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WOMADelaide appreciation thread. Who's Attending?

t_mike
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frankn
frankn

Enjoying WOMADelaide , @ Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko

yeahpetrus
yeahpetrus

Our AirBnB host complained that we left feathers throughout the house. I apologised, tried to explain...

Darryl
Darryl

Went past Womad on the way home tonight.   I see that @VAF are one of the sponsors. Good on them.

t_mike Grand Master

t_mike

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  On 04/03/2023 at 7:30 AM, sir sanders zingmore said:

Managed to score a couple of tix👍👍

 

Now to book flights (this won’t be pretty!)

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I can probably give you a lift back to bleak city if it helps, but I don't think I'm driving until Thursday. 

 

Have a ticket to see Mike Stern that night at Bird's Basement. 

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sir sanders zingmore Life Member

sir sanders zingmore

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  On 06/03/2023 at 5:55 AM, t_mike said:

 

I can probably give you a lift back to bleak city if it helps, but I don't think I'm driving until Thursday. 

 

Have a ticket to see Mike Stern that night at Bird's Basement. 

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I need to be back at work by Wed so I’ve paid for some crazily priced flights. 
Very kind of you to offer though 🙏. 

 

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sir sanders zingmore Life Member

sir sanders zingmore

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Thoughts so far. 
Too crowded, way to crowded. 
Weather has been awesome.

Highlights: Fantastic Negrito, Cimafunk, Bela and Abigail, aurora, Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh

 

Taking it easy today. Any ideas for something to do on a public holiday in Adelaide?

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RussB Proficient

RussB

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  On 13/03/2023 at 12:41 AM, sir sanders zingmore said:

Thoughts so far. 
Too crowded, way to crowded. 
Weather has been awesome.

Highlights: Fantastic Negrito, Cimafunk, Bela and Abigail, aurora, Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh

 

Taking it easy today. Any ideas for something to do on a public holiday in Adelaide?

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Beach? Just had a great swim at Nourunga but a bit out of town.

 

It was crowded but thankfully very well organised and I didnt have to wait too long for food, toilets and beer, and could still get a good spot in the audience for priority performances by sacrificing previous session.

 

Highlights for me were Aurora, Fantastic Negrito, Florence and the Machine, Bon Ivor, Meute.  Top end sound quality was pretty average through PA so I prioritised accordingly and got a nice bass fix 😀 On way home today

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emesbee Grand Master

emesbee

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I bought a one day pass for Sunday, so my thoughts are purely based on yesterday's experience.

Some highlights for me:-

 

San Salvador. Amazing vocal performance from this French 6 member group (3 male, 3 female) singing in the Occitan language, with the band members doing their own percussion. Reminiscent of Lo Cor De LA Plana who I saw at Womadelaide a number of years ago also singing in Occitan. They were an all male group, and I was very impressed with them then. San Salvador's mix of male and female voices really adds something more  to their performance though.

 

Kronos Quartet. I have seen Kronos Quartet a couple of times before, and always find their performances enjoyable. The highlight this time was an Iranian singer who joined them for part of their set (apologies, but I don't recall her name). She has a great voice and gave an excellent performance with the quartet.

 

The Lachy Doley Group. I've seen him before at The Gov (The Governer Hindmarsh Hotel for those not from Adelaide), and really enjoyed his performance. Voodoo Child performed on a Clavinet with a Whammy Bar, what's not to like!

 

The Langan Band. I'd not heard of these guys before, but thought they might be fun. I was not wrong, 3 Scots from Glasgow who would liven up any party, 'dance and they shall come' one of the band members said near the start of their set. Apparently they have a new album coming out titled 'Plight O Sheep' (they didn't explain the title). Mr V only had their first album 'Bones of Contention' (with slightly rude cover art) in stock.

 

I didn't get to see any of the roving performances (you just have to be in the right place at the right time to catch them).

 

The Gratte Ciel performance was as impressive as the last time. I think they have made some small changes to the musical accompaniment, but nothing major (and I got showered with duck feathers). The crowd was enormous though. I found myself jammed in a massive 'sardine can' of people for the whole performance, good thing I'm not claustrophobic.

