Local artists deliver without foreign act
With a 100% local line-up, Staywell Hotels proved that local artistes can still deliver without a foreign headlining act in the mix. During a music festival called Friends of Staywell held at Staywell Gardens at Rasesa, revellers had a good time as they appreciated their own.
Popular duo, Ancestral Rituals set the tone for the night with their organic and Afrocentric arrangements. People immediately gathered around the stage when the duo started performing music mostly without vocals.
The duo, which is made up of a DJ and a drummer, gave the audience an ethnic beat which reverberated around the place.
The drummer thumped the drums as revellers screamed in delight while the DJ booth’s selection took the drums to new heights. Perhaps it is not surprising that Ancestral Rituals are sometimes compared to South Africa’s Black Motion for their intoxicating stage presence.
Among a plethora of artists who graced the stage after Ancestral Rituals was Casper The DJ and he did not disappoint especially after the bar was set high. During Casper The DJ’s set, Botswana’s very own DJ Ngwazi joined as he performed his hit collabo with SA’s Master KG titled Uthando.
As revellers sang along to the song, DJ Ngwazi revealed that the video of the song will be released sometime this week. As he completed his set, Casper The DJ made an expected move by playing disco music much to the enjoyment of revellers. There has been fear that the disco genre is dying a natural death after the passing of Dan Tshanda in 2019 but revellers still enjoy the music despite the dominance of mainstream music genres like Amapiano.
DJ Teaz gave the night a different complexion with Afro house.
DJ Kuchi also did his usual magic on the decks and performed some of his popular hits like Rejection among others.
He also dished out a bit of Eletronic Dance music as he completed his set. Around midnight Charma Gal hit the stage and being one of the headliners, she had to live up to expectations. Even though she was not performing live, Charma Gal managed to keep the stage warm with her songs from the past decade.
ATI then took over afterwards and all of a sudden people had forgotten that there is no foreign act in this music festival. ATI, who never disappoints on stage, was wearing a blue suit and a blue cap.
The controversial artiste performed the acoustic versions of his hits like Stimamolelo and Lephoi and the crowd loved the performance.
To save the best for last, Dr Vom finally hit the stage in the wee hours of Sunday morning and people were ready with their sticks. Dr Vom’s classic hit Thobane is what the doctors had ordered as revellers moved around the garden alongside Dr Vom himself.
He always does this and it never gets old. Hosted by Hey Nyenaah, Staywell Hotel came up with this festival in order to promote local arts and appreciate their clients.