‘Soul sisters’ sizzle in the rain
Amantle Brown and Zahara set Botswana Craft ablaze – in the rain – over the weekend during the Mascom Live Sessions ‘Soul Sisters’ edition.
The South African ‘Loliwe’ hit-maker, Zahara is a frequent fixture at the festival and once again lived up to her star billing, belting out hit after hit in an energy-fused performance.
Setting the tempo for the headline act was Amantle Brown, who matched her more established foreign counterpart with a sizzling set.
Speaking to Voice Entertainment after the show, Brown compared this year’s experience with her Live Sessions debut, when she opened for RingoMadlingozi almost four years ago.
“I was a kid in 2016. This time I got to know how it feels to be relaxed and be comfortable, building a set and performing without wishing to swiftly go offstage.”
The 26-year-old black-and-brown haired sensation explained that even the arrangement was different this time, in that it allowed interaction between artists – unlike her first experience where artists were in two separate rooms and, perhaps, separate worlds!
Brown performed her hits like Moratiwa, Follo and Black Mampatile to an audience happy to sing along.
Zahara mounted the stage just before 10pm at the step of her usual opening gospel melody, Lizaliseindigalakho, which she performed in a foggy array of colours.
The 30-year-old covered most hits from her debut album, such asLoliwe (the title track itself), Destiny, and Umthwalo, which serves as her personal tear-jerker.
She punctuated these hits with some of her latest work, includingBengirongo, which featured the late Robbie Malinga.
The absorbed audience remained oblivious tothe dark clouds that billow overhead, until finally the rain came down in torrents.
Whilst some ran for cover, others danced freely in the biting rain, rejoicing childlike in the magical moisture.
Amantle Brown’s management and Zahara have agreed to brew a collaboration and discussions will soon be underway towards the production of this project.
However, Zahara was not available for interview after the performance as the heavy rain refused to relent.
“Everytime we complain that international artists do not work with us, but I realised that we don’t use them,” noted Brown, who revealed she listened to Zahara during preparations for her own Junior Certificate examinations.
Brown says that now her songwriting draws motivation from Zahara’s artistry.
