Eastern Cape performer Gino Fabbri is setting off on a Heritage Month tour that serves the dual purpose of promoting unity and confirming his metamorphosis as an entertainer.

In the coming weeks, Fabbri will be travelling across the Sunshine Coast, Karoo and Garden Route to stage a series of pop-up concerts at SPAR supermarkets in these areas.

For the 56-year-old, the undertaking is as much personal as it is about spreading joy and ubuntu among Eastern and Southern Cape communities.

“I’ve done comedy for 20 years and, at my age, you want to find all the right elements,” he explained.

“For me, that is about making others happy, my love of drumming and bringing people together.”

Fabbri has come to realise that for most of his career he has played to a specific type of audience, one not as diverse as it can be.

A fresh approach

His rock music-inspired drum solos, paying tribute to the likes of Toto and Phil Collins, have proved hugely successful over the years but resonated with largely white fans.

His mindset started to shift about a year ago.

As a Gen Xer, he initially found TikTok all a bit silly. He even installed and deleted the app twice before giving it one more go.

Many are familiar with Fabbri’s Afrikaans “speed cop” character, complete with short shorts and long socks, so the last thing anyone expects to see in one of his drum solos is a house music mashup.

The optics on the video he posted of the performance seemed absolutely bizarre: a white man, dressed like the archetypal boertjie, unleashing kwaito, Gqom, amapiano, deep house and Afro-house beats.

From TikTok to eight million views

The video he posted “blew up” as black audiences who grew up with these genres started engaging with the content. This one, along with a few others, have now accumulated more than eight million views.

“I’m getting thousands of beautiful comments like, ‘Give this guy two hectares [of farmland]’. It’s classic,” he said.

“It’s been such a good thing for me. All of a sudden, I feel like I’m doing something relevant.

“It’s pointless me writing the same characters for the same audience. I need to change tack and refresh myself.”

Fabbri’s son Celso, a highly-successful house-music producer and DJ in his own right, helped his dad compile a list of 20 of the best “bangers” across these styles for his drum solo.

The success of these offerings inspired Fabbri to approach SPAR, with whom he has partnered on numerous projects over the decades, with his idea for the Heritage Tour.

Bringing generations and genres together

“It is a great reflection of what our brand stands for,” the retailer’s divisional advertising and promotions manager Dean de Koning said.

“Our stores are at the heart of their communities and Heritage Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the people, traditions and local stories that make the province and Garden Route so special.”

Having Fabbri deliver these skits makes it even more meaningful for the Group.

“He has a genuine ability to bring people together through music, humour and shared experiences,” De Koning said.

Fabbri said there was a huge need for unity and happiness in his home province and, if he could contribute even in some small way, he would.

It is a cliché to say it is all about the “Nelson Mandela feel”, but it is a fact that embracing this spirit works for South Africans.

Taking the show into communities

The build-up to and hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, where little things came together to create a powerful force, is a great example.

“Heritage should be about bringing people together. As a white guy I have never heard a black guy talk to me about the ‘Rainbow nation’, but now I’m getting that all the time.

“That’s a saying that got tainted over the years but it’s true. Bishop Tutu knew what he was talking about.”

He said the upcoming mini concerts at retailers from Port Alfred to Wilderness via the province’s hinterland were open to “anyone who wants a bit of happiness poured on them”.

“A store is a strange place to have a concert, but it’s in the community. I want to be there right in the middle of it.”

Fabbri’s party-in-a-box package includes luck-draw prices, giveaways, comedy and emceeing, all building up to his Evolution of Afro-house drum solo.

“It’s about putting your soul out there. That’s what you’ve got to do,” he said.

Fabbri’s Heritage Tour schedule

Sunshine Coast | SUPERSPAR Rosehill, Port Alfred (Sep 10, 09:00 to 12:00), SUPERSPAR Nick’s Foods, Qonce (Sep 12, 12:00 to 15:00), SUPERSPAR Mdantsane (Sep 13, 10:00 to 13:00).

Karoo | SPAR Spandau, Graaff-Reinet (Sep 18, time tbc), SUPERSPAR Tams, Cradock (Sep 19, time tbc), SUPERSPAR Protea, Komani (Sep 20, 10a:00 to 13:00), SPAR Dagbreek, Kirkwood (Oct 2, 15:00 to 18:00).

Garden Route | SUPERSPAR Knysna (Sep 24, 09.30 to 12:30), SPAR Wilderness (Sep 24, 14.30 to 15:00), SUPERSPAR Jeffreys Bay (Sep 25, 12:00pm to 16:00).

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