WOMADelaide 2026 - Day 1 (Friday, March 6th)

 

THE BEGINNINNG

The gates opened right on 4.00 pm and the small queue filed in. Some early risers among the bats were already hovering above the Frome Rd entrance. A right turn into the new market strip and a left run into the park proper and there are the flags: the Angus Watt flags – still heralding  the arrival of WOMADelaide after 30 plus years.

Those who know said it was clear that crowds were well down on this same time last year, and we all guessed why but no one really knew. Regulars found their favourite spots, got that early coffee before the rush, and set up base somewhere among the trees. Old friends and family meet up – some haven’t seen other since the last time they were at WOMAD.

The weather is perfect and WOMADelaide is already working its magic. Changes to the program due to the shenanigans in the Middle East meant the traditional welcome to country ceremony was delayed by an hour and shifted to stage 2.

Welcomes to country often feel clunky and unnecessary, but when seated on the ground, on actual Kaurna ground, it makes more sense. You can feel the earth beneath you. And Jamie Goldmsith’s welcome was one of the best. We’re not welcoming Australians to their own country, he said. This is about strengthening the connections between us and with the land. We’re really just saying, “It’s good that you’re here.”

THE MUSIC

Stage 3 kicked off with La Perla, a 3 women group from Columbia. All three play various percussion instruments and consequently, and what is always the case with Latin music, it’s all about rhythm. All three had strong voices and were often at full voice together. It sounded and felt a little tribal. Other almost acapella numbers offered beautiful contrast. I particularly enjoyed the playing of the bass hand drum – it had the effect of  a bass guitar part that kept the pulse and simultaneously added a melodic tone to the percussion.

Ashkan Shafiei and Band launched the weekend’s program on the Zoo stage. Ashkan is from Iran but is now based in Sydney. I’m sure everybody was aware of the global events casting shadows over his country but it was politely ignored. He said simply, “It’s good to be here.” The program notes say their sound is influenced by music heard in the Tehran of 60s and 70s (when Iran was a very different place); they don’t sound much like the more traditional groups that play music based on Persian folk culture. This is a much more modern sound – very jazz influenced. Many of the melodies are brass led (trumpet, saxophone), and together with congas the combined effect gave the music something of a Latin feel. By show’s end many were up and dancing. There was one traditional instrument featured, played by Ashkan - the rubab. Interestingly it was more used as a percussion instrument. It unfortunately also got a bit lost in the mix when the whole band was playing.

A brother and sister from India, Balaganesan and Bageswari, were first up in the Frome Park Pavilion playing the nadaswaram, a double reed wind instrument.  This was pure traditional music unadulterated by any modern influences, and as such could be fairly described as an acquired taste. Think the sound of the pipe that snake charmers make when mesmerising cobras and you’re somewhere near the mark. But this brother and sister team are virtuosos on their instrument, and play long complex pieces typical of so much Indian classical music. The music was all instrumental and I imagine is used for ceremonial or religious purposes. But as there was no information shared by the artists one can’t be sure. I really enjoyed it. It reminded me of WOMADelaide’s early days before World Music, ironically, became globalized.

Xylourides

I was going next to see Beoga (from Ireland) back on stage 3  but as can happen as you wander through the WOMAD park your ears and soul are led elsewhere and I found myself sitting at the Moreton Bay Stage totally engaged by the music of Xylourides from Crete. Their music is magical. Instruments featured are the Cretan lute (laouto), a Cretan lyra (an upright fiddle instrument played with a bow), and hand drum percussion. The lyra was often featured as the lead solo instrument. The vocal melodies are soulful, tuneful, and sometimes trance like. They play both fast and slow and have managed to bring traditional Cretan folk music to an adoring modern audience. They certainly won me over.

I continued on my trek back to stage 3 to catch a little of Beoga but alas – impossible! This may have been a programming error. It seems someone underestimated their popularity – this may well have been the biggest crowd ever seen at stage 3 and by the time I got there Beoga were tiny figures way off in the distance behind the trees and a sea of heads. They should have been playing the main stage.

