Muneyi: The Beginning, Music
Venue: Guy Butler
Review
By Mbali Tanana
Lufuno – which means love in Tshivenda – was the most frequently use word throughout the night by Muneyi, the Standard Bank Young Artist who left his heart on the stage of the Guy Butler after his one night only performance of The Beginning last night.
The word “lufuno” was first used at the start of the show when Muneyi sang a song he described to be a tribute to his grandmother, a women he holds very close to his heart. This set the tone for the rest of the evening. Love took over the theatre, released from centre stage where he poured out his heart singing first about his grandmother, then about his late bestie who departed weeks after they had a fall out, and then onto sharing the stage with two of his close friends – also singing sensatations – Ntokozo Zwane whom he calls Garfield, and world renowned Msaki.
Love was equally shown by those present as the audience expressed appreciation of the performance, singing along, cheering him on and screaming from across the arena “We love you Muneyi.”
The Limpopo-born singer-songwriter’s said of his grandmother: “From growing up as a middle child in a big family and then being married into a polygamous, she had never been alone until 2018 when she had to adapt and come terms with being all alone, until she actually started calling loneliness her friend.” Umnta ka Makhulu said he was always touched when he called home to check on her and how she’d narrate stories of how she and loneliness were getting along.
While not everybody could understand the lyrics in Tshivenda vernacular, the singing sensation poured his heart out to an intimate crowd that felt the passion in his songs. Personally I was brought to tears by the music that also gave me goosebumps. The beautiful melodies and the combination of instruments used by his five-piece band not only played on electric and bass guitar strings but also pulled at heart strings. As he reached for higher notes, the mood became electric with the beating of drums and the transition between the trumpet and flugelhorn by Robin Fassie. The lighting danced to those tunes and was well choreographed – the bold colours aligned with the more piercing sounds and the soft yellows appeared with the mellow rainy sounds.
Muneyi and the crowd went insane during his closing performance as he paid homage to his home town and remembered the 7 April 1990 protests which took place in his village. The protests that led to a military coup were against the homeland government. It was an infectious scream that rose to complete madness as everyone wanted more.
