Malawian Reggae Fans Shortchanged with Morgan Heritage


Jamaican reggae outfit Morgan Heritage blames communication breakdown with their promoter on the usage of prerecorded instruments as opposed to a live band during their Sunday performance in the capital Lilongwe.
There is discontent among reggae fans in social media and offline discussions following what has been dubbed lukewarm performance by the group at Silver Stadium.
But speaking in an exclusive interview with Zodiak, the group said they had said at the onset that they did not come with a full band hence will play back tracks.
This, however, they say appears not to have been communicated properly to fans ahead of the music show.
“We were robbed. They cheated us. We’ll take legal action”. These are some of the comments making rounds in the social media and offline discussions on the Morgan Heritage show.
Most reggae fans that attended the much-touted Strictly Roots show feel‎ the Jamaican reggae outfit has pulled a fast one on them. The use of prerecorded instruments by the family band instead of a live band during their performance is the crux of the matter.
The presence of only three members of the quintet‎, Mojo, Peter and Gramps added salt to the injury.
Fans had to pay K10, 000 before the show, or K15, 000 at the gate, or K20, 000 VIP with secure car parking.
The fans, who at times booed at the Morgan Heritage trio, said the use of a CD instead of a live band, ‎was nothing but day light robbery.
Most fans could be heard saying the Jamaican reggae outfit, famous for hits like 'Nothing to Smile About' and 'More Teachings', had clearly shortchanged them with the arrangement.
Perhaps, what even baffled the fans more was that local curtain raisers Sally Nyundo, Soul Raiders and the Black Missionaries had put up starling performances with the use of live instruments.
Fans that had waited for more than eight hours before the band could get on the stage were seen trooping out of the Silver Stadium en masse, apparently in anger that the band did not live to their expectation.
For example, one Vundawaka Kalua writes on Facebook: I am too disappointed to construct my thoughts. But at the very least, these guys should have used a local band. This was an epic failure. A band of such international repute should not have done that.”
Another disgruntled fan, Banks Mdala writes: “A raw deal is when a reggae band of international repute comes all the way from Jamaica with pomp and fan fair only to play a CD.”
Nico Kathimba Phiri laments: “I am not worried with the 10 pin [K10, 000] but the time wasted spending hours and hours of waiting only to realize at midnight that they would play a CD”.
The trio says, although they feel sad that things turned out this way, communication breakdown is to blame.
They say they had earlier communicated to their promoter Born Afrikan that they will use prerecorded instruments after failure by the whole band to make it to Malawi.
They said they could not use a local band because their standards require that they practice with a new band for not less than one month.
On his part, Born African says he regrets the development but had no choice but to let the group come to Malawi other than cancel their trip when they learnt that taking the whole 17 member group could be costly especially with the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Born Afrikan admitted that the group had communicated to him that they will not use a full band because of the challenges they met in the run to their tour of Africa.
He said it turned out that promoters from other countries like Kenya, Senegal and Ivory Coast where the group was set to perform, had pulled out last minute because of the glaring costs of hosting the Jamaicans.
The cost for flying one member into Africa, said Born Afrikan, shot from USS 50, 000 to about USS 90, 000 because of changes related to the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Notwithstanding the clear disappointment from fans, Mojo, Peter, and Gramps put up a spirited ‎performance that they are characterised with.
Not So Bad
Many other people said much as they used prerecorded instruments the show was marvelous.
During the show Morgan Heritage belted out hits from their old albums and also from their new one, Strictly Roots. The group has since promised a better performance next year.
According to Born Africa, there was already a standing agreement that the group should visit Malawi again in 2016 because they knew that the challenges they met could prevent the band from showing the best of their music.