On my way towards the exit there was a large crowd gathered in the Frome Park Pavilion for Ganna’s only Womadelaide’s performance. Ganna is from Ukraine and is one of a new breed of musicians who have learned that modern musical technology means you don’t need a band. She sounds like a band. Looking and sounding decidedly ethereal she employs looped electronica to wash over her audience and carry her angelic vocals out across the park. When she issued a call to dance hundreds responded by moving to the front of the venue to get more physical with the music. Others sat on chairs down the back and let her heavenly sounds add to the bewitching charms of WOMADelaide at night.

CLOSE

WOMADelaide is still a remarkable event. It still has a magic that has made it one of Adelaide’s precious trademarks. It still draws young and old. And as I made my way toward the exit the now illuminated market strip with its multi-coloured ceiling ribbons made me feel like I could be somewhere in South-East Asia, but no, it’s Adelaide. Gorgeous Adelaide.

 

WOMADelaide 2022 - Day 2 Review

(banner created by Ian Bell)

Botanic Park, Sat 12 Mar.

I decided to skip the yoga sessions and went straight to the Foundation Stage for Sorong Samurai. Musicians from PNG and West Papua (still under the control of Indonesia) launched with soft flutes and fast drumming. The West Papuan flag waved gracefully in the wind as calls for their independence echoed from the stage. Tribal headdresses and make-up were on display as the band pumped out rhythms built around drums and bass peppered occasionally with reggae.

At the other end of the park Sydney’s Crooked Fiddle Band tuned up to the sound of bats chirping on Stage 7. (It really should be renamed to ‘The Bat Stage’; The University of Adelaide now hosts an adjacent Bat Tent to educate festival goers about these WOMAD regulars.) A slow moody fiddle tune to begin with was soft enough to still have bats as part of the chorus. Despite what the band name might suggest there is just one fiddle player in The Crooked Fiddle Band and she interestingly carries a number of bows in a bag slung across her shoulder in medieval archer style. One of these bows was so supple that it actually bent as it was moved across the strings. They certainly offered a mixed menu. Part folk, forays into reggae, traditional Macedonian, and extended grooves that were more Funk than fiddle. Ever seen a melody picked on a double bass? It sounded great. As with many of the performers it was obvious they were enjoying playing in a post COVID world – today was their first festival in over two years. They commented that they didn’t believe they would be playing until they were actually on stage with their instruments!!

The Balkan Ethno Orchestra had the dubious pleasure of fronting the very warm afternoon sun on Stage 2, but they did a fantastic job. Five women vocalists resplendent in black stood across the stage and delivered a beautiful set of songs based around complex harmonies from Eastern European musical traditions. Supported by drums, percussion, guitars and balalaika their material ranged from faster dance pieces to slow emphatic rhythms, from contemporary to distant past. The more ancient songs had a polyphonic quality that one can often hear in vocal arrangements from early European music. One piece was reminiscent of Steeleye Span’s Gaudete and probably dates from around that same time. A lovely set that was in turn lively, plaintive and energetic.

The inability to include many international performers this year meant the inclusion of many Australian based acts we wouldn’t otherwise hear. That was a mixed blessing but I really enjoyed Australian artists coming out of lockdown and sharing what they’d been practising. Bush Gothic – now that’s a strange concept – has a mission of bringing women’s stories in old Australian folk songs into modern contexts. And they largely succeed with this admirable aim. Double bass and drums are the bedrock of their sound, supplemented with piano or fiddle. Arrangements were often a bit weird, but I still found them strangely alluring. Their songs uniformly have a lovely feel even if occasionally a little dark and sombre. Some pieces sounded like they were originally sung unaccompanied (and we all know how dirge-like they can sound!) Many of these songs would make great comparison studies – hear the song in its original form, and then in this new modern arrangement and think about what the changes do to the song; it strikes me as a great way for music students to examine what they’re doing and why. It was a bit onerous at times but I really like what they’re trying to do – old concepts with new rules.

ZOJ had a small crowd for their show on the Moreton Bay Stage. Consisting of Persian poems sung to electronic loops and live percussion, ZOJ produce dreamy sounds that are spacey and contemplative. Interestingly other Iranian performers from the Eishan Ensemble all listened to this performance lying down. Quite beautiful.

IS THE PANDEMIC OVER?

