Celebrated singer, guitarist and producer Lawi finally gave music lovers in Blantyre a taste of his fourth album My Father’s Land on Friday night.
Debuting at Apollo Auditorium, a venue that is slowly recapturing its lost glory having reopened last year since its closure in the 1990s, Lawi’s concert kept the audience alert throughout.
The audience remained in their seats as they relished Lawi’s tunes from My Father’s Land as well as his other albums Lawi, Sunset inthe Sky and Thirties.
They sang along to most of the songs but took to the dance floor with ‘Amaona Kuchedwa’, which happened to be the last track of the night before the Lilongwe-based musician signed off to a standing ovation.
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Lawi has held several performances both in and outside the country but he went an extra mile in this show as apart from performing his Mango Band, he breathed life to the set with a choir from Bantu Music.
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It was an unforgettable night of music, storytelling and soul for Lawi, who during the performance also took time to honour Soldier Lucius Banda describing him as a great musician.
“He was an artist of the people and his music will leave on,” Lawi said after the concert.
He hailed Amaryllis Hotel and other partners for reviving Apollo Auditorium saying it is a beautiful venue designed for art.
“The room is treated well with acoustics and these are the venues that you long to perform at every time,” he said. Lawi who also served songs such as ‘Lilongwe’ said his bringing My Father’s Land to Blantyre marks the journey of sharing the album to the world.
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“When you work on an album, you do not just throw it to the people, you also have to take time to build a friendship with the people,” he said. Lawi said the 18-track album produced by himself at his studio in Lilongwe and has tracks such as ‘Day Time’ and ‘Titani Nawo Anawa,’ is a story of an artist from Malawi in Africa taking it to the world.
“My Father’s Land is a colourful musical journey with distinctive iconic African voices.
Within it you find a blend of life, music and identity infused with great depth of emotion and artistry. From Malawi the warm heart, welcome to Africa,” he said.
Jones Mbera from Bantu Music said they were happy to work with Lawi.
“We have come to promote entertainment as well as improve the lives of artists. Last year we recorded 56 gospel artists whose music people can access on www.bantumusic.com,” Mbera said.
He said they have recorded Lawi and that in the next three weeks; people will be able to watch the show on their platform.
“This is part of documentation. We are supporting artists to improve their lives and we call upon people to go on Bantu Music and appreciate the talents as we are doing things professionally,” he said.
