By Gracious Mugovera

WHILE many people had a great time at the Tongai Moyo commemoration gig, many also did not have a good time.
The legendary Sungura artiste, who succumbed to Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma two years ago produced music that touched and appealed to all age groups.
He was famous and dearly loved by his legion of fans that came from all strata of society.
He performed in nightclubs and also did family shows where toddlers raised their little arms in response to performances that never failed to dazzle.
For the love of his fans he soldiered on to the end, performing even when he was in pain.
He only stopped performing not when the pain became unbearable, but when he could not, no matter how much he wanted.
It is known by all that as he lay in hospital ‘crippled’ by disease, uppermost in his mind was his fans.
He felt he had let them down.
That is how passionate he was and he was rewarded by fans so loyal that when he passed on many did not believe it.
Time and again he had come back onto the stage, sometimes soon after being told by doctors that he could not go on, he had to stop, he did not stop.
But on October 15 2011, he exited the stage, superbly he played his part.
And his legion of fans vow that the ‘Igwe’ as he was affectionately known, will never be forgotten.
And the approach to his commemoration gig left a lot to be desired.
The assumption obviously was the ‘worthwhile’ acts would perform during the night.
But the gig began in the morning and this was evidence that organisers appreciated that many would come to remember ‘Murozvi Mukuru’ as he had fans that preferred the day and not night shows.
But performance served that segment of fans was not good at all.
Throughout the day people waited for the ‘big thing’ to happen meaning that those that preferred to spend the day remembering ‘Dhewa’ did not get an opportunity to do it.
They left for home a disappointed lot.
Families came from Chitungwiza, Epworth, Mbare and Highfield, among other places, but left without seeing performances by the main acts in the gig that included artistes such as Freddy Gwala, Sulumani Chimbetu and Alick Macheso.
Like Leonard Dembo, Simon Chimbetu, John Chibadura and Marshall Munhumumwe, Tongai Moyo significantly contributed to taking the music industry to a higher level.
The acts by the curtain raisers that included Banyana Banyana dance group were not convincing and did not do justice to the memory of the legendary ‘Muchina Muhombe’.
Banyana Banyana saw it fit to imitate the likes of Hosiah Chipanga and Winky D in their routines and for die-hard Dhewa fans the acts were far from thrilling.
Another shortfall was the absence of a dressing room which made life difficult for the artistes.
Banyana Banyana had to change into their ‘business’ outfits behind the stage and the same applied for guest star, the sizzling Batswana singer and dancer Slizer.
And also disappointing was the heir of the Utakataka Express Peter Moyo.
The young musician lacked the decency to show up in time at his own father’s memorial show.
He arrived at 5pm when other musicians had already left.
There is no excuse, Peter Moyo is one musician who was supposed to be there from the beginning to the end, the first to arrive and last to leave.
However, it is commendable that big names in the industry showed up to remember one of their own.
Kireni Zulu delivered a splendid performance.
Beverley Sibanda, despite her voice needing polishing up, was in scintillating form and had the crowd eating from her palm.
It was the self-proclaimed ‘Prince of Sungura’ First Farai, one artiste who openly declared his love for Dhewa and never minded being called a copycat who lit up the memorial gig.
The burly musician did renditions of Tongai’s songs and his dances left the crowd begging for more.
Popular South African musician Freddy Gwala and the talismanic Progress Chipfumo and Sungura supremo Alick Macheso also performed.
During his career, Tongai Moyo produced 14 albums that include Chechete, Vise, Vimbo, Mano, Pinda Panyanga, Naye and Toita Basa among others. He remains one of the greatest musicians Zimbabwe has ever had.