That’s how it seemed once the Melbourne Ska Orchestra arrived. Drifting on to the stage in chaotic higgledy-piggledy fashion while playing their catchy opening tune bumping into each other, falling over, and other general messiness until they all find their right place and then BOOM – they’re off! With the irrepressible Nicky Bomba assuming command the mood of the day just changed in a heartbeat. So many people just started smiling, people of all shapes and sizes started dancing and moving towards the Foundation Stage. It was a moment of pure joy. And it really did feel like someone had just announced that the pandemic was officially over. Such a wonderful band – great sounds of ska, reggae and Latin beats, a brass section that really swings (literally!) and a group of people who so obviously love what they do. This goes into the WOMADelaide history books as a magic performance.

Another lockdown project was unveiled back on the Moreton Bay Stage. Well known Australian slide guitar player Jeff Lang and partner shared their recent musical project. Some songs were quite a departure in style for Lang and as fine as they were I was happiest hearing those great blues and boogie riffs that he’s best known for.

If you wanted further evidence that at least people here at WOMADelaide figured the pandemic was over you only had to go over to Stage Two and watch a crowd crammed together at the front of the stage to sway and groove to the electronic wizardry of Motez. It’s an interesting time we live in where one person can occupy a huge stage pressing buttons and flicking switches that unleash a cosmic world of light and sound that not so long ago would have required an entire band. I resisted the hypnotic urge to go closer – I wasn’t quite convinced that the pandemic was over. People were too close for comfort after two years of social distancing and there wasn’t a mask in sight.

But it was so good to see people dancing again. The unfettered joy of people moving their bodies to the music they love after a two year hiatus was a joy to behold. The D in WOMAD after all stands for DANCE!

(This article also published in The Clothesline.)

WOMADELAIDE TURNS 30!

(image created by Ian Bell)

Botanic Park, Fri 11 Mar.

WOMADelaide is back to normal: multiple stages, the village, market stalls, the Woshop, the Kidzone, tables and chairs placed out beneath the trees all over the park, the Angus Watt flags. It’s WOMADelaide’s 30th birthday!! There are some changes too – more stages, more tables and chairs – it feels incredibly spacious and very COVID friendly. But sadly, it seems the Holy Cow coffee tent has been retired.

The gates are open earlier this year to allow people to saunter in at their leisure and not have to suffer long socially distant queues. As I sit and watch the crowd slowly filter in I reflect on my personal highlights of this extraordinary event.

I will never forget one of my earlier memories of WOMADelaide: a tall African man with a full-length blue robe playing the kora (an instrument I’d never heard of) on the Moreton Bay stage. I was mesmerised and instantly felt the privilege it was to be there

At my first WOMADelaide a friend recommended I see this Russian quartet, Terem, playing Russian folk music – not something I would normally bother to see. Their musical virtuosity was astounding, their humour infectious, and I had another moment of feeling I had arrived at something very special.

I didn’t get to the original WOMADelaide in 1992. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was at that original event but I caught him some years later on his second visit and was taken to musical heaven by the extraordinary combination of chanting, singing, and percussion. I fell in love with Qawwali music then and there – and the passion has not waned.

I don’t know if I could have even told you where Madagascar was before I saw the Justin Vali Trio. Their joyous rhythmic melodies bounced off the kora and out into the park. It was some of the happiest sounding music I’d ever heard.

From closer to home New Zealand’s Dave Dobbyn came one year and his humble style and exquisite melodies showed his skills as a songwriter went way beyond Slice Of Heaven.

I had never heard Midnight Oil live. The year they were here I was wandering over towards Stage 1 as it was then called and you could almost feel the power in your body as it boomed out across the crowd. This is magnetic, pulse-driven primal rock.

In complete contrast my first awareness of Gurrumul was hearing bewitching birdlike vocal sounds wafting through the trees calling me to wherever it was coming from. He was a backup singer in The Saltwater Band back them. Years later he returned as a headline act and thousands of people sat in silence in front of the main stage and listened to the voice of ancient Australia. One of the most moving experiences you can imagine.

Late one night the legendary Jimmy Cliff and band bopped their reggae tunes out into the night in the rain and no one cared.

One of the selfish joys of WOMADelaide is seeing how foreign performers are seduced by the beauty of the place they’re playing in. A member of a Scottish band one year stopped between songs shook his head and said, “You’ve no idea how amazing this is – we don’t do outside in Scotland!”

