Sylent Nqo delivers awesome treats in debut performance for new album

Sylent Nqo 3mob — Sylent Nqo PIC: 3-mob.com

At 7.03 pm, on a cold Sunday evening in Harare, the lights go out, and the crowd’s murmuring quietens.

A woman on a microphone, clad in traditional garb often reserved for Spirit Mediums, appears on stage, chanting praise for Shumba, the as-totem-ed Sylent Nqo. She is played by theatre star Charmaine Mujeri.

Down the aisle, a girl, played by Zion, leads the walk, Sylent led by him, flanked by men and women, some carrying torches. They are clad in some Xhosa garb. It is a moment, and the crowd allows the theatrical entrance to seep in. Some have phones whipped out while others watch as if in perpetual awe.

The conga is appropriately applied, the beating in sequence, punctuating the powerful moments with ebbs and flows.

The young girl walks onto the stage, Sylent follows soon after and the former hands him the guitar.

Still garbed as one, the guitar sangoma has arrived.

After all this, Sylent Treatment was introduced.

In the gardens at the Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust (Zifft) offices, a packed audience was treated to excellence, a musical experience which rode skillfully from one song to the next. The album breathes threw pores of incredible essence, the gentle spiritual odour percolating.

You see, we had listened to the album via networked BlueTooth headphones, allowing us to understand the intimacy of the album to which he had given birth. Then we knew him, intimately, closely, casting a spell. Now with the speakers, we saw the beast alive, in our faces, the music beyond the instrument, presented and real.

To a person, many were satisfied, entertained and satiated.

With former Hifa Head of Artistic Programming Chishamiso Musariri at the helm, not just managing the event but involved in the exhibition in excellence, it was as expected. Note too, Christine Gumunyu-Mangena who made sure the event was as organised as expected.

Sylent Treatment is out later this week.

The article was updated to reflect that Chishamiso Musariri was Hifa Head of Artistic Programming and not Production Manager.