Bev fails to impress at Jongwe Corner

By Sydney Kawadza

HARARE – The “miraculous” transformation by pole dancer Beverly “Bev” Sibanda to become a fully fledged musician has attracted a lot of attention with music lovers eager to get a feel of the new artiste.

Bev and her Sexy Angels released their debut album last week amid high expectations from her fans. The album features South African musician Freddy Gwala, Zimbabwe-based Congolese chanter Shiga Shiga and Botswana-based music producer Dr Tawanda Benson.

And it was with anticipation that revellers thronged the ever-popular Jongwe Corner in Hatfield to experience the new Bev phenomenon that has gripped town.

Yes, the popular venue has become a favourite joint for leading artistes like Jah Prayzah, Suluman Chimbetu, Tryson Chimbetu, Peter Moyo and others.

Bev and her Sexy Angels have also attracted full houses, albeit for free shows, when she used to compete with other dance groups such as Apama Style, Zoey and Amagesh among others.

However, last Friday turned out to be a different ball game altogether when Bev took her act to the spot accompanied by Gwala and Shiga Shiga for what was a highly anticipated debut show at one of her favourite hunting grounds.

Revellers drove from all corners of Harare while some came from as far as Chitungwiza for the show. By 8 o’clock, a long queue of cars stretching from Seke Road, way past the popular joint, had formed while others battled to find parking space near the bar.

The long queues outside the venue could have fooled anyone that the place was bursting to the rims with people enjoying the latest from the talented dancer. This, however, was far from the case as, firstly, people refused to pay the US$5 entry fee.

This is unusual at that particular venue although far from unusual at some other venues around town. Secondly, the people manning the gates were very discourteous even to the patrons who have made Jongwe Corner their favourite drinking hole.

The third mistake by whoever is in charge of the shows Bev has planned to hold while Gwala is still around is to surround themselves with too many bouncers who treated people queueing at the entrance with disdain.

Why a budding artiste like Bev would enlist eight to 10 bouncers is difficult to understand.

That said and done, Bev should start to work on her act that should show that she has transformed from a dancer to a full-fledged singer. It was disheartening to see her go through the same dance routines that we have seen in her previous shows.

Besides dancing to some backtracks from her latest album “Tapinda”, the only difference was that she was holding a microphone or Shiga Shiga was somewhere behind a speaker-set doing his chants.

The message that Bev was sort of lip-syncing while going through the same dance routines could have filtered outside where people were standing after refusing to enter.

There was a music kit on the stage but still Bev decided to stick to pre-recorded music and this has become the downfall for many musicians even some international artistes that have used backtracks.

It is also good to note that most of the songs from Bev’s offering were produced by Dr Tawanda and if she does not rope in some people to give her live music, her musical career could stumble.

Meanwhile, Freddy Gwala put up a spirited performance backed by local session musicians who proved their mettle. Gwala played most of his popular tracks from yesteryear.