 

A pretty well organised event on the whole (well it should be after all the years of experience they have had). The number of food stalls did seem to be down a bit from previous Womadelaide events (where was Parwana?), but there was sufficient variety.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ian McP Grand Master

Ian McP

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Another Womadelaide done and dusted! Well, minimal dust, luscious grass due to healthy rainfall and we had perfect weather!

Best of for me:

ADG7: wow! Korean folk crossed with K Pop? Absolute highlight! Monday stage 2 at 6pm, just when the sun illuminates the performers. A photographer’s delight!
Superb musicianship, those backing instruments! and those three singers!! Had everyone up n dancing!

Justin Adams and Mauro Durante: Saturday workshop and again at their Sunday show!

Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn: Friday

Cimafunk Friday

Kronos Quartet Saturday

The Garifuna Collective: Saturday

Julian Belbachir: Sunday

Gratte Ciel: Place des Anges Friday and again at the end of their show closing Monday night

Ondatropica Sunday

Bandaluzia: Monday

Soul II Soul: Monday

Rizwan Muazzam Qawwals: Monday

Youssour N’Dour & Le Super Etoile de Dakar

GUTS: Monday, a little too loud for me standing beside the mixing desk, excellent DJ though.

Only complaint, Saturday night humungous crowds. Sunday and Monday much more comfortable.

Edited by Ian McP
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frankn Grand Champion

frankn

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Friday and Saturday over 30,000 attending each day and the total audience for event was 100,000+. 
Not bad considering. 

As always more toilets for the girls were needed but overall a great weekend. Weather was just about perfect. 
 

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Ian McP Grand Master

Ian McP

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Like me your goodselves on this thread are most likely discerning listeners at Womadelaide. It's luck of the draw with sound mixes. Bass bleed is all to often a problem between stages, it really annoys me! There's Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn with their delicate banjo tunes over on stage 7, accompanied by the ever squawking flying foxes (they were there first I can tolerate them) but then there's the horrible bass boom coming across from Foundation stage from pop diva Aurora. I'm sure a lot of the guys at the mixing desk are partially deaf or don't know a good mix, that over amplified boomy bass really gets up my nose!

 

Then Monday ADG7 stage 2, 6pm the Korean band, my expectations rewarded, an excellent mix! Then ten or so minutes in the guy on a traditional stringed something or other lets fly, at last some really low bass with no boom, sounded fantastic!

 

Justin Adams' guitar sound and finesse! He's a veteran guitar slinger and producer, his experience shows in spades!

He jokingly asked who remembered him his appearances at Womad with Jah Wobble and Juldeh Camara.

I dutifully raised my hand. Glad you're all still here he remarked!

 

regards Ian

Edited by Ian McP

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sir sanders zingmore Life Member

sir sanders zingmore

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  On 15/03/2023 at 4:47 AM, frankn said:

Friday and Saturday over 30,000 attending each day and the total audience for event was 100,000+. 

 

 

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It felt to me as if they’d really gone all out on getting big names this year. That’s great, but imho the result was that it was just too crowded. Massive queues for everything, having to watch acts on screens ‘cos you couldn’t get close enough (unless you missed the last 20 minutes of the previous act in order to get a good spot). 

I’m gonna be the grumpy curmudgeon and say this may have been my last Womad :( 

Ian McP Grand Master

Ian McP

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  On 15/03/2023 at 6:46 AM, sir sanders zingmore said:

It felt to me as if they’d really gone all out on getting big names this year. That’s great, but imho the result was that it was just too crowded. Massive queues for everything, having to watch acts on screens ‘cos you couldn’t get close enough (unless you missed the last 20 minutes of the previous act in order to get a good spot). 

I’m gonna be the grumpy curmudgeon and say this may have been my last Womad :( 

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Sunday and Monday much more comfortable, crowdwise. Easy to move around.

frankn Grand Champion

frankn

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We had friends visit from WA, particularly for Womad (1st time) and also attend the Kronos concert at Festival Hall. They are part-time musicians, love live music, festivals etc.  
Their parting words were , if, in future, we could only attend one festival/year it would be Womad(Adelaide). 
It’s all personal perspective. 
Womad is going to continue to grow, I’m thankful I‘ve been participating of it for over a decade, and, I look forward to its next decade or more.  I think the addition of screens is great. It allows me to enjoy the visual art while not making my hearing/tinnitus worse, or giving me a headache. I hope they put more in. 
Live in the past if you want, I’m looking forward to what it will become. 

