Published:
August 29, 2017
Pioneers of '70s Zamrock movement, WITCH take to road for their debut European tour with a film crew in tow. The video recording is of the tour will be part of the long awaited documentary about lead singer Emmanuel 'Jagari' Chanda and the Afro rock movement that pervaded Zambian society for over a decade.
At the start of the 1970s, a newly independent Zambia was finding its voice. Zamrock – a fevered fusion of African polyrhythms and English psychedelia reigned the crackling airwaves. The genre’s most successful band, WITCH (We Intend to Cause Havoc), led by its greatest rock-star Emmanuel ‘Jagari’ Chanda, were at the eye of the storm, breathing wild imagination into the liberated nation. Yet within the course of a decade, WITCH had disbanded, and Zamrock had all but dissolved. As AIDS swept the country, and his old bandmates passed away one by one, Chanda found himself the last living reminder of the original line-up.
Now, with the genre reaching the ears of a new generation for the first time, documentary maker Gio Arlotta is bringing Chanda and WITCH to Europe, including his first ever visit to the UK. These shows, featuring Dutch psychedelic pop wonder Jacco Gardner, will form the final part of the film, and the next chapter in Zamrock’s history.
45 years since their first record, We Intend To Cause Havoc will reacquaint the world with the Zamrock sounds of Jagari, and the witchcraft that nearly disappeared forever.
WITCH European Tour Dates:
16 September - Nacht Van Kunst & Kennis Festival (NL)
18 September - Amsterdam (NL) Paradiso Noord
19 September - Nijmegen (NL) Merleyin
20 September - Paris (FR) Espace B
21 September - Gent (BE) Dok
22 September - London (UK) Moth Club
23 September - Liverpool (UK) International Festival Of Psychedelia