Promoters sabotage Jah Prayzah concert again

By Lance Guma

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LONDON – After the chaotic scenes in Leicester on Sunday following problems with a PA system that came late, promoters of Zimbabwe based singer Jah Prayzah connived again on Sunday to humiliate the singer with a PA system not even fit for a birthday party.

Mukudzei Mukombe a.k.a Jah Prayzah battled to contain his anger and bluntly told the audience ‘murizvinzwira mega sound yakadhakwa iyi- you can hear for yourself this PA system is poor.”

He also made it clear he had arrived at the venue by 6pm but by 11pm the PA system had still not been set up, forcing the sound check to be carried out in front of impatient fans.

To his credit Jah Prayzah gave an energetic performance that was unfortunately punctuated by the sound switching off what must have been some 30 times. The crowd completely warmed up to him and understood it was not his fault.

During one of the many enforced breaks a member of Jah Prayzah’s The 3rd Generation band told Nehanda Radio “the promoters are putting us at great risk of public anger with this poor sound system, same thing happened in Leicester.”

On Saturday Steady Munyanyi of Diamond Promoters issued a public apology for the chaos in Leicester the previous day, blaming technical issues which he said had been taken care of. He even promised “smooth and flawless shows until the end of this tour,” starting with the concert in Dunstable on Sunday.

That promise was not kept. In fact those who attended both the Leicester and Dunstable gigs said the PA system in Dunstable was far worse.

Despite the Leicester show being advertised as starting at 10pm, Jah Prayzah went on stage around 2am and only performed up to 4am angering fans who had waited for him for almost 4 hours while being entertained by a DJ.

Angry fans jostled to beat up the singer and police had to be called in to protect him. Supporting act Gupsy Warrior also did not show up. Nehanda Radio understands there were complications with his visa in Zimbabwe.

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