Just Announced | Legendary Zamrock group W.I.T.C.H. on the JME Soundstage

Legendary Zambian psych-rock band W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend to Cause Havoc) are currently on tour and heading to Jacksonville ahead of the band’s appearance at Austin’s Levitation Festival. Mid-fi indie-rock group PAINT will support W.I.T.C.H. on all upcoming tour dates, including a performance on the JME Soundstage at WJCT Studios on October 21. The lineup for the October 21 show also includes New York psych-rock band Frankie and the Witch Fingers and Jacksonville’s Kairos Creature Club.

Fusing African rhythms with a range of influences — from Black Sabbath to James Brown to the Rolling Stones — W.I.T.C.H. were a pioneering and influential group in their native country. During the height of the band’s activity in Zambia, the group often needed police protection to keep their fans at bay.

Jagari of W.I.T.C.H. in 1975 — Led by the group’s lead-singer and sole-surviving member, Jagari (left in 1975) W.I.T.C.H. headlined their first European tour in 2017 (right) | Credit: Courtesy of the artist (left) and photograph by Ian Enger (right)

Jagari of W.I.T.C.H. — Led by the group’s lead-singer and sole-surviving member, Jagari (left in 1975) W.I.T.C.H. headlined their first European tour in 2017 (right) | Credit: Courtesy of the artist (left) and photograph by Ian Enger (right)

WITCH Lazy Bones album cover — Photograph from the cover of the 1975 album ‘Lazy Bones!!’ by W.I.T.C.H. | Image courtesy of the artist

Despite being wildly popular Zambia throughout the 1970’s, W.I.T.C.H. wasn’t widely known to audiences abroad until 2012, when LA-based label Now-Again Records released the group’s entire catalog. Led by the group’s lead-singer and sole-surviving member, Jagari, in 2017, with renewed interest in the band’s music, W.I.T.C.H. headlined their first European tour. In 2019, the band’s first tour of North America was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.

W.I.T.C.H. performs with PAINT, Frankie and the Witch Fingers and Kairos Creature Club on Friday, October 21 on the JME Soundstage at WJCT Studios. Tickets start at $35.