They say the best journeys take you home and when Elemotho returns to the National Theatre of Namibia, the saying rings true amid thunderous applause.
As the crowd ululates, whistles and yells, “the new sound of the Kalahari” takes the stage in silhouette.
Elemotho’s entrance is duly dramatic and follows a sincere appreciation of live music.
Featuring The Ells, Livinge Dennis and Tisha, the evening is a generational cross-section of the contemporary Namibian live music scene, hosted by a fabulous Jemimah Ndebele.
For her part, Ndebele elevates hosting to the level of art. Introducing each act through an eloquent and extended spoken word piece, Ndebele beguiles the audience with a story of a returning song.
“Four years is a long time for a song to be away from home but fortunately Namibia never stopped singing,” says Ndebele of Elemotho’s four-year absence.
“New voices found their rhythm. New sounds found their stage and tonight those sounds and those stories meet. The ones that carried us then and the ones that are carrying us now.”
A voice finding their rhythm is young Tisha, who stepped onto the live music scene in 2022.
She makes her national theatre debut with a sweet, soulful voice, her humble guitar and original music about life and love sung in English and Afrikaans.
For many, she is a discovery, a delight and the perfect act to precede Livinge.
No stranger to the Namibian music scene, Livinge’s effortless, bold and bluesy set is accompanied by Tapz on drums and Jeff AD in harmony and in word. From ‘The Huckleberry Shuffle’ to the crowd-swaying ‘Tell Em’, Livinge’s blend of powerful voice and sage songwriting is as excellent as ever.
Taking the stage on pretty much the eve of their debut album, The Ells need no introduction.
The beloved musical brothers appear to applause and settle the room with melodic offerings from their highly anticipated ‘Salt, Wind and Fire’.
‘Brown Eyes’, written for Artwell ‘Slickartie’ Neusu’s young daughter, is sung by Emmanuel Ndifon as a matter of managing emotions, while ‘Angel Girl’ is also previewed from the new drop.
The Ells never disappoint and this evening is no different. Drums, voice and guitar elevate their epic thing and Ndifon looks a little stunned when last year’s ‘Zambezi’ is sung ardently by the audience.
After The Ells, the stage is set.
The crowd is warm and Ndebele introduces Elemotho in a fashion befitting a returning star.
The man of the moment arrives. The lights lift and four years melt away as images of shifting dunes welcome Elemotho home.
“I love you!” screams a woman from the audience. And Elemotho returns the sentiment with his vibrant signature smile.
Elemotho is joined by his longtime band including guitarist Sam Batola, whose consummate guitar and skilled vocal additions are met with enthusiastic applause.
The plan is to speak after the fourth song and Elemotho eases into his set with the wisdom of ‘Ga Lo Itse’ and ‘The System is a Joke’, in which the artist cautions against mindlessly swallowing what is fed to us by those in power.
Next, Elemotho offers ‘Sediegi (Don’t Get Sidetracked)’ which takes its name from Setswana and features indigenous Namibian chants.
The song is an arrangement of a funeral song and in its last notes, Elemotho pays tribute to Namibia’s late and legendary musicians.
“Jackson Kaujeua Junior, Raymond Mupfumira, Ras Sheehama, Christian Polloni, rest in peace, rest in music, until we see each other again,” Elemotho says.
The artist follows his remembrance of the dead with appreciation for the living as he calls for applause for Tisha, Livinge and The Ells.
“It’s good to be here.
It’s good to be back home. The last show I had was in 2022 at the FNCC. So I’ve also been on sabbatical of sorts.
Spending time with family and just sitting with myself,” Elemotho says.
“It’s been an interesting time. I think for all of us. So for you beautiful people, this one is called ‘Beautiful World’.”
Extending thanks to everyone who helped fill the theatre, digging deep despite the challenging economy, Elemotho intersperses a laidback but entertaining set with anecdotes from his life in Tanzania, with exposition about his songs and with new music from his forthcoming album.
“They asked me, during the promo run: Do you have any new material, what were you doing while you were out there, did you write anything new? So this is a new song. It’s called ‘Mogotsi’,” Elemotho says.
“Mogotsi was the surname of my grandmother but also the surname of my family and it means ‘the firemaker’.
In Lesotho, where I lived for five years, it means ‘friend’. This is the title of the upcoming album.”
After the titular song, Elemotho promises to pick it up a little.
That’s good news because a couple of audience members have been grumbling about the pace and want to hear the old music.
While most people in the crowd seem appreciative of Elemotho’s offering thus far, the musician unwittingly obliges to dive into the archive with ‘Neo’. The song was written for his firstborn and was featured on Netflix’s ‘Grace & Frankie’.
As Elemotho gets into the groove, songs such as ‘My Africa’, ‘Butterfly’ and a new one called ‘Setshego’ see cellphone lights swaying and ignite the crowd.
But there is one song that the audience is waiting for: ‘Gandja from Okahandja’.
In that regard, Elemotho says he has given up “the green” alongside meat and alcohol.
“Why do you think I look like I’m 35? As for the actual age? NC.
No comment,” says Elemotho. “When I was dancing, I was thinking maybe I should not do this because the physio told me I tore my meniscus.
Maybe this business of dancing so hard and bending like this, eish, just more trouble.”
Treating the crowd to his rapping alter ego in a song that calls for the end of conflict in Palestine, Iran, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine, Elemotho gets conscious and “funky, funky, funky”.
Age, torn meniscus and the limitations of the seated venue aside, it’s clear the seasoned musician is still having a lot of fun.
“They said it was a sitting theatre and I was told we gotta take it easy.
But we gotta give the people what they want.”
And the people want ‘Gandja from Okahandja’.
They jump up in the sparse spaces between the theatre seats.
They sing the chorus with gusto and the evening ends with lights flashing, Elemotho jumping high and the band shining in an electrifying closing instrumental.
It’s just like Elemotho said.
“We gotta give the people what they want.”
– martha@namibian.com.na;
Martha Mukaiwa on Instagram,
marthamukaiwa.com
