Soldier to try out 100 people shows
President Peter Mutharika on Friday declared Covid-19 a national disaster as a measure to prevent cases of the virus in the country and this has seen a number of measures being put up including restricting public gatherings to less than 100 people.
This has since not spared the creative industry in terms of shows.
Some artists such as Patience Namadingo and Gwamba have postponed their shows due to coronavirus fears.
Soldier Lucius Banda wrote on his Facebook page that this was a hard time for “us musicians”.
He said because of piracy, the only income they were relying on at the moment were live shows.
“With the measures put up, we are really affected but we don’t have to take risks, the health of people is very important,” Lucius said.
He has since said he was thinking of doing exclusive shows this coming weekend and next weekend.
“We want to see if we can have people paying K10,000 each and should be only 100 people and if it works, I can be doing 100 people shows for now and of course with the necessary measures taken,” Lucius said.
Piksy, who has released a single titled ‘Corona’ featuring Taqua in which he speaks volumes of the pandemic and calls on people to stay safe and take the necessary precautionary measures, said he had a number of shows which were already booked but have been cancelled.
“We are affected because we rely heavily on shows but we just have to wait and I am sure the situation will improve shortly,” he said.
On coronavirus single, Piksy said it was a song that he has tried to balance – giving people advice on how to prevent the virus and giving people hope in that a lot of people are panicking.
Another musician Jack Ndenje has also responded to the issue by dropping a reggae song titled ‘Tipewe coronavirus’.
In the song, the artist also gives awareness on how one can contract the virus and talks about the necessary measures to be taken such as washing hands and avoiding hugs and handshakes.
Chileka reggae group –Black Missionaries, who performed at a Reggae Night show at Club 24/7 in Blantyre on Friday spearheaded by DJ Rokaz, also said they would be affected greatly in that they rely on live performances to earn income.
Asked as to whether they would target less than 100 people shows, Blacks lead vocalist, Anjiru Fumulani, said they would take a break for now and wait for the situation to improve.
“The show on Friday was different in that people had received the message from the president,” Anjiru said.
The country has not registered any coronavirus cases however, countries closer to Malawi such as Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa have already recorded the cases.
