Saturday, March 17, 2007

Who found out that nothing can capture a heart like a melody can?

The main game at Womadelaide is the music, and we cover a lot of ground in three days. I'm just going to list all the acts I saw, adding a few impressions where I feel like it. If you want to know more about any specific act, leave a comment. And maybe my mates who were there might chime in as well.

Friday (This link has brief info for all the acts on Friday night)

Kaurna welcome - the festival always starts with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land we're on, Kaurna people. Then there was a welcome (song and dance) by Paitya from the Four Directions. I've had the same thought each year - at several times during the piece, the dancers are obscured by equipment on the stage, when they get low to the ground - I wish they could arrange for them to have a clear stage to perform on. Guess that would delay the next group which would have to wait for set-up and possibly sound check?

Mahotella Queens - South African trio who have been singing and dancing together since the '60s. Great legs!

Lila Downs - Mexican-American singer doing trad. and new Mexican songs, very high energy, gorgeous costumes, harp. Really great to watch and/or dance to.

Lunasa - Irish celtic 5-piece.

Gotan project - France-Argentine collaboration described as "techno-tango", included video projections. Very interesting and pretty unusual.

Femi Kuti and the Positive Force - funk with Afro-beat. Attention captured by a fascinating trio of dancers who spent 90% of the time with their backs to the audience, gyrating their butts in various directions. The effect was heightened by the fringing & beading on their miniscule outfits.

2 comments:

Bells said...

love love love the title of this post. :-) An Abba girl from way back, I am. Sad huh?

We're all allowed our guilty pleasures, right?

Olivia said...

I often go back to Abba. I just love those songs. No guilt, Bells!