WOMADelaide is its own little world for the four days it is held at Adelaide's Botanic Garden early in March every year.
Some bands you have never heard of before become superstars over the long weekend via word of mouth (and well-crafted promotional material) before some unfortunately return to relative obscurity by the time the sun rises the following Tuesday morning.On Friday early evening (7 March) on the main Foundation Stage, the opening act for WOMADelaide is Lindigo from Réunion. Their percussion-heavy music known as maloya is a dive right into the world of music and dance during which, a member of the band joins the audience in front of the stage to dance with individuals.
At the same time, the renowned Yoann Bourgeois Art Company present for the first time for the weekend 'The Unreachable Suspension Point', in which gravity is seemingly defied by the performers on a moving rotunda-like wooden construction.
Lindigo - image © Saige Prime
Another of the incidental performances is the roving Chamôh by Cie Paris Benares, a giant puppet camel slowly passing by Stage 2 prior to the only performance by Durand Jones & the Indications. "Y'all right?" asks Durand as the band assemble onstage and he adds that it's their "very first Australian show," something that audiences will hear variations of announced numerous times over the next few days.
Theirs is a soulful, funky, retro sound with the near androgynous vocals of the charismatic Durand informed by the work of Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes and Barry White, and the stage antics of James Brown. On 'Cruisin' To The Park', Steve Okonski solos on the keys while Durand does a victory lap of the stage. As 'Morning In America' comes to end, the rousing call of "screw Donald Trump" becomes the catch-cry as the song winds down.
On the Foundation stage, Nitin Sawhney references his last-minute cancellation from last year's festival. "I'm a little late. One year late in fact because I had a little heart attack."
His performance is one in which there is a blending of ethnic music from different regions incorporating Spanish flamenco guitar, South American flute and Indian percussion. Before the delta blues of 'Dark Day' he reiterates: "It's amazing to be here. . . and not dead."
Nitin Sawhney - image © Saige Prime
Although there was no indication to do so, the audience remain seated at the Moreton Bay Stage for the heartfelt solo electric guitar performance by Bess Atwell. As she nears the end of her time onstage, she jokes that she's basically supporting PJ Harvey.
The first half of PJ Harvey's headlining set on the Foundation Stage is a somewhat choreographed performance of songs from her latest album and it is 45 minutes before ' '50 Ft Queenie' signals a move into the more familiar songs from her back catalogue including 'Man-Size' and 'Dress', which excites the eager audience.
The closing 'To Bring You My Love' in this context takes on another meaning and could be read as being about her long-awaited return to Australia.
Bess Atwell - image © Jack Fenby
On Saturday (8 March), Saigon Soul Revival are rescheduled to play on Zoo Stage 4 and with a name like that you know pretty much what you are going to get and on this occasion, you can judge a book by its cover.
We are told his name means "the mad man" in Arabic and Majnun describes his own music and performance on the Moreton Bay Stage as a "psycho magical ritual", and while he plays solo acoustic or electric guitar it is like he's chanting invocations, latterly leading the audience in a chant of "drive your funky soul".
Making a confident, triumphant return to WOMADelaide, on the first of two appearances on the Foundation Stage over the weekend, Mariza's assertive Fado performance immediately won over the uninitiated before she lead the audience in a sing-along.
Like many other acts over this weekend and others, it might have been just a little too early in the afternoon for Amaru Tribe's self-described "Latin American power" and spacey jams on Stage 3, but the sunlight didn't deter those wanting to get their groove on.
47SOUL - image © Saige Prime
47SOUL made a welcome return to the festival after the controversy surrounding the withdrawal of an invitation to play in 2024. Their self-styled hip hop made up for the extended wait. For those perhaps wanting to have a little downtime, there was the easy-listening funk-soul of Ms Chipeta under the shade of Frome Park Pavilion.
