Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Ian Newton - Blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

First up this afternoon I listened to the Ross Daly Ensemble comprising players from Crete, Iran and Adelaides own string savant Paddy Montgomery. Featuring rebats, lyra’s, lauto’s and great hand drumming, the Ensemble moved through an hour of music with barely a halt for intro’s except to introduce the players. This fabulous quintet romanced the crowd as the birds flocked to nearby trees adding their warbles to the humid pulsating air. Dramatic changes in tempo and time signature added to the passionate playing.

For a change in pace but not the passion up next on my afternoons feast was Frank Yamma on Stage 3, playing with Russell Smith, Helen montford and David Bridie. I have waited years to see this singer songwriter from the western desert of South Australia. There arent many singers whose delivery taps into a core that bring tears to my eyes. Frank Yamma is one of them. All the nights I have listened to his songs in the dark at home pressing repeat every time the disc finished paled into insignificance when I finally saw and felt the power and authenticity of possibly Australia’s greatest singer, up close in the flesh. Singing songs about his home, culture and the realities of contemporary life, Frank Yamma came a long to play at Womad and I would go to the end of the earth to feel that again. Accompanied by some great musicians Frank had the crowd in his warm hands from the start. ‘Hi I’m Frank’ he said and played a song about the land being here before him and all of us. People like Frank Yamma dont come along every day. Next time I see Frank at Womad it should be on the main stage, even that isnt big enough for this man of country.

Ross Daly opened the All Star Jam talking about the purpose of music in our lives. We can use it to simply entertain or for a greater purpose to take us out of ourselves to other realities and then Frank Yamma played, how apt.

-Ian

Such an organised team catching all the great performances

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble blew us away

Tara was doing such a great job she missed some of the best acts.....bugger

The On Air station....is that you Tara???

Could not get enough of these French dare devils, caught all of their performances

The crowd was lovin' Los Amigos energy

It’s sad to think all of this is soon coming to an end, we have become a family here and I wish today could last forever…

We have seen more and more amazing acts including The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Babylon Circus (yes that was me ON STAGE last night), Ross Daly and Ensemble and Xavier Rudd!! Where else will you find such diverse music all in one place???

Keep on checking back here because there’s still so much so share and many more podcast performances to come and remember…..WE ARE LIVE until 8.30pm SA time so feel free to text in too and tell us what you think, we are getting heaps of feedback so thanks to those who have already!!

I’m welding myself to the site so until next time….

Nicole

Hypnotiic Brass Ensemble - Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

To every dorky brass playing band weirdo at high school I paid out – I apologise. Who knew brass could be so sexy? The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are playing right now behind me on Stage 2 – I just had to sneak away from the computer and have a peek. The crowd are entranced! They are bouncing around like mad to “Kryptonite” right now…what the hell am I doing here writing this??!!?

Next time I want the attention of a woman…I’m buying a trumpet…

-JB

Alex McFarlane - Womadelaide 2010

Monday morning.  Usually, I would have just woken up and realised that it was all over.  I was going to have wait another 12 months for artists from all over the globe to grace botanic park once again.  But no.  Here we are again, the dream continues.

Yesterday started with Irish born musical troubadour, now based in Crete, Ross Daly and his ensemble.  You really feel like you are at a world music festival when you hear sounds like this. With instrumets such as, lyra, saz, the Cretan lauto (lute) and percussion played by Iranian, Bijan Chemirani, Daly and his band transported us to places many of us have never been before.  And through all these exotic sounds from the Meditarranean and Middle-East, there was this underlying irishness to it. I suppose you could say that you can take the Irishman out of Ireland but not the Irish out of the Irishman.  It was beautiful, listening back stage through my headphones, I found it hard to open my eyes for if I did, It would remind me of where I was rather than where this musical journey was taking me.  The sound on the outset seemed simplistic but as I listening closed there were all these subtle beat shiftings, changing the emphasis gradually. I didn’t want it to end and neither, it seemed, did the musicians as the last piece gradually worked its way through a crescendo that seemed to never want to end.  Unfortunatley it did.  And the CD store ran out of his CDs, but he is performing today so I’m hurrying this bog to run over and catch some more.

