Hotstix' opens with a Bob Marley hit
MALKERNS – Sipho ‘Hotstix’ Mabuse’s performance at House on Fire on Saturday evening was scintillating.
The South African opened his show with Bob Marley’s hit ‘Redemption Song’, which he sang to the very end much to the surprise and pleasure of over 600 people who had come for the show. Dressed in an all white outfit, Hotstix sashayed around the stage with the microphone in his hand and then greeted his fans.
Mabuse went for his saxophone and started playing a slow jazzy number which indicated that he was a mature musician. There were occasional shouts and whistles coming from the audience as a sign of appreciation as he played.
In no time, the music icon had both young and old eating from the palm of his hand with his clearly talented band. The music went from slow to fast, and Mabuse beckoned with his hand for people to come closer to the stage and dance the night away.
Three people started and in a matter of minutes others followed such that it became difficult to manoeuvre on the dance floor. The singer went from ‘Shikisha’ to ‘Burnout’, which were his golden oldies.
Audience
Like a true band leader he gave members of his band a chance to shine as they played their best. The audience was visibly impressed with one of the talented guitarists who played rock.
The night was too young for Mabuse to end the show, so after a 30 minute interval he was back for the second and last session in which he introduced to the audience to Masike ‘Funky’ Moabi, who is the member of the legendary South African group Harari.
Moabi, donning a white suit and a black hat sang the golden oldie ‘Forgive’, which the audience, particularly the older generation seemed to enjoy. The artist also showed that as old as he was, he could still strum a rock guitar.
"Let’s do rock people," he said, as the people cheered him on.
In an interview after the show both South African musicians said the Swazi audience was "incredible". They said they played from the heart.