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WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc)

4 March 2024

In the Utzon Room

Contemporary Music

After five decades, legendary Zambian band WITCH bring their influential fusion of psych rock, funk, garage pop and African rhythm to the Sydney Opera House on their first Australian tour.

The legendary architects of Zamrock.

ABC

Zamrock pioneers make their Australian debut after an influential five-decade career

With an electrifying guitar sound that’s both primal and futuristic, Afro psych rockers WITCH – aka We Intend To Cause Havoc – exploded onto the post-colonial Zambian music scene of the 1970s and ignited a movement. Led by singer Emmanuel Jagari’ Chanda, the band’s ferocious fusion of psych rock, funk and garage pop pioneered the sound that would become known as Zamrock, a genre that gripped the continent for much of the decade. Across a string of landmark albums, including the masterpieces Introduction (1972) and Lazy Bones!! (1974), WITCH became superstars in their homeland, defining a sound that continues to resonate with audiences into the 21st century.

Spurred on by a resurgence of interest in their music (including Madlib’s Africa mixtapes), Chandra and keyboardist Patrick Mwondela reformed WITCH in 2013 for a series of incendiary performances. Last year they featured on As Above, So Below, the acclaimed album from Zambian star and WITCH fan Sampa The Great, and in 2023 – almost 40 years since their last recording – they released Zango, an album that proved the psych rock pioneers had only expanded their musical power. This is the band’s first ever tour of Australia, and if their legend is anything to go by, it’s one not to be missed.

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