungu and Shammah Vocals. The party went on with roughly about 300 patrons till the early hours of Monday.
