frankn Posted March 7 Posted March 7 I’m here too, behind the bar leaning on a barrel. Turquoise t-shirt with Bike Sun Peaks on it. + Hat.
emesbee Posted March 11 Posted March 11 (edited) Well I'm a bit late on this thread, but I was at Womadelaide for the whole 4 days, weathering the heat as best one can. It is literally impossible to see every act on the program, especially since there were a lot of 'one show only' performances with conflicting times. Some personal favourites:- The Joy. I really enjoyed their performances on Friday and Saturday, great vocal harmonies. I was a little bit surprised when they switched to doing a few songs with a pre-recorded musical backing though, seeing as they are an a Capella group, (Made me wonder if they might be thinking of moving towards a more standard commercial style for their next album). They switched back to the a Capella style after that though. I also saw them briefly as I walked past the Frome Pavilion on my way in on Saturday. They were doing a radio interview with the ABC and demonstrated how they build their vocal harmonies. Saigon Soul Revival. I knew nothing about this band beforehand, but saw one of their performances and really enjoyed it. Etran De L'Air very reminiscent of Tinariwen. Interesting to see the three guitarists swapping their instruments with each other at various stages in their performance. Talisk. I was looking forward to seeing this Scottish band. I did enjoy their energy and loud Scottish bravado, but I thought their performance on Stage 3 was overpowered by the pounding bass that was being pumped out of the PA system. It totally drowned out the fiddle playing, and all you could hear was doof-doof-doof. (I must be the only one who was annoyed by that though, as everyone else around me was bouncing around like they were on pogo sticks!). The Bonny Light Horseman. I really enjoyed this American folk / country style band. Great performance from everyone in the band with excellent vocals and guitar work (as well as banjo, I might add). The lead guitarist ramped up his playing a fair bit during one of their songs, I guess to show that they can rock hard when they want to.. Satish Vyas & U Rajesh. A sublime evening performance on the Moreton Bay Stage 5. Duo Ruut I had no idea what to expect from this. Two women from Estonia playing a zither and singing vocal harmonies. It was quite a relaxing Monday evening performance on Stage 5, and I found it very enjoyable. It made a welcome change from some of the much louder acts. (I mean you, Khruangbin. Their performance started on Stage 1 just as Duo Ruut were finishing, and it sounded like a massive thunderstorm, or a huge explosion with a great flash of light, I really thought there had been some sort of incident for a moment there.) Around the park : Yoann Bourgeois Art Company, near Stage 3. Quite an interesting performance with people climbing a set of rotating stairs, falling off the top, bouncing back up, disappearing and reappearing through doors. Very cleverly choreographed, and would have taken a lot of skill and practice to get the timing right. Cie Paris Benaris - Chamoh What's not to like about a giant mechanical camel ! I also caught snippets and portions of many of the other performances which I haven't mentioned here. (The weather was too hot to be out in the sun or wandering between stages all the time, sometimes you just feel like sitting down in a shady spot, listening to the sounds emanating across the park and just enjoy the vibe.) Edited March 11 by emesbee 2
frankn Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Camel - cute as. Talisk - everyone was very happy. Definitely a hot (as in temperature) WOMADelaide again ! 0. was different. 2
emesbee Posted March 11 Posted March 11 Yes, O. was different, I did see some of that. Also enjoyed Sauljaljui from Taiwan. Saw some of Ana Carla Maza, and Nitin Sawhney. Also saw Elisapie, from northern Quebec, interesting that she does covers of well known songs (eg: Blondie's Heart Of Glass) sung in the Inuktitut language. Saw some of 47Soul. Finished off with Trio Da Kali. 1
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted March 11 Volunteer Posted March 11 it was great to catch up with @frankn Highlights for me Goran Bregovic & his wedding & funeral band - so much fun! Ana Carla Maza - so much fun (she really upset the security people when she got like 20 audience members up on stage) Sun Ra Arkestra - say no more! Satish Vyas and U Rajesh - incredible musicianship. They were probably the pick of the festival for me! Sauljaljui was a pleasant surprise. We were hiding from the heat near the zoo stage when she happened to come on. Very enjoyable. Queen Omega was really good too. A couple of disappointments….PJ Harvey .. maybe she’s changed her style but I don’t really remember her doing the ethereal waif thing back in the ‘90s. Shabaka. So sad, he was one of my ‘must see’ acts. I love Sons of Kemet and the comet is coming but this performance was like he’d discovered spiritual jazz and taken all the creativity out of it. I walked out! 2
