Staff Writer
No proper VIP, limited space, slow service at the bar, phew!
To think this could have been the greatest night for urban grooves reunion and revival, it was all in vain!
The Urban Grooves concert held over the weekend at The Venue in Avondale failed beyond expectation due to poor planning.
Firstly, the venue of the concert became too small for the crowd that turned up including performing artistes
Secondly, VIP ticket holders who paid US$40 were grossly shortchanged as they could not see and follow the proceedings on stage.
Thirdly, there was only one bar area and VIP had to go buy from same bar as everyone else making it a bit cumbersome since the venue was packed to the rafters.
Fourthly, the performances were too short. Some artists performed up to three songs while others performed a maximum of four songs.
That said, organisers had come up with a good initiative of bringing a stellar line up of acts but again poor planning posed serious logistical nightmares.
The sound quality was good so was the mature crowd of mostly those in late 20s, 30s and a few of ama2k (those born from 2000s upwards),
The crowd sang along to almost every song reminiscing on the good old days.
Some of the artistes who serenaded music lovers include Roki, Decibel, Tererai, Shinsoman, Xtra Large, Stunner, Mafriq, Diana, BaShupi, Plaxedes, Madiz, Dino Mudondo, Maskiri, EXQ, Nasty Trixx, Dj Tamuka, Willom Tight, Trevor Dongo and Pauline.
While the show had a fair share of obstacles, the artists were happy to perform for the first time in years.
Urban Grooves was the THING around 2000s when government introduced the 75 local content drive on radio and television.
As the urban grooves movement grew in popularity so were several artistes.
The movement was anchored by some of talented producers who at the time owned recording studios the likes of Chamhembe, Take 5, TBA, Fortune Muparutsa and Delani Step Aside Makalani.
These producers would identify new talent and record them producing hits that made them household names.
But of course, too much of anything is boring, the urban grooves movement could not withstand the pressure from other genres including our very own Zim dancehall which superseded it.
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