[EVENT ~ World Music ~ INT]

Botanic Park, Sun 8 Mar.

Sometimes WOMADelaide becomes WoDadelaide. My seven year daughter is with me for the first part of my day and it’s always an exciting cornucopia of stuff for kids at WOMADelaide. Apart from their excellent Kidzone where there are activities, performances, little huts to play in, places to read and a wishing tree to launch your future dreams into existence, there are roaming giant puppets, people drumming and kids playing all over the site. Like the biggest noisiest playground ever, it’s a joy to watch her absorbing the sights and sounds.

However there is little capacity to sit through things Dad might want to and as a result I only got to see three songs of former Smog guy Bill Callahan. His lo-fi baritone story telling was one of the things I wanted to see the most on this year’s line-up but I end up in the Kidzone watching my girl chase giant bubble and I am fine with that. Ironic as Callahan’s latest album is all about how his life has changed after becoming a husband and father. Side note if you put thirty or forty kids around a guy making giant bubbles you get a kind of junior mosh pit with young people hurling themselves at the soapy airborne globs, knocking into each other, getting bubble mix in their eyes and other general junior chaos. It was lovely.

After my offspring is collected by a responsible adult (her Mum) I headed over to the Morton Bay stage for Tami Neilson. With four albums this Canadian born, New Zealand based singer combines classic country music, with R&B, soul and a big brassy voice with a touch of the Amy Winehouse about it. With a bouffant hair do and a snappily dressed band Tami opens with the energised Big Bad Mama on immediately the whole audience is up on their feet dancing to her infectious beat. Getting the audience to singing the laughing chorus of Ten Tonne Truck is a highlight in a set of highlights. Great songs, great band and clearly won a legion of new fans this weekend with the Mr V Music stand completely sold out of every CD and vinyl they had.

On the Main Stage Los Amigos Invisibles and laying down a funky Latin disco groove and keep starting songs with bit of well-known songs by 80s bands like A-HA, INXS and The Police before morphing into their own songs. Heaps of fun. Ezra Collective mash up Afrobeat rhythms, a bit of Grime and set feet moving to a huge crowd.

Again, on the Main Stage Hiatus Kaiyote has a massive audience. Like many of the artists this weekend fuse styles together to create her own thing. It’s kind of jazz, soul, hip hop EDM. I catch a tiny bit of Super Rats in transit between stages and their dulcimer driven Gypsy vibe is terrific. Legendary Indian violinist L. Subramaniam has the entire crowd at stage three captivated and you could hear a pin drop, unusual for a multi-stage festival in full swing.

Jorge Ben Jor is known as The King of Samba Rock and has been a recording artist for almost sixty years, he doesn’t look it. His band all dressed in white his blue shirt stands out a mile and he is clearly 100% in control of his large band who are funky and groovy but very pop also. Jorge was the writer of Mas Que Nada which was a massive worldwide hit for Sergio Mendes in 1966. Everybody is staying warm by dancing away the chill of the evening. Aussie rapper Briggs, killed on Stage Two and I needed to get off my feet and get some sleep.

4.5 stars

Ian Bell

WOMADelaide continues at Botanic Park from 11am until Mon 9 Mar.

Book at womadelaide.com.au. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.

#WOMADL20

All images courtesy of Ian Bell

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[EVENT ~ World Music ~ INT] Botanic Park, Sun 8 Mar. Sometimes WOMADelaide becomes WoDadelaide. My seven year daughter is with me for the first part of my day and it’s always an exciting cornucopia of stuff for kids at WOMADelaide. Apart from their excellent Kidzone where there are activities, performances, little huts to play in, places to read and a wishing tree to launch your future dreams into existence, there are roaming giant puppets, people drumming and kids playing all over the site. Like the biggest noisiest playground ever, it’s a joy to watch her absorbing the sights and sounds. However there is little capacity to sit through things Dad might want to and as a result I only got to see three songs of former Smog guy Bill Callahan. His lo-fi baritone story telling was one of the things I wanted to see the most on this year’s line-up but I end up in the Kidzone watching my girl chase giant bubble and I am fine with that. Ironic as Callahan’s latest album is all about how his life has changed after becoming a husband and father. Side note if you put thirty or forty kids around a guy making giant bubbles you get a kind of junior mosh pit with young people hurling themselves at the soapy airborne globs, knocking into each other, getting bubble mix in their eyes and other general junior chaos. It was lovely. After my offspring is collected by a responsible adult (her Mum) I headed over to the Morton Bay stage for Tami Neilson. With four albums this Canadian born, New Zealand based singer combines classic country music, with R&B, soul and a big brassy voice with a touch of the Amy Winehouse about it. With a bouffant hair do and a snappily dressed band Tami opens with the energised Big Bad Mama on immediately the whole audience is up on their feet dancing to her infectious beat. Getting the audience to singing the laughing chorus of Ten Tonne Truck is a highlight in a set of highlights. Great songs, great band and clearly won a legion of new fans this weekend with the Mr V Music stand completely sold out of every CD and vinyl they had. On the Main Stage Los Amigos Invisibles and laying down a funky Latin disco groove and keep starting songs with bit of well-known songs by 80s bands like A-HA, INXS and The Police before morphing into their own songs. Heaps of fun. Ezra Collective mash up Afrobeat rhythms, a bit of Grime and set feet moving to a huge crowd. Again, on the Main Stage Hiatus Kaiyote has a massive audience. Like many of the artists this weekend fuse styles together to create her own thing. It’s kind of jazz, soul, hip hop EDM. I catch a tiny bit of Super Rats in transit between stages and their dulcimer driven Gypsy vibe is terrific. Legendary Indian violinist L. Subramaniam has the entire crowd at…

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Ian Bell

A World Of Music And Dance

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