Alex

JB - Blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

What an amazing night – after our second national broadcast (and streaming internationally!) some of the Womadelaide 2010 LIVE! team decided to let loose side of stage at Babylon Circus. Little did we know it would end up with two of us up on stage dancing with them! The French performers had Adelaide pumping on stage 2 and clearly LOVE being on stage. Well done guys – you certainly know how to please a crowd!

As for our broadcasts, we’ve been having such a great time presenting the sounds of the planet across community and indigenous radio. We now know we’ve got listeners in Canada and Germany and people all across Australia are getting in touch to tell us they’re LOVING Womadelaide 2010 LIVE! So if you’re enjoying our broadcasts, blogs, podcasts, photos and videos – let us know! A huge team of dedicated volunteers make all this happen so it’s great to hear your feedback from across Australia and the globe.

Well, it’s currently 2am here and there’s a whole new day of Womadelaide action ahead – I better get to sleep! Make sure you tune into our last broadcast tomorrow night from 6.34pm (South Australian Time) – we’re saving some of the best for last we promise! Remember you can listen to us on many community and indigenous radio stations across the country and streaming online. If you have a bad case of Monday-itis, dance and sing your blues away with Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

-JB

Alex McFarlane - Womadelaide 2010

So cool to be in botanic park again for the best weekend of the year.  For seventeen years I’ve been coming to Womadelaide now and every year I think I’ve seen it all but am corrected.  Saturday night I went to stage 5, the one under the Moreton Bay Tree, my favourite stage, and I heard what on paper sounded like it wouldn’t work but did.  Slide guitar, the harp-like instrument from Africa called the Kora and the Indian tabla drums.  Sounding like the equivalent of some multicultural fusion meal from an Australian cafe.  But did it work, my lord it did.  With the incomporable Jeff Lang on guitar, Malian Kora virtuoso, Mamadou Diabate and musical chameleon, Bobby Singh on tabla, DJAN DJAN blew me away with their unique blend of musical flavours.  At times Lang’s guitar sounded like a sitar blending with Singh’s tabla and sometimes took us to Hawaii accompanied by Diabate’s Malian grooves.  It wasn’t just myself that soaked up this fusion, a multicultural blending that’s fast becoming a Australian tradition, but the huge crowd that were trying their hardest to keep themselves warm after the previous downpour, finished each number with a tremendous applause.

Earlier there had been a tremendous downpour, tremendous for our Adelaide gardens but not so for contemporary flamenco group, the Arrebato Ensemble.  Part way through their second piece the rain came and it was unforgiving.  Not so much to them, they were happy to keep playing, but to their instuments.  As they tried to frantically dry their instruments with towels, they announced that they couldn’t go on.  Much to everyone’s dissapointed they continued to play one more song but with ‘pops’ coming from electrical equipment on stage, it was clear to everyone that was becoming dangerous.  Fortunately, the Arrebato Ensemble have one more set on Monday so Adelaide will get to hear more of what was something special.  Their unique compostions, based on traditional flamenco rhythms, and beautiful combination of guitar, cello, saxophone, harmonica, double bass and lightly played drum kit, were spellbounding and I look forward to hearing more from this Oz-based group.

Well, that’s it from me for now.  Next is Sunday…and then Monday!  Bring on the sounds of the planet, here in the festival state.

Alex

Nicole Stevens at Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Hello again, first of I want to say how amazing a couple of acts were I caught today. First, The Skatalites whom were playing as I arrived and there was such a great vibe around the stage, people cheering and bopping and I could not help but stand and watch a cute couple dancing together and had attracted their own audience, everyone say AWWWW! The other set that I did not want to miss was Los Amigos Invisibles, simply amazing, I went and stood at the front for a while and I could not believe the energy spreading.

Other than that i’ve happily been veggin’ out in the tent bringing you more and more of the wonderful acts Womadelaide has brought to us this year including many live performance podcasts and Interviews so continue to check back and remember WE ARE LIVE…..tonight until 8.30pm (SA time) and again tomorrow from 6.30pm!

Thanks also to those who have been texting in, we appreciate all our listeners where-ever you may be, sun, rain or total thunderstorms and are getting some great feedback!

Nicole

Ian Newton - Blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Sitting here writing this , the Skatalites are on Stage 1 livening up a post midday crowd. Yesterday I saw Amal murkus singing songs enriched by poetry, politics, love and humour. A great band behind her, Amal sang songs from her Palestinian heritage, informed by contemporary and past poets with the modern reality of the people of palestine starkly illustrated against the strident beauty of the songs.

