BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Bongeziwe Mabandla is taking his acclaimed 2023 album amaXesha on the road with a nine-date Southern African tour that includes a performance in Maputo, Mozambique, and a special show at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town.
Fans of the award-winning artist in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Stellenbosch and Durban are also in for a treat with support for Mabandla’s shows in those cities coming from rising stars, The Joy.
The October amaXesha tour follows three sold-out album release shows in Johannesburg and Cape Town in June this year, giving audiences who were unable to secure tickets for those shows an opportunity to see Mabandla perform his latest album live.
Mabandla will be performing together with his producer and creative collaborator, Tiago Correia-Paulo, with the new dates adding to a live schedule for 2023 that has included shows in the UK, Europe and Mexico. Both Mabandla’s domestic and international shows have drawn rapturous responses from audiences, with critics noting that this set of shows is likely to be the last opportunity to see this globally ascendant artist in any kind of intimate setting.
The amaXesha tour gets underway in the Eastern Cape with an October 4th show at The Guild in East London followed by a performance at the Guy Butler Theatre in Makhanda on October 6th and a show at The Music Kitchen in Gqeberha on October 8th.
Mid-October sees The Joy join the amaXesha tour when it hits Gauteng with the first show at Sognage in Johannesburg on October 14th followed by a show at the African Beer Emporium in Tshwane the next day. The South African leg of the tour finishes up with shows at the Desi Jones Bar in Stellenbosch on October 20th, St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on October 21st and at the Barnyard Theatre in Durban on October 22nd.
Mabandla then heads for Maputo on October 27th for a show at CCFM in Maputo, Correia-Paulo’s hometown and where the lyric video for “zange” off iimini (2020) was shot.
The Joy are a quintet from Hammarsdale with their roots in traditional Zulu music and modern acapella, who have just released their new EP – titled Hammarsdale – on UK based Transgressive Records. This year has seen The Joy perform in the UK, selling out their first solo date in London and also performing at various festivals including Glastonbury, The Great Escape, Love Supreme and Soho House festivals.
Image: Supplied
