WOMAD 08 In Review

In one single weekend WOMADelaide made a walk in the park of what many world leaders have failed to achieve in a lifetime, the fusion of international cultures within a peaceful environment. There is much to be said for the WOMADelaide festival in this regard, drawing 50% of punters from outside Australia. This worldly theme is then amplified by a over 400 artists from 20 nations entertaining the masses over 2 days and 3 nights. This festival is the epitome of cultural fusion.
 
WOMADelaide draws world music lovers from all over the world, artists and spectators alike. However, despite these vast differences one thing remains common that brings all these cultures together: the desire for harmony throughout the world. WOMADelaide is unique in this manner, and doesn't do this by any matter of chance. This year's line up saw the likes of Mavis Staples, The Black Arm Band and The John Butler Trio performing, all known for their commitment to the plight of civil rights. Added to this was the number of stalls representing various civil rights causes including Oxfam's 'Close The Gap' stand, presenting visitors with a number of ways in which to express their desire to lessen the gap between European and Indigenous life expectancy in Australia.
 
Harmony amongst people is only one side of the story however in WOMADelaide and it's attendant's case are also committed to the move towards a sustainable future. This was most obvious within the EcoVillage on the festival grounds. Here and throughout the festival grounds a number of stalls featured several sustainable products and advice for those who wished to lessen their impact on the environment. Over the weekend there were also a number of sustainability workshops promoting a greener way of life.
As for the musical side of the festival, artists from all corners of the globe provided punters with a broad spectrum of performance style. Over the 2 days and 3 nights artists took the crowd for a rollercoaster ride around the world. The first evening was kicked off   by French/US group Beirut who pleased the crowd with their own brand of orchestral folk tunes, their performance saw them almost double their crowd for the second show on day two. Over on the Zoo stage Titi Robin Quintet were next on my list, this being their premiere performance in Australia. Needless to say they were well received by the growing crowd, bringing over 20 years of performance experience to life with a six piece ensemble of string a brass. The Black Arm Band featuring the likes of Stephen Pigram (Pigram Brothers) Dan Sultan and Archie Roach came together for their 'Murundak' performance to tell of their struggle within a white society, complimented by a surprise visit from John Butler on the weissenborn. The night's headliner, Mavis Staples, aroused quite a crowd at stage one and didn't disappoint. Giving everything in her performance, Staples showed the crowd why she is one of the most influential figures in the gospel and soul music. The party wasn't over yet though, with New Zealand dub and reggae group Kora giving it their all in their only performance for the festival. They had the crowd jumping in to the morning as they proved why they have fast become one of the more popular NZ exports to hit the Australian festival circuit in recent years.
 
Day two began at the main stage where The Beautiful Girls played their first of two sets for the weekend. The crowd sang along as they began with a few older tracks from the 'Morning Sun' and 'Learn Yourself' albums, and then closed with the rockier tunes from the most recent album 'Ziggurats' to get the crowd moving. Then moving from the east coast beaches such as Byron and alike to downtown Chicago, next up was Aussie bluesman Mojo Webb with his band. The Zoo stage crowd watched in awe as a charismatic Webb played songs from his only album 'The Burden' as well as a quick dig into the catalogue of blues legend Muddy Waters. This set was later replicated on the following day of the festival where the crowd burst the seams of the more intimate Moreton Bay stage, Webb again drawing on blues legend Muddy Waters as well as B.B. King and ventured out through the crowd for an unsuccessful trip to the bar during a five minute rhythm section.  Afro-Peruvian songstress Susana Baca entered the main stage mid afternoon, embracing the world theme as she performed the songs that earned her international acclaim for her fusion of traditional Peruvian and modern American musical elements. A  moving performance that was equally accepted in her second performance the following day. Sarah Blasko came together with a small brass and string orchestra for a very special WOMAD performance- bringing in the nights festivities. The festival's second recent ARIA award winner, The John Butler Trio treated an audience of 1000+ for a second straight night of Australian roots music, captivating the minds and bodies of young and old, local and foreign. To this effect also was New Zealand dance group Black Grace who performed half a dozen pieces of one of the nation's leading choreographers, Neil Leremia. Audiences watched in wonder as the dancers gave it their everything to impress the 500 strong  crowd who responded jubilantly. The night came to a close as New York DJ, Nickodemus, took his audience on his own personal whirlwind journey around the globe with his turntables and live drum antics. These elements blended with his  own messages for world harmony, an awesome way to close such an action packed day.
 
Day  three, perhaps the most worldly of the festival, provided festival goers with an appropriate close to the festival. Stage two opened with Australian based eight piece, Watussi, got the crowd grooving early with their spin on Afro-Cuban rhythms. Then came legend of jazz music, Billy Cobham Septet, who dumfounded a large audience with his amazing percussion skills complimented by his sextet of saxophone, guitar,  trombone, trumpet, piano and bass. Moving under the shade of the Zoo Stage on the third straight day of over 35 degree heat, Mamadou Diabate claimed the audience's hearts as he delivered a most amazing display of fine Kora skills and later was joined by his brother and Kora maestro hailing from West Africa, Toumani Diabate, to blow the crowd away with an impromptu duet. Later into the evening Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, found themselves headlining the festival after Ces`aria E`vora fell ill prior to her festival appearances. Needless to say the Queen of Soul and her band, the deeply funky Dap Kings, gave a fantastic performance that was more than worthy of their promotion. Jones found comfort in the worldly crowd getting loose on stage and even selected a lucky man from the audience to groove with. Bringing a perfect close to the festival was none other than Tenzin Choegyal & The  Tashi Lhunpo Monks of Tibet performing a ritual dance piece, followed by a solo show by Choegyal and a collaboration of the group to close. More than anything WOMADelaide symbolised the results possible when cultures are accepting of each other. WOMAD brings together those people who still hold hope for the cause of harmony around the world and the show witnessed over these two days and three nights was a direct result of the fostering of a positive energy, transferred in to positive action. WOMAD as a world organisation has been working towards this for 25 years now and will continues to produce this positive action towards global harmony for years to come.

Photo Gallery

Photography by Richard Wilson.

Photos of the sights and sounds of WOMADelaide 2008.