had actually been officially initiated into the Zulu tribe – this guy was cool.
So, as you can imagine, I literally jumped at the chance to go and see him playing at the Sheppard’s Bush Empire last Wednesday – backstage passes – this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a childhood idol up close.
The opening act was Inemo, a Nigerian performer I have seen a couple of times, most recently at the Africa festival at Haggerston Park in East London. He is a fine songwriter and committed on stage, and this was no exception. He opened with one of my personal favourites – his OAU or Organisation of African Unity – an uplifting number full of optimism and belief in Africa.
Johnny Clegg came on stage looking older than I remembered, perhaps balding a little now – not quite the spring chicken he once was. Wrong. He dived straight into some ‘high kicking’ Zulu dancing and got the crowd going. Early on in his set, my ears perked up when I heard him mention Zimbabwe. ‘We’ve failed in our soft diplomacy’, he said of South African policy on our country. He was leading up to a song he had dedicated to RGM after seeing him interviewed on television talking about ‘ his Zimbabwe’.
7.12.2006
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UnitKmusic Tomas L. Brickhill (07-12-2006)
LONDON - I have two strong memories of Johnny Clegg imprinted on my brain from childhood. The first is of seeing him in a music video on 'Mvenge mvenge' as it was then. I remember him dancing around a fire with some fellow Zulus - I say fellow because I remember being particularly impressed that he