Returning to WOMADelaide and Stage 3, having just come from blizzard conditions in Iceland, John Grant commented on the heat throughout his two appearances. While in relative shade during this performance, it is not until the Sunday's second show on Stage 2 that he is seated at a grand piano in the full glare of the afternoon sun on which occasion he excuses himself: "If I hit any wrong notes, it's heatstroke."
Although the sets are not actually indicative of where he's at currently musically, his pared down performances accompanied by Cormac Curran are more representative of his earlier albums with only 'Zeitgeist' from his latest 'The Art Of A Lie' getting an airing on Sunday. The performance of the epic 'Glacier' on Saturday took them over time as they played through the indications of a flabbergasted stagehand.
Confined to Zoo Stage 4 (but upgraded to the more expansive Stage 2 the following afternoon), Delgres' unorthodox three-pronged attack of guitar, tuba and drums resulted in performance of rock and blues with a Spaghetti Western tinge.
On the Foundation stage Ngaiire's performance was a visual smorgasbord of costume changes and dance routines that ended in an epic gospel version of 'My Island Home'. Queen Omega takes command of Stage 3 and gives a performance akin to a dub party rave, her swollen audience becoming her gospel "congregation".
Ngaiire - image © Morgan Sette
Nkechi Anele has been presenting the bands on Stage 7 the last few years since her previous band Sasquatch dissolved, and it is here she makes a welcome return with Nic-Ryan Glenie in Owelu Dreamhouse giving a performance of '70s-styled funk, Afrobeat drawing from blaxploitation soundtracks.
On Zoo Stage 4, feminist collective The Cloudmaker perform an abstract mix of chanting and primal screaming with cello, saxophone, and percussion accompaniment. In the Frome Park Pavilion, the duo of Wrong Way Up convey an infectious positivity and feel of DIY, their set of playful electronic pop via theremin and minimoog was a delight to experience.
On Stage 2, following an opening, blinding visual blast, near seizure-inducing visuals and lighting in sync with her opening bombast Róisín Murphy arrives to give a 90-minute performance of music mostly from her solo era but including the big Moloko songs ('The Time Is Now', 'Sing It Back') with multiple costume changes.
She turns her camera on the audience before singing with her back to audience and videoing herself in front of the audience, gradually opening her mouth and showing the audience down her throat.
Owelu Dreamhouse - image © Morgan Sette
On Sunday (9 March) on Stage 2, Inuk Canadian Elisapie and her band mostly perform a diverse selection of non-English versions of "songs I sole from white people" – Blondie's 'Heart Of Glass', Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time', Led Zeppelin's 'Going To California' and Metallica's 'The Unforgiven'. She describes this as a "journey into the past" and plays Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' as a tribute to her brother who died in a motorcycle accident when she was three.
Spread across the Foundation Stage 2 Bala Desejo gives a performance infused with the spirit of '60s and '70s Brazilian music with a beautiful blending of male and female vocals.
Possibly the oldest ongoing band to play WOMADelaide, the Sun Ra Arkestra were relegated to a late Sunday afternoon time-slot on the Foundation stage. Band leader Knoel Scott (subbing for the 100-year-old Marshall Allen) played baritone saxophone as well as MCing, directing and conducting the band and performing occasional acrobatics.
Elisapie - image © Bri Hammond
This was 'authentic' jazz with an excursion into the blues. For some fans this would have been a quasi-religious experience with guitar and percussion instruments bubbling along under the soloists as Knoel made his band introductions one after the other before they finished with 'Travel The Spaceways'. Known for playing mammoth, hours-long sets, it is unfortunate they have been limited to a single hour performance on this occasion.
In the relaxed environs of the Frome Park Pavilion, Estonians Duo Ruut endear themselves to a seated audience playing what they admit is an "uncool" instrument, the zither, simultaneously. We learn their beautiful songs are deceptive when we are told "a lot of beautiful songs come from sadness," and "shared sadness is twice as good".
