The award-winning musician, Bongeziwe Mabandla, wooed the crowd at Jan Marais Park on 14 October. The internationally acclaimed performer’s show was part of the 2022 Toyota US Woordfees’ Musiekfees. During the show, the Eastern Cape native gave attendees a taste of his upcoming album.
Eastern Cape-born musician, Bongeziwe Mabandla, performing alongside Tiago Correia-Paulo, the producer of Mabandla’s third studio album, iimini (‘the days’ in isiXhosa). PHOTO: Asive Mabula
The 90-minute performance took the audience through a whirlwind of emotions. Mabandla’s beautifully crafted isiXhosa lyrics resonated with the diverse crowd.
In an interview with MatieMedia, Mabandla said he struggles to exactly pinpoint what draws people to his music even when they do not understand the lyrics.
“My music relies a lot on feeling and emotion,” said Mabandla. “Those things transcend language.”
Mabandla also sometimes listens to music with lyrics he does not understand, he told MatieMedia, adding that things that are similar to people’s own lives make them very excited to experience them.
Crowd favourites
Tiago Correia-Paulo, the producer of Mabandla’s third studio album iimini (‘the days’ in isiXhosa), opened the show with an instrumental of the song zange, a leading single for the 2020 album. The crowd sang every word without fail before Mabandla took to the stage with his guitar.
Bongeziwe Mabandla took to the Musiekfees stage for the first time and received a warm welcome from the audience. The show-opening song’s title, zange, loosely translates to ‘never’. The love song tells the story of a young man whose life changed forever after being told they are loved by their partner. VIDEO: Asive Mabula
“I don’t come here [Stellenbosch] often,” Mabandla told the Jan Marais crowd – to which the audience agreed in unison. However, all was forgiven when Mabandla sang crowd favourites such as Ndokulandela, jikeleza and the obvious closer – isiphelo.
A continuation of ‘the days’
Although Mabandla does not yet have a title for his next album, he shared an unreleased song which was well-received by the audience. The song is about an everlasting, intentional love that vows to last forever.
“We are working on some songs and visuals – that’s part of why I’m in Cape Town,” Mabandla told MatieMedia.
“It’s a continuation of my previous album. I did not want to write about something new yet, because I think I was still dealing with that subject [love and loss],” said Mabandla.
Akin to iimini, Mabandla closed the show with ndiyakuthanda, and promised the crowd that he would be back for another performance soon.
A passionate Bongeziwe Mabandla singing his heart out. “It’s been a little bit of a while since I performed,” said Mabandla in an interview with MatieMedia. “I’m happy to be back on stage, especially with Tiago [Correia-Paulo],” he added. PHOTO: Asive Mabula