WOMADelaide 2010

WOMADelaide, Royal Botanic Gardens, Adelaide Australia March 5-8.

People who visit this festival invariably will say this; that WOMADelaide is the best festival in Australia. It is not hard to see why. Over the course of four days (first time as it usually is three day event) people will be experiencing a smorgasbord of musical delights from all over the world, where rhythms are diverse and the invitation to listen to something outside your comfort zone is encouraged.

Most importantly it is the relaxed atmosphere and wonderful environment; the festival is being held in the beautiful Botanical Gardens, where ancient trees guard the 7 stages and are being dressed up in lights; combined with the many flags waving gives it almost a Cirque Du Soleil-like environment, enhanced by some of the roving mostly clownesque acts the wanderer can encounter everywhere. WOMADelaide is people-friendly- even when there's over 80.000 people visiting the atmosphere is not rushed or hyped-up as with many rock-festivals, it is family-friendly as the many playing children who have plenty of activities for themselves will testify and as there is a large emphasis on charitable causes, healthy (world-)food and hippie-like clothing- and accessories-stalls next to the music, there's a bit of a peace 'n love-buzz happening too. Add to that the many opportunities to meet the artists, whether through workshops on the smaller stages, as part o the Taste The World-cooking workshops or CD-signing sessions right after the gigs. For me in the past it was wonderful to meet with great musicians like Billy Cobham, Toumani Diabate, Ozomatli, Orchestre Baobab, the Mahotella Queens and the late great Miriam Makeba.
There's rows of food and drink stalls, shops with mostly clothing, fashion accessories and musical instruments and one CD-shop, a large group of tents for charities, a kidzone and several alternative health-tents offering everything from massages, healing to readings. It is a massive enterprise.

The festival starts every Friday night with a traditional welcome from the local Aboriginal-tribe the Kaurna whose land we are visiting this weekend. The opening act for this year is the Japanese drumming tribe Yamato, a hyperactive set of 3 men and two women attackin the mighty daiko-drums with a mix of power, precision and humour- a good, upbeat way to start.
Straight from that moment there are several podiums at once offering musical treasure so it's pick 'n choose- fortunately most acts will appear on other times as well so you won't have to despair if you end up missing something. There's one main stage, two slightly smaller stages on either side of stage 1 who kick into action as soon as the main stage dies down and a variety of smaller stages spread across the park.

After the drumfest I decide to visit Calexico on a side-stage. Their Mexicana-flavoured pop works a treat on mostly the younger crowd and it's interesting that the more Tijuana-tinted tunes garner the most response. The sound let's them down a bit as the brass is very muted in the mix but at the end, when the band serves up a track norteno-style the crowd gets straight into it but the party ends right afterwards. Pity, but they have one more opportunity the next day to impress fully.

Many of the greats in world music are invited and this year it's an honour to see Mahmoud Ahmed bring his Ethiopiques to Adelaide. The 68-year old showman is accompanied by a group of tight-knit young French/UK-musicians who bring his complex yet irresistible rhythms to the fore. Ahmed is indomitable, his voice clear as a clarion and he delights the crowd in making impromptu dance-moves. The music is sublime and even if the rhythm is not easy to follow, Ahmed's directions make sure the people get the right beat; converting the seemingly dominant 3/4-beat into a 2/2-beat like they do is like one of those 3D-pictures unfolding in front of you. Even when the first rain of the festival drops on us (warmly welcomed by Ahmed even who probably knows how valuable pluvius is in Africa), no one stops to grab a raincoat, the dancing continues non-stop. Brilliant.

Representing the vibrant Micronesian-scene is Grrla Step who bring us an interesting crossover crash course- DJ Dexter (ex-Avalanches) teams up with renowned Papuan percussionist Airi Ingram for a mix of massive beats, dubstep and traditional Papuan log-drumming- it sets the backdrop for and intriguing dance-battle between two indigenous Papuan dancers and 4 so-called krumpers, an American 'self-expressing' streetdance style. The object is to highlight the similarities between ancient culture and modern dance- it works real well on this stage and has the younger part of the crowd bounce like rubber balls to the massive bloated beats from the stage.

And then it's back to tradition as the Skatalites bring their happy tunes form the main stage. Being a massive breeding ground for many of Jamaica's top ska-and reggae talent (Jackie Mittoo, Jerry Hinds, Don Drummond and Tommy McCook, among others stood at its foundation about 47 (!) years ago) means there's a lot of personal changes; the only original member in this line-up left is saxophonist Lester Sterling who leads his charges throug a rollicking set of classics like Guns Of Navarone, James Bond and Silver Dollar...one could be critical about how the consistent ska-tempi dominate the gig, turning the thing a bit one-dimensional but here's a legendary band doing what it has been doing for generations.

The best part of the program is how you can shift gears from one gig to another. So, on the last stretch of a fresh Friday night usually the last gi of the night is a mostly reflective one- I've seen many Indian masters and artists like Kronos Quartet playing these slots and, under the magnificent constellations above it is a treat to listen to their music. This year it's the turn of Azerbaijani master Gochag Askarov to bring his classically trained voice to the fore and he does so phenomenally. With his Sharif-like looks and beautiful tenor-like voice he manages to transcend the lengthy songs which are reminiscent of the difficult Iranian/Pakistani-classical music into hypnotic chants- his 4-piece band is excellently supporting him throughout and the people who persist are being treated to a high-class musical experience. And even if the stars tonight are obscured by clouds there's an uninterrupted view upon heaven tonight. What a finish to a great starting set.