Following this on the nearby Stage 7, Colombian Ela Minus sings over pounding bass heavy electronic pop that crosses over into industrial music. With a swelling audience assembled before the Moreton Bay Stage (possibly a combination of a returning audience and word of mouth referrals), Cuban Ana Carla Maza is comfortable playing her cello solo in whatever style she chooses, whether it be classical, jazz, or reggae. She leads the audience in percussion and singing and tells us: "In Cuba there is always music everywhere."
Ela Minus - image © Samuel Graves
On Zoo Stage 4, the duo of O. (a name they admit is "unGoogleable") encompass a variety of styles and defy ultimate categorisation, their treated saxophone and drums drive the crowd into a frenzy from the get go.
Late night headliner on Stage 2, Nils Frahm commences his set by dipping his right hand in water and then shakes this hand over the front row anointing them before turning to his retro-futuristic stage set up of acoustic keyboard instruments among analog synths and plays a glass harmonica, a vintage classical musical device, like an opening overture.
It is the beginning of a performance that, ironically, words can't do justice. Nils' performance is a mean feat of multitasking and must be undoubtedly physically demanding as he moves from one instrument to the next and back again, wrangling, tweaking, fine-tuning to get things sounding just right.
The songs build slowly, some are simple noodling at a piano while others are pounding electronica. When he does actually finish, the audience lingers, wanting more but the crew arrive onstage and shake their heads as they start to dismantle the equipment and pack everything away.
Nils Frahm - image © Jack Fenby
On Monday afternoon (10 March) on Stage 3, Nana Benz du Togo describe themselves as a "feminist band", three women performing call and response chanting backed by a couple of men beating on a DIY modified drum kit and a construction of PVC piping. They proclaim their music to be "digital voodoo".
Having reconvened within the last decade, the set by Digable Planets was highly anticipated and this was reflected in the audience response as they gradually assembled on the Foundation Stage accompanied by saxophone fanfare before their live instrumentation performance of old-school jazz-infused hip hop challenged those who remained motionless while most of the audience absorbed the groove and moved accordingly.
On Stage 3 Bonny Light Horseman fronted by Josh Kaufman, Eric D. Johnson and Anais Mitchell performed a beautiful, homely set based in the folk-song tradition that certainly did not disappoint. Anais herself displayed a physical joy in the performance that made it obvious she was as much in love with this band as any fan.
Bonny Light Horseman - image © Samuel Graves
Shabaka Hutchings also played Stage 3 in the early evening demonstrating his virtuosity on a variety of flutes accompanied by a more than capable band playing piano, harp, trombone and drums and percussion.
Although some pieces came across vaguely familiar like easy listening '70s album-oriented rock through a filter of jazz, there were moments of urgency and speeding up prompted by Shabaka that gave the set a sense of ebb and flow.
Returning to WOMADelaide after having played their first show in Australia at the festival in 2019, the Texan trio of Khruangbin consisting of Mark Speer on guitar, Laura Lee on bass and DJ on drums have graduated to deserved headliners on the Foundation Stage.
There almost seems to be an unspoken narrative in the paced choreography as Laura and Mark in their matching Cleopatra-styled wigs at times bring to mind cat and mouse alternately as they effortlessly weave passed each other across the breadth of the Foundation Stage.
While never veering too far from their mostly funky bass heavy instrumentals with some easy listening co-vocalising, on this occasion they have eschewed the usual performance of an extended cover medley, their set mostly taking from the last album 'A La Sala' but including classics 'Evan Finds The Third Room', 'Maria Tambien' and 'So We Won't Forget'.
Khruangbin - image © Samuel Graves
WOMADelaide is a peak through a window into other cultures, an introductory glimpse and sometimes an opportunity for repeat viewings over the weekend, or over years in the case of returning performers.
There have been occasional 'hiccups' in the last few years since the festival returned in the wake of the pandemic, but this year's festival demonstrates that we are now passed that and the festival is, like the audiences in attendance, on its feet again.
