When Luciano cancelled his Africa Tour last year, it was reported all over the media outlets and social media was abuzz.
When Luciano came to Africa to honour his cancelled dates on a tour dubbed Return to Africa, media outlets and social media went silent.
On the 28 of March Luciano performed live in Malawi for the first time. He received a roaring welcome at the airport and played to a full capacity crowd.
On the 3rd of April he performed in Cape Town to a jam packed Assembly hall, and not only did he perform but he took some time out to hangout, reason and link with his fans and supporters.
He then rounded off his South African leg of the Tour in Johannesburg, where he was performing for the second time, he was here back in 2012.
Luciano must be commended for returning to Africa, he made it up by giving his fans a three hour tour de force performance, taking us back, giving us all the hit tunes that made him The Messenger who come to teach the youth about Roots n Culture. He kept the audience dazzled with his signature dance moves; everyone got to hear their favorite tune as he performed almost an entire collection of his repertoire , including new songs. He gave the best performance full of energy without missing a beat.
He was backed by the Cape Town based All Nations Band throughout the tour; you would think that they perform together on the regular, the way they jammed so effortlessly and the energies oozing from the stage were contagious and filled the entire venue. The two empresses on backing vocal were impressionable and made it even more magical with their beautiful melodies.
It was Jouburg based Faya Uman who warmed up the stage and kicked off the performances at Carfax. After navigating through the technical glitches that always come with Play Back, she gave a fierce performance accompanied by the Twins of Reggae or Yeoville Twins who gave a small theatrical intro. She was opening up for Luciano for the second time as she did in 2012 when Luciano was last here.
Up next was Born Afrikan, the Malawian born, South Africa based artiste, who also happen to be the organiser of the tour together with All Nations. A seasoned performer who is always such a joy to watch on stage. When you hear Dennis Brown’s Promise Land played to perfection as an opening instrumental, then you know you are in for a conscious ride, a musical journey. That kept the audience well on their feet and he gave out one of his best performance of all time.
Then came thunderous Dhadza D, Zimbabwe’s Prince of Fire. The man is full of energy, full of lyrics with the vocal prowess to round it all off. He works the stage and the crowd to a frenzy. It is clear that he gets his inspiration from Capleton – whom he has shared the stage with when the latter performed in Zimbabwe – but he has got his own style and persona, a very talented artist.
A massive shout out to the organisers, All Nations and Born Afrikan Production and the entire crew for a well put together event with Afrikan artists showcasing Afrikan talent and the show of unity.