By Tongi Mbidzo
Liquideep, a soul and House duo formed in Johannesburg in 2007 by Ziyon and Ryzor. was my first group from South Africa that I brought to Zimbabwe on 27 December 2013.
It was boy band Liquideep third time coming to Harare after having been to Zimbabwe for previous gigs. December 2013 the drama.com started when we realised the date we booked for the concert clashed with another veteran promoter Chris Musabayana’s concert. Musabayana was bringing in another South African act Zahara.
We explored the option of joining forces and working with Chris and do one big show with the two South African artists, but it did not materialise. To avoid drama and splitting the crowd, we moved our Liquideep show to the following weekend.
All was set for a good gig, Liquideep flew in from South Africa that Friday morning. I made an observation when we picked the band at the airport heading to the hotel.
Whilst in the shuttle the band was divided into two camps, four band members were getting along and talking to each other whilst the other two band members were talking to each other and not engaging the other four.
A simple question like how the flight to Harare was, was receiving mixed reactions from the two camps. We got to the hotel and checked in the band to their rooms and continued with our preparations for the show.
Come mealtime which was lunch the two camps were also not agreeing with the lunch arrangements we had made. Zee a friend from varsity had prepared a complementary traditional cuisine at her eatery and after a few words of convincing we eventually got the entire band to go for lunch at her restaurant.
I was Star struck so I didn’t probe too much why the band seemed divided, after all both camps were relating with us the promoters well.
Concert time the band did a wonderful job on stage, they rocked the crowd, hit after hit they belted, the fans enjoyed the show.
It was a good gig, we had a good crowd, we didn’t manage our costs well, we had a big line up of support acts and so we made a small loss.
Interestingly we had received some sponsorship for this concert from the late Ginimbi, who I was introduced to by my friend and promotions partner Tonde.
In return for the sponsorship, we would have the Liquideep band After Party at a club Ginimbi had just opened and was running at Helensvale Shopping Centre.
When the concert finished, all roads led to the After Party at Ginimbi`s Club, for us the drama started again. The two camps were at it again.
Four band members agreed to go for the after party and had a blast at the after party, the other two band members declined, and went to bed at the hotel.
At the after party one of the key members of the band confided in me and told me that he was sick and tired of fame and wanted to go back to his day job and enjoy family time.
I thought it was the drinks talking so we laughed it off. We had a great After Party, Ginimbi was a great host at his club.
Morning time we took the band to the airport for their flight back to South Africa, again I noticed there was tension in the shuttle, the two camps were not talking to each other.
A few weeks after our show, I was to learn via internet and radio that the band Liquideep had split, my encounter with them in Harare began to make sense.
All the red flags and fissures we noticed were symptoms of some underlying issues in the band. Liquideep was super talented and a favourite with the ladies.
Their split was a dagga to their multitude of fans across the continent, but hey, such is life.
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