Tuku falls ill, cancels show
Oliver Mtukudzi
Tawanda Marwizi Arts Correspondent
There was chaos at CSC club in Chinhoyi after Oliver Mtukudzi failed to turn up for a show due to illness.
Mtukudzi was billed to perform alongside Suluman Chimbetu and Soul Jah Love.
Sources said the musician was not feeling well.
“He was not feeling well and his doctor advised him not to go on stage on that same day,” said the source.
Mtukudzi’s manager, Sam Mataure, said the musician had flu and this had forced Tuku to cancel all his weekend shows.
“He could not perform because he had flu. We cancelled all our shows over the weekend,” he said.
He said they were planning to have another show in Chinhoyi to make up for their absence.
“There is nothing much only that the doctors said he should rest. We will have a gig as an apology to our fans in Chinhoyi,” he said.
The superstar’s no show triggered violence that left Chimbetu’s PA system damaged and engineer John Kajayi injured.
Efforts to have dancehall star Tocky Vibes as a replacement at the show backfired.
Chimbetu publicist Joe Nyamungoma refused to shed more light on the issue.
“Yes, our PA system was damaged and our engineer was injured, but for further information contact the promoter and maybe Mataure,” he said.
Promoter of the event Tafadzwa Maridadi said the situation was beyond their control.
“He told us that doctors advised him not to come for the show so we had to rope in Tocky Vibes. His performance was good, but fans wanted Mtukudzi, prompting them to throw missiles at the dancehall musician,” said Maridadi.
He said they were forced to call Chimbetu back to the stage.
“We were forced to call Chimbetu back on stage because the situation was getting out of hand,” he said.