emesbee Posted March 11 Posted March 11 I was interested in seeing Shabaka, but his one performance on Monday evening clashed with Duo Ruut who I really wanted to see. I did buy his CD though, so will give that a spin later and cross fingers! I wasn't interested much in PJ Harvey, and what little I saw of her performance on Friday didn't do anything to change my mind. Also Sun Ra Arkestra didn't do much for me. I guess they were ok, although I really don't 'get' all the ancient Egyptian style costuming. 1
mrbuzzardstubble Posted March 11 Posted March 11 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-11/womadelaide-2025-review-pj-harvey-etran-de-l-air-queen-omega/105033660 2
Ian McP Posted March 12 Posted March 12 My eternal bug bear at successive Womads, boomy bass and bass bleed between stages. Partly due to the style of music and partly the tin ears of the band's respective mixers! An act that took me by total surprise: I walking past the zoo stage one day, band was on fire and I thought the mix was excellent, I raced through to the front of the bopping crowd they were loving it too! Guadaloupe power pop trio Delgres, with sousaphone! They were showing how it should be done! more reviews to come
Ian McP Posted March 12 Posted March 12 (edited) Well, surviving the heat was number one priority. Retreating to exhibitions at Adelaide's excellent art gallery was the order of the day. Emerging in late afternoon to brave the caldron. managed to squeeze in (alongside is my rating, all relative, absence of rating doesn't neccessarily mean I didn't enjoy them at least, for artist's info see https://www.womadelaide.com.au Friday: * * * Durand Jones & the Indications * * * Nitin Sawhney * * * * The Joy PJ Harvey (10 min or so just in passing between stages) Ana Carla Maza * * * DJ Norsicaa Saturday: * * * Majnun * * * Amaru Tribe 47 SOUL Baja Deseja * * * * Delgres * * * Owela Dreamhouse * * * Wrong Way Up * * * * Roisin Murphy, what a show!! Sunday: * * * * Saigon Soul Revival * * * Sun Ra Arkestra (15 min or so, just in passing between stages) only a smallish audience, really enjoyed their free show at Fed [ ] in Melbourne March 1 * * * Tek Tek Ensemble * * * Talisk * * * * Ertan de L'Air Yemi Alade (just in passing between stages) * * * * Nils Frahm, mesmerising!! Monday: * * * Sauljalui * * * Queen Omega (just in passing between stages) * * * * Mariza Shabaka Khruangbin (just in passing between stages) same groove as their Womadelaide debut in 2022, just bigger and louder * * * * Trio Da Kali: absolutelty sublime act to round out four days of wonder regards Ian Edited March 12 by Ian McP 2
frankn Posted March 12 Posted March 12 I did catch many of the artists & musicians ppl are writing about over the 4d, and, like everyone else found the heat to be tiring. Not quite as bad as some years but enough to put me off simply wandering around to hear stuff on a whim. During the afternoons finding shade AND seeing the performances was a challenge, thank goodness for big screens. Overall I think WOMADelaide is succumbing to the big bass, boom-boom style of music and with that comes less diverse musical tastes - compared to say 5-10yrs ago, however, that may also point towards a similarity of music worldwide? 1
Ian McP Posted March 13 Posted March 13 https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/mar/12/womadelaide-2025-roisin-murphy-khruangbin-and-more-lead-a-blissful-sweltering-weekend
Ian McP Posted March 14 Posted March 14 Those who caught and those who didnt, Roisin Murphy's performance at Womadelaide was similar to her 2024 London show. Stunning!
Peterbean Posted March 14 Posted March 14 On 12/3/2025 at 6:32 PM, frankn said: I did catch many of the artists & musicians ppl are writing about over the 4d, and, like everyone else found the heat to be tiring. Not quite as bad as some years but enough to put me off simply wandering around to hear stuff on a whim. During the afternoons finding shade AND seeing the performances was a challenge, thank goodness for big screens. Overall I think WOMADelaide is succumbing to the big bass, boom-boom style of music and with that comes less diverse musical tastes - compared to say 5-10yrs ago, however, that may also point towards a similarity of music worldwide? You might want to try some of the folk festivals they aren’t all Irish fiddlers.,although perhaps a little down market in comparison
frankn Posted March 29 Posted March 29 On 14/3/2025 at 10:02 PM, Peterbean said: You might want to try some of the folk festivals they aren’t all Irish fiddlers.,although perhaps a little down market in comparison I’m off to Byron Bay BluesFest next month.
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