Courtney Hotel, Harare
I had forgotten there was a 1hour time difference between Kenya and Zimbabwe, so I inadvertently set my alarm to wake me up at 6.30am to get ready for Luli’s TV interview at ZBC. I only came to realize later when I went for breakfast at 7am that it was actually 6.00am! I was a whole hour ahead of schedule. I spent the time starting off on this report.
Charles came by at 5min past 7.00am (the correct 7.00am local time), and we headed out for ZBC. We picked up Matthew (AF Harare Cultural Coordinator) at AF Harare then proceeded on to ZBC, but not before we got lost a couple of times.
ZBC, Harare
We finally made it to the TV station with only 15min left of our allocated time. We were asked to leave our passports and computers at the gate then proceed into the station. The mood and demeanor of the reception staff at the station struck me as very suspicious of us and almost hostile. However the TV crew was very friendly and Charles later commented that the show’s producer had too much energy asking a whole bunch of questions all the time.
The interview was short and we were out of the studio by 8.00am. I asked to drop a Garissa Express CD at their sister radio station and was obliged. I dropped 2 copies of the CD and asked the presenters to have a listen to the music and put it on rotation if possible.
Courtney Hotel, Harare
Back at the hotel, Luli and I joined the rest of the group at the restaurant for breakfast. Some of the guys decided to go into town after breakfast seeing as we had enough time in our hands before sound check, which was set for 2.00pm at the AF Harare grounds.
I took sometime to update this report, contemplating whether I should head off to AF Harare so as to be able to get an internet connection.
Harare International Airport
I ended up heading back to the airport with Maarufu (AF Harare’s driver) to retrieve luggage that we had left behind the previous day on arrival. I was lucky enough to recover it intact.
Maarufu was also picking up George and Sarah (Director AF Johannesburg and his wife) who was in town to attend the evening’s festivities where Gargar were set to perform. The director told me Gargar were being eagerly awaited for in Johannesburg and that there was quite a bit of a media buzz about them.
Courtney Hotel, Harare
I was dropped off back at the hotel; in time for lunch before we had to head out for set up and sound check at AF Harare. Toby (the guitarist) had somehow discovered a nice food joint close to Courtney Hotel where the food was much more affordable as compared to the hotel. We all tried out ‘saza’ the Zimbabwean version of ugali, pretty much the same thing only cooked much softer and lighter than what you would typically find in Kenyan homes.
When we got back to the hotel, Maarufu had already picked up Gargar and dropped them at AF Harare. We decided to go on foot to AF Harare with our gear leaving behind only the keyboard owing to its heavy weight. We would send the driver to pick it up when we got there.
Alliance Française, Harare
The stage had been set at the grounds just next to the main entrance into the AF Harare compound. It was an impressive set up if looks were anything to go by. It looked very professional and I expected the sound to be as much.
The guys quickly got on stage and in no time, with the help of Vusa (Oliver Mutukudzi’s sound tech who was the sound man for the night) everything had been plugged in. A quick line check to make sure everything was routed properly, then we sound checked 3 songs to get everything sounding right on stage and in the house.
<img src="http://www.ketebulmusic.org/wp-content/upl