Ladysmith Black Mambazo

While slush was turning to ice outside Sunday night, Ladysmith Black Mambazo warmed up the packed Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth with the soft, deep harmonies of traditional South African song.

The eight-member group, which started in South Africa 45 years ago and has since won two Grammy Awards, sold out two 428-seat performances at Sacred Heart, one on Sunday and another at 7:30 tonight.

The shows mark Ladysmith Black Mambazo's first visit to Duluth -- one that resulted in the fastest sale of tickets in recent memory for Sacred Heart, said spokeswoman Barbara Darland.

Tickets to tonight's show were gobbled up in a week, prompting the addition of the Sunday show, which sold out in four days, Darland said.

"We could do a third show, but it doesn't work with (Ladysmith Black Mambazo's) schedule," she said.

Aside from a billboard erected after tickets for the Monday show went on sale, the performances were not advertised, Darland said. Word-of-mouth carried the sales.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo caught America's attention in the mid-1980s when featured in folk singer Paul Simon's "Graceland" album. Darland speculated the crowd would be mostly middle-aged. It was, but younger audience members were not hard to find.

Erin Zoellick, 24, and Frank Maragi, 31, both from Duluth, bought tickets after Zoellick randomly visited Sacred Heart's Web site for the first time. She has listened to the South African group, which sings in its native tongue, for years.

"They bring so much energy, even without instruments," Zoellick said. "They're able to convey certain feelings even without us understanding the language."

Rod and Lori Lubiani, 63 and 58, of Duluth arrived at Sacred Heart an hour and a half before the show to get front-row seats. The couple said they've followed Ladysmith Black Mambazo for about a decade. Rod Lubiani said he remembers the first time he saw the group -- on television.

"We fell in love with them right then and there," he said. "It was pure song, coming from their hearts. There was nothing phony about it."

The couple said watching the group allows the audience to experience South African culture and share a little of Duluth's.

Jean Perrault, orchestra director at the University of Minnesota Duluth, planned to see Mambazo tonight and encouraged his students to attend the Sunday show. Because he focuses on orchestra basics and laying a music foundation for his students, Perrault said they "get a pretty steady diet of western music."

Performances like Ladysmith Black Mambazo's allow them to take in music from cultures they might not be familiar with, he said.

"It's important to be exposed to different cultures, ways and music," Perrault said. "A lot of students have never heard music like this before."

Show-goers on Sunday were not surprised at the quick sale of tickets, noting that many Duluthians are culturally savvy. Adam Hunt, Ladysmith Black Mambazo's tour manager, said he heard the same thing in Iowa City, the group's previous stop.

"From what people in Iowa City tell me, (Duluth) is a pretty culturally hip place," Hunt said. "It turns out that they were very serious about it."

A shortened Ladysmith Black Mambazo performance can be seen free today at noon in the UMD Weber Auditorium. A show scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Reif Center in Grand Rapids has sold out.