Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Tatenda Chipungudzanye
12 January 2008
Harare — Alick Macheso and his Orchestra Mberikwazvo will next month embark on a two-week tour of Australia, five months after Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi's visit there.
Macheso, who has previously performed in England, will start his tour with a show in Cape Town, South Africa, on February 9 before going Down Under where he will stage four shows.
Orchestra Mberikwazvo manager William Tsandukwa this week confirmed the tour of Australia, adding that they are scheduled to leave the country on February 19, returning on March 6.
They are billed to perform at Roxy Hotel in Sydney on February 21, Chi Bar Lounge in Brisbane on February 26, Viva Function Centre in Adelaide in the afternoon of March 1 before performing at the Melbourne Prince Bandroom later in the day.
Macheso will round off his tour with a show at the Forrest Centre Reception in Perth on March 4.
Initially the organisers had lined up six shows before reducing them to four and Tsandukwa added that only 10 band members would be travelling for the tour minus the dancers, commonly referred to as the Tomato Crew.
The entourage will consist of Macheso, Tsandukwa, Francis "Slomo" Dhaka (backing vocalist and dancer), Noel Nyazanda (lead guitar), Lucky Mumiriki (sub-rhythm guitar), Zakaria Zakaria (main rhythm guitar), Jonas Kasamba (backing vocals), Elton Muropa (backing vocals), Obert Gomba (drums) and the technician.
"It is unfortunate that some of our dancers - the Tomato Crew - will not be travelling with the band.
"It will be the first time that we will be going to Australia and we don't know how we will fare there. That's the reason why some band members are not going," said Tsandukwa.
There have been concerns by some of Macheso's fans why Muropa is ever present on their international tours - when dancers are left behind -- yet he is clearly not gifted with dancing skills.
But Muropa's is a backing vocalist and Tsandukwa believes the role is important.
There have also been calls for rhythm guitarist Zakaria Zakaria, popularly known as Zaka-Zaka, to be accorded some time to dance as he showed his prowess during one of their recent shows at a local joint.
"Zaka-Zaka is a good dancer but because he plays the rhythm guitar, he does not have much time to take to the dancing floor.
"His guitar needs a lot of concentration and it's hard for him to join the others in dance; he plays the main rhythm guitar while his counterpart Lucky Mumiriki plays the sub-rhythm," Tsandukwa said.
Commenting on their Ndezvashe-eh DVD that many critics have said was sub-standard despite Madhuwe winning the Video of the Year poll on ZTV recently, Tsandukwa said:
"We cannot stop people from talking, but people are phoning us from as far as South Africa saying our DVD is good and the majority voted for our DVD on television.
"It is also important to note that it was not Orchestra Mberikwazvo that voted, but the fans and all had equal chances."
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Hallo I am a fan of Alick Macheso. I am south african and would like to be posted on any show macheso will be doing in South Africa, Limpopo Province. I cant stop watching Ndezvashe-eh. Although i have discovered that Chikopokopo on DVD differs with that on CD in as far as vocas are concerned, we see Alick singing some addittions but we do not hear it. But having said that I have no complain because i have'nt of late seen and heard such creativity supparsing macheso's creations. I cant stop viewing, listening and dancing on Macheso's Tunes.
Ndivhaleni Isaac… [Read Full Text]