Reviewed by Ray Smith, Sunday 8th March 2015
Malawi Mouse Boys opened the third day of
WOMADelaide on Stage 2 and to say that their sound is raw is rather an understatement. Their music is honest and unadorned, the voices working together beautifully against the accompaniment of home made soprano guitars and tenor ukuleles made from scraps of tin and timber. Their name comes from their childhood occupation of selling skewers of barbecued field mice to travellers from the side of the road. The songs are religious and are an intriguing interpretation of Gospel Music but the performance is much more primal. The boys dance, shout and jump around shirtless with enormous energy. For some reason, the front rows of the audience had a high proportion of women.
Meanwhile, Brazilian, Flavia Coehlo, performed again, this time on Stage 3 and seemed to have a high percentage of men in her audience, but it could have been my imagination. Max Savage and the False Idols played their Australian Country and Western songs on Stage 7.
Mista Savona with Prince Alla and Randy Valentine appeared on the Centre Stage with their mixture of Reggae, Dub and Hip-Hop, and heaven knows what else. It was all well played and the audience danced and danced. I sat and listened to the various vocalists sing off key as the genres changed from one to the other with all the subtlety of an old VW gearbox.
Julia Henning's one show on Stage 3 began with her band playing a lengthy 4/4 intro before she came onto the stage. Her introduction, both by her band and the MC, boded well but while her voice was beautiful and her band tight and rehearsed the end result was a rather flaccid pop song that would be better suited to commercial radio rather than a world music festival. I ran away, and I had company during my exodus.
On stage 2 Tounami and Sidiki Diatabe were enthralling audience with their superb kora playing, so I took the opportunity to nip off to Mr V Music to buy their CD.
Tjintu Desert Band were surrounded by delighted dancers on the Zoo Stage, as I took off on the long hike to Stage 7. I was stopped in my tracks by the bizarre sight of Osadia (Spain) in full swing.
Audience members become the central performers as the two bizarrely dressed hairdressers create sculptural forms from the 'victim's' hair and add extraordinary makeup, transforming Ms or Mr Punter into a living art work. It really is enthralling to watch but at the same time rather terrifying as one of the artists scans the audience for her next 'project' after her latest 'living exhibit' leaves the stage to friends that no longer recognise them. At one such point her eyes met mine and slid down to my rather luxuriant beard. She fixed me with her gaze, started to smile and I ran like a rabbit towards Speakers Corner.
Neneh Cherry with RocketNumberNine+ appeared on Stage 7 and I was more than a little disappointed to hear the "duff duff duff" of yet another sequenced beat track. She has been off the scene for many years and I was hoping to hear some of her old stuff but, in retrospect, her old stuff was post-punk, hip-hop, free jazz and even works in Senegalese. Why on Earth did I think she would go backwards when she's only ever moved forwards.
First Aid Kit took to the Centre Stage and did not disappoint anyone. The two young Swedish sisters, with their Scottish Drummer and English pedal steel/electric guitar/mandolin player, held an enthralled audience in the palm of their hands. The vocal harmonies would melt the stoniest of hearts and their lyrics are poignant and sincere. The music itself I would describe as folk rock with strong country elements. I dislike country music but I loved this.
Marrugeku Theatre Company's Cut the Sky began on Stage 2 and was less than engaging. Utilising video projection, recorded music and sound, with live vocal and physical performance, it is a bold and courageous piece that is motivated by the need to increase public awareness of, and empathy toward environmental issues that threaten our very existence. It was slow, the live vocals were grating and poorly pitched and the live action was clumsy and awkward.
Astronomy Class at the Moreton Bay Stage was decent Australian Hip-Hop but I found the performance rather dull and repetitive.
Myele Manzana and the Eclectic hail from New Zealand and they were certainly eclectic on Stage 7. From Afro Beat to a cover of Kimbra's
Plain Gold Ring is not just eclectic, it's odd. The audience danced when they could and talked to each other when they couldn't, which was rather a shame as the players themselves were rather good.
Youssou N'Dour featured on Centre Stage (obviously) and we were reminded by the MC that he had played the first ever WOMADelaide in 1992. (so did I but that's beside the point). It was a hero's welcome that he received and a hero's performance he delivered in return. In 1992 Youssou N'Dour of Senegal was a rising star in African music but was virtually unknown in Australia and he presented a well rehearsed band, filled with energy and excitement that had the Adelaide audience (including me) enraptured. Tonight's show was quite different.
The energy was still there, as was the excitement, and the band was rehearsed to within an inch of its life but, this time, there was an air of polish and sophistication. This was no 'rising star', this star had already risen and we were gazing at it. N'dour controlled the tens of thousands in his audience like a parent controls a child. He allowed us to dance and wave our arms ecstatically in the air, but then we had to listen quietly to slow and beautiful songs with a lyric we could not understand but in a language that was universal.
Our reward was a display of drumming that featured the talking drum strongly. Dancing was obligatory. Then it was time for more measured and utterly beautiful songs while audience members beamed at the stage hugging each other as the former Senegalese Minister for Tourism and Leisure told us a few home truths in his beautiful tenor voice. If only we had such politicians.
23 years on and, although Youssou N'Dour is still not the President of Senegal, he remains the King of WOMADelaide.
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