I write this having just returned from a david bridie workshop that included members of Grilla step, consequently music and politics are intertwined in my brain and body. Talking about the shared culture of melanesia from West papauu, the Solommons, timor Strait to Fiji and playing his songs and songs from Rabaul, West papua and the highlands this was the gentlest delivery of a profound truth about our region that I have experienced. Wontok, shared language, in this case music united all who gathered under the fig tree on the grass to hear this warm music of flutes, drums and piano. Like the sea that surrounds the islands of our region, the songs took me on a journey through the community of our shared humanity and so many peoples struggle to express their culture freely. This is what Womad is truly about.

-Ian

Nicole Stevens at Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Well it was nice to finally have a little break from blogging and take a quiet stroll along the parks to see what was going on. Although my perfect timing (as always) meant I was just catching the end of a great act……or just in time for setting up, typical! None the less just seeing the excitement of people dancing randomly (in the rain might i add), kids playing and kicking soccer balls around and just getting a great wiff of  the “tastes of the globe” it is such a friendly, safe and fun atmosphere and you can’t help but get a warm fuzzy feeling!

Until the blog next allows….

Nicole

Deb's organisation impresses the team this year

People flock from far and wide to hit the stages

The Online Producer duo, JB and Nicole make time to have a little fun

Alex McFarlane hard at work

Greetings from the tent, where unfortunately I have not ventured from too often (my chance to break free will come), but I have been trying to bring all the wonder that is Womadelaide to your computer screens as fast as I can. Including Interviews, performances, photos and video so make sure you keep looking back, THERE’S JUST SO MUCH!!!! I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere and being an Online Producer means I get to sift through all the amazing performances the team are recording. 

Until I can break free from the website again… 

Nicole

Ian Newton - Blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

In the cool air (and brief rain)  of a Womad Friday night, I heard the wild fast paced sounds of George  Kamikawa and Noriko Tadano pulsating off stage four. Norikos’ Japanese banjo brings a plucky contrast to the fast strumming of Georges guitar and his stomp box which pounded into my chest. Traditional Japanese songs mixed with traditional blues, done Japanese style, originals and the odd contemporary cover spiced up a stormy Adelaide night. The crowd responded to the music even refusing to shelter from the rain. Georges exhortations of the crowd to drink, drink and drink some more was wildly applauded. Inventive and humorous this duo played as equals and shouldnt be missed.

On Saturday afternoon, at Stage 5 , the Moreton Bay stage I heard and watched the spectacular , mesmerising Young Wagilak Group. Comprising members of the Wilfred Family, from the Yolgnu in Arnhem Land this song cycle accompanied by dance quickly drew a crowd once the hypnotic drone of the Didgeridoo vibrated the area around the stage. The tones of the singers voice, clapsticks and didge took me on a metaphysical journey, I kid you not. For a moment I forgot I was recording the performance and felt like I had fallen through the earth into the rich soil, then I was up in the air. These fellas play again on Monday. catch them if you haven’t, I will see them again.

-Ian

JB - Blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

One of the best things about Womadelaide is watching people dance – everyone seems so carefree and willing to embrace the spirit of the music. Besh O Drom just now was a great example of that with the crowds dancing like mad – no one cares if they look like a total dork – which is the beauty of this atmosphere!

My advice – keep dancing! It’s the best way to experience Womadelaide!

-JB

Tara Egan blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Have you ever krumped??  Well I just witnessed Grilla Step make every one go wild at Stage 3.  Krumping is a mixture of pacific tribal and breakdancing without the floor spins.  It’s the only way I can explain it.  An islander in full tribal dress came out and prowled the stage moving this way and that, arms out, head moving from side t side…. then we had a hip hop crew come out and do the same kind of thing but looser.  They were almost gymnasts, the way they were moving this way and that, rolling their hips and letting it flow all the way down to their legs   A feast for the EYES and the EARS.     

-Tara

JB blogging for Womadelaide 2010 LIVE!

Oh. My. God.

La Compagnie Transe Express  with “Mobile Homme” is an great feat – a wonderful aerial creation that you just have to see. Imagine little drummer boys flying through the air…I won’t ruin it by telling you too much – Just go see it! Saturday and Monday at 5.00pm and for those of you who can’t be here we’ll make sure to get some footage and photos over the next couple of days!

-JB