Courtney Hotel, Harare
Because I had woken up pretty early the day before, coupling that with the fact that it had turned out to be a busy day, I was particularly tired the following morning. I was in no hurry to get out of bed, and only did so to make it in time for breakfast before the restaurant was closed. We were all taking it easy this morning and we all made it to the dining room for breakfast at the same time.
This was going to be an easy day in a sense because we did not have to go for sound check. Since we were the only band playing again tonight, the sound set up would be left the same as the previous night’s set up. The only addition would be a deejay set which only requires 2 channels on the sound desk.
Luli and the ladies retired back to their room to rest some more, while the rest of us went over to laze by the pool (again miraculously discovered by Toby). The sun was out and the stories were in plenty. Before we knew it, it was already half past one in the afternoon!
I took some time to update this report as I waited for the guys to dash back to the rooms and freshen up before we all headed out for lunch.
Alliance Française, Harare
After Lunch, Toby, Mathew (the drummer) and I headed off to AF Harare. Charles introduced as to Kid Fonque (South African deejay) who was going to play his set after Gargar at the Funkalicious show later that evening.
We ended up browsing for the better part of the afternoon.
Courtney Hotel, Harare
We went back to the hotel to have a few hours rest before the show. Showtime for us was 10.30pm, so we had quite a bit of time to ourselves.
Amina was developing a toothache and I had to get her painkillers to try ease the pain. I hoped it wont develop into a problem and keep her from singing that night.
Maarufu, time conscious as always, was there at 9.00pm to start the 3 trips to transfer us to AF Harare for the show.
Alliance Française, Harare - Funkalicious
The AF Harare grounds were busier than the previous night. The turn out was much higher, and there were food stands that were not there the night before. The dressing rooms were pretty much the same as the previous night: fruits water and wine. Charles kept popping in and out just to make sure we were okay.
There was a local deejay on set playing an interesting fusion of South African dance music accompanied by a live saxophonist. When he was done, we had a few minutes to plug in the instruments and do a quick line check. There was no need for a sound check since we were using the same set as we did the night before, and again we were the only band for the night.
Comrade Fatso (renown Zimbabwean artist and MC for the night) did a good job of introducing Gargar. You could feel the anticipation in the audience. And when the ladies stepped on stage dressed in their black hijabs, everyone moved closer to the stage, already applauding them.
When the ladies began to sing, it was obvious that this was going to be a special night. The audience was in high spirits dancing and cheering Gargar from the first note they sang. The ladies and the band picked the energy off the crowd and it seemed to feed their psyche. They in turn gave the audience all they had, and the snowball effect kept growing and growing into one big avalanche of an exciting performance.
Vusa had also done his homework, and the sound was crystal clear this evening. You could hear a pin drop on stage. I had given him a copy of Garissa Express after the previous show, and he told me later that listening to it had given him get a sense of what Gargar’s sound was supposed to be.
Once again the ladies took to the dance floor at the climax of their final number. The audience went crazy with everyone jostling for a chance to dance with the ladies.
Afterwards, we all went to chill out at the VIP backstage area. Maarufu plied us with drinks for the rest of the night. Luli, Amina and Anab were pretty h