Arts Projects Australia. Botanic Park. 9 Mar 2015
After a night of foot-resting and fond reminiscing of the weekend just past, it was with a calm smile that I return to Botanic Park for the final day of WOMADelaide 2015. I can’t think of a better way to kick off proceedings than with a bit of Korean food at Taste The World with Jambinai. I’m quite a fan of Korean cuisine, and Jambinai quickly showed that they apply the same dedication in the kitchen as they do on the stage. The smells were fantastic, and it was great to see the band bossing the veteran WOMAD chef Doug around while they were cooking! Tradition meets hardcore indeed!
I’ve got a fairly big soft spot for Latin America, and so it’s little wonder that I find myself heading for the shade of the Moreton Bay stage for a workshop with Bolivia’s Luzmila Carpio. Her workshop, entitled El presagio de los pajaros: the omen of birds, allowed her to discuss how mamapacha, or mother earth in Quechua, inspires her music, focussing on the sounds of birds. Of course, the Australian wildlife decided to chirp in during the show, although Luzmila remarks that these birds don’t speak Spanish! Luzmila also plays a few tunes on a tiny ukulele, adding to the experience. It’s a very intimate show, where it seems Luzmila is speaking directly to me… so it’s lucky that I also speak Spanish to understand!
Keeping within the realms of Latin America and Spain, I head over to stage one for another round with Che Sudaka. Last night’s show clearly wasn’t enough! Continuing to evoke and re-envision Radio Bemba, the quartet are again on fire! So much endless energy and charisma! For the second time, I’ve got a broad smile on my face listening to these guys, and this time have the added bonus of not having the growing contingent of rich kids running amok all around, and no-one is covered in filthy chalk dust! Bonus!
Well, it seems that Korean food may be tasty, but I hear the cry for more, and half way through Che Sudaka’s set, I find myself heading back to Taste The World for some of Flavia Coelho’s cooking. Or rather, her drummer’s cooking, as she is proud to note that she puts her energies into her music, and leaves the cooking to others! Thankfully, the drummer can cook up a storm as well as he drums, and we get yet another tasty treat from the Taste The World Tent.
As the afternoon sun continues to shine down, I make my way back to stage two for one of the bands I’d been really hanging to see on this final day of WOMADelaide. From the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have Jupiter & Okwess International, and they deliver on every promise and expectation. The sun may be beating down, but the energy levels are high, and I find myself dancing, entranced in the rhythms from start to end.
It seems my hunger won’t relent today, so it’s back to Taste The World, where the gypsies have taken over. And they’ve brought their brass instruments! Romania’s Fanfare Ciocarlia have taken command of the kitchen, and while the band leader and ‘head chef’ is proud to admit that the music is firmly the domain of men, and the kitchen is largely the domain of the women, he’s also confident of his cooking skills from plenty of practice and instruction from his wife! And to make it that much more exciting, we’re treated to a few tunes while he cooks! Very nice!
Giving the Colour Of Time parade a wide berth, I grab a bit of dinner and head out to stage two for American band Lake Street Drive. While I don’t know anything about these guys, as I listen I find myself quickly won over by their bluesy and jazzy sound, chock-loaded with soul. The singer has a fantastic voice, and I’m quickly drawn into their music. They even throw in a bit of Van Halen during the set, keeping all of us on our toes!
The Zoo stage is next on my list, though it seems like half of WOMAD has a similar idea. Arnhem Land band Barra are up, though as the programme has them listed as featuring Gotye, quite a crowd has been attracted. I guess this is a bit pros and cons… if only Barra had been listed, I’m sure the crowd would be smaller, but at least this way more people are exposed to the great traditional sounds of this country. And the band doesn’t disappoint! With some very traditional sounds to begin, they soon break into a mix of traditional and modern, with hints of reggae and blues. With most of the crowd sitting down for most of the set, it’s a pretty nice experience!
Things are quickly getting towards the business end of the day, and I decide to see the day out with a double header in my last timeslot. Balkan Beat Box put on such a good show the other day, that I decide to get another glimpse at their show and sample their sensational klezmer sound, before heading over to Speaker’s Corner for my last outing with Niger’s (that’s knee-jeer for the uninitiated) Bombino, playing their take on the desert blues of the Tuareg nomadic people. The mix of old world and new world, traditional and modern, is seamless, and you easily fall into a trance with the thumping basslines and bluesy guitar played in an eastern scale.
What a way to end the day, and in fact to end WOMADelaide 2015! It’s been such a great festival this year, and despite my complaints about the painted people, the growing influx of rich kids masquerading as globally aware (really, what kid has the money to buy a WOMAD ticket anyway?), the fake-hippies (yes, I wear my fisherman pants all year… do you?), and the seemingly more pushy and rude nature of the crowd, I’m pleased to say these are but small taints (and in the case of the coloured-in people, colourful dusty taints) on the fabric of an otherwise brilliant-as-always WOMADelaide weekend. And it’s only 367 days until it all begins again!
Luke Balzan
When: Closed
Where: Botanic Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
Photography by Aaron Vinall
