Words and pictures by Richard Isaacs.
The last few days have seen some of the World’s greatest and most important international musicians, dancers, performers and speakers appear across 8 stages in the wonderful Adelaide Botanic Gardens and this year’s WOMADelaide, has certainly been one of the most exhilarating and engrossing in its long 22 year history.
The event launched on Friday morning with special presentations by lead organizer Ian Scobie as well as Premier Jay Weatherill and live performances from the ethereal Tunisian songstress Emel Mathlouthi and comical, slapstick song and dance from French foursome Cie Fracasse de 12. For more details see our opening round up here.
The doors officially opened to the public though at 4.30pm with the crazy Boxwars crew arming up the kids with cardboard swords, shields, helmets and the like and the armoury was pumping out kids’ battle gear for the whole of the rest of the weekend.
After a warm and welcoming presentation by members of the local Kaurna people we were straight into the music with the sounds of Zimbabwe’s Mokoomba. The six proponents of modern Afrosound really got the show flying with their infectious and vibrant musical stylings and boundless energy. The boys sing in English and their native tribal language and create their sounds using a mixture of traditional and modern musical instruments. A great start to the event.
Over the next few hours the husky and complex Flamenco vocals of Spanish born, USA based female singer Buika could be heard making sensual and emotional charges on the 2nd stage while the likes of local Adelaide sisters Erin and Tess Fowler performed with their band Sitara on the smaller Moreton Bay Stage. There’s was an ethereal and spellbinding performance that showed just how well their music holds up against any international performers, simply beautiful.
The beauty of WOMADelaide is that the experience isn’t just limited to music or dance. At any one time across any day there’s a selection of world cooking demonstrations, intimate workshops and discussion groups being held with the performers. Furthermore, there are regular artist meet and greets and merchandise signings going on at set locations. There’s also a huge choice of international food and drink available as well as local, national and international handmade, Trade-Aid, organic and custom made goods available to purchase. Anything is available from musical instruments, t-shirts, dresses, hats, bags, etc., to ethically sourced WOMADelaide clothing and CDs of your favourite performers. With so much on offer the time simply flys by and before you know it the sun has gone down and you are sat in front of yet another amazing performance somewhere in the huge parkland location.
We soon found ourselves in the far end of the park listening to the cheeky, soulful sounds of one of Australia’s most respected and hard-working crooners, Kutcha Edwards. Kutcha brings to life the pains and the joys of life in his profound lyrics about his experiences as a member of the stolen generation, his views on Aboriginal rights and his connection with the land in which we live. This may seem too deep to be obviously enjoyable but it is far from it and Kutcha has an interaction with the audience that many would envy, by the end of his show he had a security guard and three audience members singing his songs while he headed off stage. Hilarious.
The highlight of the whole weekend for myself and many (and that is saying something because there were many, many fantastic performances across the event) was New Zealand’s Fat Freddy’s Drop on Friday night. The supremely talented boys from Aotearoa (Wellington to be exact) are a group that have continually stretched the borders of their sounds into new and interesting dimensions. Their core sits in Roots Reggae but their ever expanding sound continues to draw from a hugely diverse pallet to now incorporate Funk, Dub, R&B, Techno, Ambient and Chill, Progressive and many other components. Topped off with the silky smooth vocals of lead singer Joe Dukie (who has hands down one of the best voices of any singer around) it all makes for a stage performance that few can equal.
There was tangible, excitement and atmosphere in the air as the boys started with thundering dub echoes and basslines before setting it all off with their latest track Blackbird. This then set us off on a journey through the dark and into the light featuring tracks from all 3 of their albums such as Cay’s Crays, Roady and Shiverman. The genius in their music is that by the end of each track you’ve been on a 10 minute journey through so many types of music you almost forget where you started. They played an hour and half set of the very best music and by the end of it the crowd were wild and begging for an encore. It never came due to the strict no encore policy at WOMADelaide but man, if we were ever going to get an encore, this was the opportunity.
Last up for the day was the no holds barred, rip it up, tear it down then rebuild it all again mashup master DJ Yoda. Strangely no visuals for this performance (something that Yoda has built his reputation and shows around) but either way he performed a worthy set of crazy cut ups and big drops backed by nutty sound effects, TV anthems and a whole menagerie of craziness. Quality.
The second day of WOMADelaide brought just as many delights. We started the day with an awe inspiring Mallakhamb Gymnastics display. This form of Indian gymnastics is performed on a single wooden pole or a single suspended rope and the gymnasts wrap themselves around these items as they swing, climb, suspend and bend themselves into all sorts of mind numbingly difficult positions.
Soon after, Japan’s Osaka Monaurail gave a funky and fresh performance giving us grooved up versions of classic funk and soul tracks from the likes of Smokey Robinson, Isaacs Hayes and James Brown, a great way to kick back in the sweltering heat while sipping on a cider.
