Unfortunately for us, the show did not happen in Zimbabwe.

The story of Mi Casa’s Easter performance cancellation left many fans angry and confused with Twitter and Facebook coming alive with fans’ rants about the abrupt suspension. At the same time, Zimbabwean music promoter, May 7 Entertainment,got a black mark against its name for the mishap.

When Zimbo Jam heard that Mi Casa was no longer to perform at the Harare International Conference Center (HICC) on March 28 as previously advertised, we decided to track the group down and find out what they got up to instead.

If the mountain will not come to the Zimbo, then the Zimbo must go to the mountain!

And the mountain that is Mi Casa was to be found amid the mountainous landscape of Cape Town where the group gave an Easter Sunday performance  at the 2013 Old Mutual Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts.

Thousands turned out for the sold out show, disregarding even the temperamental cloudy Cape Town weather.

And when Mi Casa took to the stage,the arena erupted with the excitement that Zimbabwean fans had to save for another day.

The trio commanded the stage throughout the performance,rocking their funky ‘I love house’ T-shirts, while engaging in their trademark powerful instrumentals.The beautiful voice of lead singer, J-Something, was something to behold, especially in a live performance. Furthermore, the vibrant beat, courtesy of Dr. Duda and the energetic talented trumpeter, Mo-T,were the foundation of a successful outing and perfect afternoon.

 Lead singer, J-Something, doing his thing.     AMEERA MURAD AMEER

‘All the Glory’and a number of other hits got the crowd dancing. Songs such as Mafikizolo’s hit ‘Ndihamba Nawe’ and Miguel’s ‘Adorn’ burst forth from the stage, and in true Mi Casa fashion,were converted to their signature jazzy house sound.

‘La Vida’ (the 2012 unofficial Cape Town summer anthem), provided yet another highlight and even though most of the crowd did not speak Portuguese, they hummed and swayed to the catchy trumpet-inspired chorus.

One could not help but fall for the group’s charm.

J-Something’s playfulness and interactions with the crowd (his light-hearted use of Zulu endears him to the fans), Mo-T’s funky groove and Dr Duda’s smooth piano skills and beat-making combine for areally magical experience of musical genius.

The group ended the show with a crowd favourite, the South African Music Awards-nominated track, ‘Heavenly Sent’, heightening the crowd’s euphoria and ending the Summer Sunset Concerts in style.

Zimbabwean concert-goers may have missed out this time, but Mi Casa has stated its hope to visit the country soon. In the meantime we will be living la Vida jammers…ba ba ba barpapapapa…babababarpapapa!

-Ameera Murad Ameer