The sweet melodies of Algeria’s Saoud Massi, the urgent desert-driven rhythms of Tinariwen, the ancient vocal sounds of The Sardinian Tenors, the foot-tapping bonanza that was America’s Pokey La Farge, the beauty and grace of the Gambia’s Sona Jobarteh, the surprising Celtic harmonies Ireland’s Alan Kelly extracts from his accordion …. I could go on. Some huge names are missing from this list. We will all have our own highlights. Each year offers the anticipation and joy of discovering something new as you hope to find an act or two you can add to your own personal highlights reel of WOMADelaide magic. And it rarely disappoints.

It’s time to start the 30th birthday party. The Kaurna welcome to county is about to begin

(This article also published on The Clothesline.)

WOMADELAIDE 2020 - A VIEW FROM THE SMALL STAGES (Days 3 and 4)

 Company Archibald Caramantran 

Day 3

I began my Womad day 3 later in the day with a reprise of Spanish medieval music from the masterful Artefactum. Such a pleasure to hear once more, and observe them having fun with each other as they attempted to translate their jokes into English. As a fellow reviewer from another publication said, “they just make medieval music so accessible.”

The Kids Zone was at its busiest this afternoon with an incredible array of activities – face painting, dancing, dress-up parades, craft activities, building huts – the place was packed with active children and content looking parents.

I was tempted to stop by a larger stage when I heard the female mariachi tones of Flor de Toloache from Mexico resonating from  Stage 2 but headed for a smaller stage to hear Tami Neilson from NZ. This may have been a rare programming logistics error. She was way too popular for the small Moreton Bay stage – it was the biggest crowd I’d ever seen there. She was just a speck in the distance but she sounded wonderful. She has a loud and soulful voice that belted out a mix of soul and country with ease. Commercial, but really catchy, slick and solid. As Simon Hackett, one of Womad’s founders said in a recent interview, “One of the joys of this event is … walking up to a random stage and being blown away by some artist you’ve never heard of.”

I was curious to see if the Woshop still just sold CDs of performing artists. It’s getting harder and harder to play CDs as CD players disappear from computers and car stereo systems. The vast majority of the music available was only in CD format. Just one artist had a digital version available. It kind of hurts to say this it but it’s time for Womad artists to sell their music in digital format.

KermesK a L’est

Day 4

Pakistan’s Ustad Saami called his 2019 album, God is Not a Terrorist. He is clearly on a mission to promote the music of his region as an instrument of piece. His performance with his 4 sons consisted of one 75 minute meditative piece. Based on the twin drones of harmonium and tanpura, it built ever so slowly to a fully vocalised musical conversation between him and his sons and we the audience. I’m sure many were expecting it to eventually reach the frenetic heights of another Pakistani singer, the legendary Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan but this music is much less theatrical. Though, like other forms of Pakistani devotional music (Qawwali, Sufi) much is expressed using the hands as they dance and weave with the vocals to convey extra meaning. This piece was dedicated to the lapsing of summer into autumn and with plenty of grey cloud in the sky it felt appropriate.

As daylight faded down by stage 3, a group of mad Belgians took the stage. Looking like punks and ratbags, KermesK a L’est filed on stage through a back curtain and launched into a strange and infectious brand of brass based Balkan music. With no one band member having a fixed on stage position they wandered around constantly – even their two drummers were forever on parade around the stage.  A great sound and a totally original presentation. The giant puppets from Company Archibald Caramantran enjoyed it too and enthralled the crowd with their giant dance steps.

France seems particularly blessed with a range of these bizarre and lovable festival acts. For several years now Womad has featured a quirky French act as part of the roaming program, and they add as much value to the whole spectacle as the music.

I spent 10 minutes or so in the Taste the World tent enjoying the laughs associated with cooking in public from Gelareh Pour and friends, before spending my last musical moments listening to some dreamy slow dance tunes from local act Oisima. They followed me as I slipped away through the Frome gate back into the real world.

It was a great decision to just focus on the small stages this year. It took the pressure off feeling like you had to see everything. I think there has been a welcome change in the program direction. Maybe it was because I only attended the small stage events but without counting up and comparing with recent years there did seem to be fewer big bands based around big percussion and the ubiquitous and overused concept of ‘fusion’. A majority of the acts were quieter and stayed closer to their ethnic roots, and in the process Womad reclaimed something of its original identity and purpose.