With a more subtle sound the Austrian duo Living Room introduced us to a new and unusual instrument called the Hang. This curious percussion instrument when matched with a bass clarinet (or saxophone) makes for an enchanting sound and the boys gave renditions of original pieces such as Mono Desire as well as renditions of classic tracks including Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. Unexpected but most interesting.
Later that afternoon saw Cuban Jazz/Funk master Roberto Fonseca rock Stage 2 with his own special musical styling. Roberto is probably the king of modern Cuban music. Only young but having worked with the legendary Buena Vista Social Club Roberto is world renowned for his piano playing which, to be honest, is simply phenomenal. His speed and accuracy as well as sense of rhythm is genius and he easily fuses his Jazz with Carnival, Funk and Cha Cha rhythms to create music that is both clever and engaging. Put this together with Roberto’s smooth yet warm persona and you have a huge hit. A real standout.
We grabbed some flavorsome cuisine (mine, kangaroo hot pot with grains, sooo good) then were back to Stage The urban sounds of Papua New Guinea were collected on stage by Airileke. The Melbourne based producer has worked all across Melanesia on a wide variety of projects with some of the areas greatest drummers, rappers, musicians and dancers.
The artists entered the stage to ancient tribal rhythms banged out on handheld drums and wooden blocks as dancers chanted and sang. Then before we knew it we were into the hectic, percussive rhythms and drumming that define the regions music. Their hour long show was a pounding, energetic mélange of hip hop dancing, rap, traditional Papuan dancing, percussive breaks and freestyle drumming. Arileke and his crew gave a superb performance full of colour and character, wicked rhythms and great songs that sent people pretty wild.
After Arileke wrapped up US legends Arrested Development brought it on the main stage. Playing to an even bigger crowd than Fat Freddy’s Drop the place was rammed as lead rapper Speech, strutted the stage with fellow singers Fareedah and Tasha LaRae while the rest of the crew Za, JJ and Smok backed up with vocals, funky grooves and wicked vibes. They were clearly a huge winner with the crowd and classics such as People Everyday as well as more recent tracks from their albums Strong and Standing at the Crossroads went down well.2 for yet another standout performance.
Later that evening you could also enjoy Pilot Music’s No Birds with his influential Dub stylings and the cracking and eclectic US blogger and DJ Awesome Tapes from Africa who brings together super rare recordings of African music from all corners of the continent into a fascinating and insightful musical experience.
Sunday was yet another huge day as we took in the sounds of Australian funky music group Saskwatch and the Iraqi/Australian singer songwriter Robin Zirwanda and his Azadoota group. Zirwanda brings together his rare Assyrian Neo-Aramaic language with pop-rock and Latin rhythms to create an exciting fusion of beats and lyrics which are supremely catchy and colouful.
Next up was the Mehr Ensemble from Iran (via Australia) whose stripped down vocals and poetic verses sit beautifully alongside an array of musical sounds from their traditional instruments. There are no electric guitars or pumped up rhythms here just beautifully composed Persian and Kurdish pieces that fitted beautifully in the shady quite spaces around the small stage.
Later we took in the mesmerizing Portugese songstress Carminho whose haunting voice speaks to you no matter what language you speak and after this Pokey LaFarge who is single handedly resurrecting the dying sounds of old America with this blending of traditional Ragtime sounds with Jazz, Swing and Country Blues. Smooth and effortless Pokey’s sound and band are as slicked back as his hairdo.
Sunday’s hit stars would have had to be La Chiva Gantiva, a Colombian and Belgium group that brought the house down. These guys know how to party and how to rock a stage. Taking their lead from traditional Latin Rhythms the group effortlessly fuses Rock and Caribbean rhythms with Afrobeat, Jazz, Funk and even Punk. With inspirations as far reaching as Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Rage Against the Machine to Fela Kuti and Tony Allen this was always going to be a massive show. Part Rock concert, part Carnival and part Colombian Rap Party this one went off big time so by the end of the show the enigmatic lead singer had the crowd running from side to side, sitting, standing and jumping as he commanded. Another truly memorable performance.
We decided to close out our third and final day with one of the faces of this year’s WOMADelaide, Emel Mathlouthi. The Tunisian singer showed that she is both one of the greatest singers of her generation and also one of the most dramatic with a stage performance that sounded like a film score. Thundering drum patterns and dubby sounds rolled away as Emel’s beautiful and haunting voice cut through the background to great effect. The lighting was moody and filtered giving the forest like environment a touch of the mystical. A truly rich and touching performance and a great way to close out our WOMADelide experience.
Fresh927 would like to thank the organisers of WOMADelaide for offering us the chance to enjoy and review this year’s event.