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emesbee Grand Master

emesbee

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I have been attending Womadelaide since it started. The first one was in 1992, as part of the Adelaide Festival Of Arts. It was a bit of an experiment at first to see how well it would go, but was obviously a success.
I went with a group of friends on the Friday evening for the first one, then bought weekend tickets for every Womadelaide from then on up until 2020.

I skipped 2021 and 2022, and only bought a Sunday ticket for 2023. I was a bit hesitant for a few reasons. One is obviously the (perceived?) risk of contracting COVID after mingling in large crowds of people. My mother is in aged care and I visit her several time a week, so am very cautious about that. Incidentally, I bumped into a friend when I was there on Sunday. He took his son along (who was off somewhere in the crowd with his girlfriend), then on Tuesday sent me a text to let me know his son had just tested positive on a RAT. I have done several RAT tests myself this week and all have been negative so far, and have no symptoms.

Womadelaide has certainly changed over the years, the earlier ones seemed to have a more relaxed feel to them (but maybe that is just me), with more 'alternative' looking people attending! Crowd sizes have certainly grown in recent years, the event has expanded and it is much more main stream than it used to be.

I still think its a great event though, so will watch closely for the 2024 program.

 

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Ian McP Grand Master

Ian McP

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Also a veteran of Womadelaide, everyone except the first and the covid restricted sit down one in 2021.

One of my pet hates in recent years has been the bass bleed between stages. No doubt very hard to schedule acts and distance them at the same time.

An example this year Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn's delicate banjos on stage 7 invaded by Aurora's bass thump from Foundation stage.  It's purely luck of the draw that the mixer (usually employed by the act) gets the mix right. That boomy bass just ruins the whole mix.

emesbee Grand Master

emesbee

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Bass bleed has been a bit of a problem for a number of years. I can remember Luka Bloom on the Zoo stage turning around and yelling 'SHUT THE THE F****  UP' towards The Afro-Celt Sound System who were making a lot of noise on stage 1.

 

 

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Ian McP Grand Master

Ian McP

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  On 18/03/2023 at 12:52 AM, emesbee said:

Bass bleed has been a bit of a problem for a number of years. I can remember Luka Bloom on the Zoo stage turning around and yelling 'SHUT THE THE F****  UP' towards The Afro-Celt Sound System who were making a lot of noise on stage 1.

 

 

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I remember them being incredibly loud! Took away all the subtlety of their multi ethnic mix.

 

I was a fan of them in their early days, sadly Simon Emmerson passed away recently

 

https://www.songlines.co.uk/news/obituary-simon-emmerson-1956-2023

 

A lot of the rap acts appearing in recent years over rely on a huge programmed bass beat. Annoys the hell out of me!

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sir sanders zingmore Life Member

sir sanders zingmore

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  On 18/03/2023 at 12:43 AM, Ian McP said:

Also a veteran of Womadelaide, everyone except the first and the covid restricted sit down one in 2021.

One of my pet hates in recent years has been the bass bleed between stages. No doubt very hard to schedule acts and distance them at the same time.

An example this year Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn's delicate banjos on stage 7 invaded by Aurora's bass thump from Foundation stage.  It's purely luck of the draw that the mixer (usually employed by the act) gets the mix right. That boomy bass just ruins the whole mix.

Expand  

I was at the Aurora stage - she was on Stage 2 not foundation (saw Bela and Abigail on the Sunday I think). Funny thing is that the mix for Aurora was really good.

I wasn't really aware of her until my 15yo insisted we see her. Amazing performance!

mrbuzzardstubble Life Member

mrbuzzardstubble

Posted
Posted (edited)
  On 18/03/2023 at 12:52 AM, emesbee said:

Bass bleed has been a bit of a problem for a number of years. I can remember Luka Bloom on the Zoo stage turning around and yelling 'SHUT THE THE F****  UP' towards The Afro-Celt Sound System who were making a lot of noise on stage 1.

 

 

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On the subject of Afro Celts, founder Simon Emmerson has just passed away at 67  R.I.P

Edit: Sorry, Ian, I missed your post.

Edited by mrbuzzardstubble

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