The Sunday Mail
Takudzwa Chihambakwe Leisure Correspondent —
HE arrived on the showbiz scene backed by industry greats back in March last year but since then, young contemporary singer, Sam Dondo and his Subway Crooners are yet to make an impact on the market.
In just under a year that he has been in the game, Dondo has changed managers three times and has started the year with an all-new band.
But all those technicalities aside, the major challenge with Dondo is not with the change in band managers or the band itself. lt is with him.
The singer has a lot of energy and oozes a lot of passion when performing but sadly as was the case last week at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale, he fails to connect with the audience and ends up enjoying his set all by himself.
The youngster needs to get his act right in this regard because he is not performing for his band but for the paying revellers who want to be entertained. This poor ability to connect with the crowd will cost him dearly if he does not correct it soon.
When he performed at his album launch back in March last year, he ended up being booed off stage by a section of the audience because they could not connect with him. At that moment, many thought that maybe this was just a false start. However, this has become a trend as we saw him struggle again at the Jah Prayzah album launch at the HICC last year.
Somehow people just switch off when he steps on stage, those on the dance floor desert it, some go to the bar for refreshments while others go out for recess.
Dondo is in a fix and he needs to address this weakness.
On Friday, Ammara Brown raised the bar with a fiery performance and when Dondo stepped out to perform, people took to their seats and just watched in disdain as they waited for Jah Prayzah to come and take over. Maybe some mentoring might be needed, especially now that his second album is set to be dropped at the end of the month.
The band is not the problem, from day one he has had some of the best session musicians to play for him. However, erratic changes within the band might also affect the rhythm of the singer.
Speaking on the effects of changes in band members and whether it will stop soon, Dondo’s new manager, Green Manatsa said, “You will not see stability in Sam’s band anytime soon because as a rising artiste he is still trying to find his place in the industry so many musicians will come and go until he gets a team that gels with him.
“Another aspect is that since Sam started, he has been working with session musicians and session musicians don’t stay in one place for too long. They will play with an artiste today and once they feel they have outgrown the vision of that band they will move on. So these dynamics have contributed to the changes in his band.”
Manatsa was adamant that these changes will not affect Sam’s music.
“I was born in a family of musicians, I saw my father change band members all the time but it never adversely affected his music. However, what you will find is that in some instances you will have low seasons when the crop of musicians you are using is bad and high ones when the team is good,” he said.
Manatsa also confirmed that the new album will be ready by month end.
“Sam’s second album is being mastered right now in South Africa and will be released by monthend. We will be releasing more details about it as we draw nearer the launch date.
