—Queen Latifah Sibebe dishes out epic
“Believe in yourself. Stay in your own lane. There’s only one you.”
MBABANE – This past weekend Sibebe Resort pulled off one of their best shows.
It was one for the books as the establishment launched a new entertainment area on Saturday. They further celebrated International Jazz Day on Sunday.
The first event which drew fun lovers in numbers was the launch of The Rock Lifestyle, which is the new entertainment area at the venue, where shows will be hosted. The event was headlined by South Africa’s (SA) Blaq Diamond, along with Tag Team also from SA. The show also included a number of local sensational acts on the line-up including; Thubillion, Supa CDQ, Matamza, Sgitha wama2000 and DJ Zulu D just to name a few.
The venue also introduced a new concept during their launch, which is the ‘bottle service girls’. The group of five ladies looked stunning in silk red dresses, they occasionally made their way to the stage. The event was scheduled to start at 11am but was pushed to start just after lunch, as the organisers were still making sure that the place was well prepared for the shows.
It is worth noting that the venue, The Rock Lifestyle was revealed on the day of the launch as the ‘rock’, which is literally a big rock, which was constructed from scratch. The exterior resembles a rock, which is a dome like shape.
Rain
The top of the structure was roofed in order to keep the rain out, which was something that the event organisers mentioned was a challenge to them when hosting events prior. Matamza, Supa CDQ were some of the artists who performed before the main acts and these acts got the people out of their comfortable brown leather seats and right to the front of the stage to showcase their best moves. After 10pm this publication got word that Tag Team was already in the country and Blaq Diamond were at the border and by that time, DJ Matamza was on the decks giving fun lovers a run for their money.
Just after he jumped off the stage, a set of drums were placed at the front of the stage, in preparation for the next performance by Tag Team. When the duo made their way to the front of the stage, ladies at the venue could not control themselves running to the front just to get a closer look at the artists.
One of the members was on the turn-tables and the other was on the drums. The artists gave an amazing set, which included theatrics, which was fire on the decks and the drums went wild every time they were beat. The fun did not stop there because up next was Blaq Diamond, who had just arrived at the venue. Just before the artists made their way on to the stage, this publication managed to speak to them where they mentioned that they had a great trip and were always happy to perform in the country. “We have been in the country for so many times we lost count and it is always a pleasure to be here especially because of the reception that we get when we are performing,” said the duo. The event went on untill the early hours of Sunday morning.
Celebration
Although the people had already left in the morning, but the fun did not end there as the establishment had planned a show dubbed Jazzy Sunday in celebration on International Jazz Day, which was headlined by Jazz legend Don Laka from SA. This show too was scheduled to start during the day but ended up beginning after 7pm. Jazz lovers who were at the venue were seen enjoying themselves, an apology was also issued from the organisers of the event to the people who were there to enjoy themselves.
The performances included the likes of Phiwo Sax, who is a saxophonist, Tibza, Swatiblues and Gcobani know by the African Soul prince.
Gcobani Masuku is a liSwati but now based in SA. He is a musician who has become a house hold name in that country and much believed in by Don Laka, who had mentioned that the artist was the next best thing. When asked how he felt by the acknowledgement and honours by Jazz legend, he mentioned that it was very humbling, looking at how he came from humble beginnings and a very poor background in Hlatikhulu.
On stage the African Soul prince gave a splendid performance, leaving his soul on that stage where he got a standing ovation from the people who attended the show. Just after the electrifying performance by the young talent from Hlatikhulu, the legend himself was set to jump on stage.
Keys
First to settle in were the band members, but things went from zero to a hundred immediately after the Jazz legend sat behind the keys. ‘Big Day’, Jazz Day and Mamelodi were some of the tunes that were played by the band, which had people on their feet. Don Laka was not the last act of the night as Sphiwo Short and Ntombz also performed.