Review: Womadelaide, 2012

April 13, 2012 at 16:24 (Festivals, Reviews)
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Timber and Steel are big fans of Womadelaide festival. The event takes place over 4 days during the March long weekend every year and brings dozens of the world’s best traditional musicians to the city for a romp of cultural celebration and unique performances. As a full time student and worker, the festival holds a strong significance in my life, as it surely does for tens of thousands of others as well. It’s the time of year that life slows down for a moment, the pressures of work and study are lifted, and curiosity and enjoyment take over. Its brilliance is that it has the power to make the most tightly wound folk feel like a carefree traveller, even if it’s only fleetingly before it all starts again. Testament to this is the fact that I can only get around to reviewing the festival a month after it took place. Even reflecting on it is somewhat soothing.

Whilst the previous year’s lineup was perhaps more folky in the sense of what we mostly write about here at Timber and Steel, 2012 had a lot to offer. The Friday opening night unfortunately clashed with Charles Bradley’s one and only performance at Barrio, so my Womadelaide did not begin until the Saturday afternoon. Penguin Cafe were the first act I crossed paths with, and I immediately recognised most of the tunes although never having listened to the band before. I could only describe it as the most fun you can have with classical music- verging on folk and pop. Apparently the band is really very famous and has been performing at Womad festivals for quite some time, which would explain why some of their songs seemed so familiar.

I spent some time checking out much-hyped Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran before stumbling across the highlight of my festival- The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Lined up in a row with an arsenal of varying ukuleles, this charming and cheeky bunch of fun loving Brits put on an amazing show with both crowd pleasing cover renditions of popular songs and mesmerizing feats of arrangement as they flawlessly recreate all manner of genres entirely with one instrument, my favourite being their foray into Dixieland. Check them out below.

First Aid Kit were probably the only act on the bill that we frequently write about on Timber and Steel, and they were next on the agenda. I listened to their debut album a lot and was very impressed with their title track and first single from the new album. For those unfamiliar, First Aid Kit are 2 very young Swedish sisters that truly embrace the sound of classic American folk music, and remind most of Laura Marling with Fleet Foxesesque harmonies. Live, the flawless harmonies they achieve are all the more impressive. It was gratifying to see the pair perform with such confidence and unreserved passion, showing they aren’t above head-banging in moments of intensity. First Aid Kit had some decent publicity prior to their performance and the crowd was correspondingly strong. The sisters spent a lot of their set introducing the new album, which was the first time I heard it and I must say I am pleased with their direction- veering further towards folk and country and further from indie-pop. Exhibit A- their recent ode to their favourite folk musicians below.

Saturday ended with a fantastic curry and eclectic performances from Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Bonobo and Dirty Three.

Sunday was my girlfriend’s birthday and I brought her along to enjoy an afternoon of decidedly French-flavoured music. French-Senegalese heartthrob Tété kicked off the day’s proceedings with a good set of his trademark acoustic-pop/delta-blues blend. The result is truly unique, I honestly can’t say I’ve heard anything like it before. His guitar work was impressive, as was his voice, but for me the acoustic-pop element of his songs verged too closely to the likes of Jason Mraz and were ultimately slightly too predictable for my liking. Decide for yourself below.

Next we checked out French violinist/looper Chapelier Fou, which translates to “mad hatter”. I heard  from others that he was a highlight of their festival, and he was a very impressive musician. I susppose the experimental nature of the music and the repetitiveness of the looping put me off somewhat because I didn’t make it through to the end of his set before I opted for a trip to the food precinct of the festival. That evening I was lucky enough to catch Gurrumul for the first time, whom I’d wanted to see for a long time. The seated show was amazingly well attended and I only managed to get a spot behind an unfortunately large and dense shrub. Since I couldn’t see anyway there really wasn’t much else to do than close my eyes and enjoy it. I quickly caught a bit of Chilean folk star Nano Stern before calling it a night.

I made it to the festival on Monday just in time to see local act and friends Bearded Gypsy Band take to the stage for their first Womadelaide show. The group of incredibly young and talented musicians are notorious in South Australia for providing an unlikely party atmosphere with their moving arrangements that draw influence from gypsy swing, jazz and folk. It was a warm day and the crowd was packed in like sardines to get close to the Zoo stage and witness the lads finally get their opportunity to spread their craft with a significant new audience. You never get tired of seeing the Bearded Gypsy Band, and it was lovely to see how much it meant to them to be playing the festival.

We stuck around the Zoo stage for a while and checked out a piece of roving Japanese theatre called Sivouplait before joining in on Ivorian songstress Dobet Gnahore’s vocal workshop, which was a lot of fun.

I was by myself for a lot of the festival as a lot of the friends that I usually go with were interstate or working and I still really enjoyed myself. I probably didn’t make the most of every day but it’s honestly that relaxing that I didn’t really feel the need to. It’s not going anywhere.  See you next year, Womadelaide.

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National Folk Festival Interview: The Bearded Gypsy Band

March 19, 2012 at 08:24 (Interviews)
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The Bearded Gypsy Band
Image Courtesy of The Bearded Gypsy Band

Since coming to our attention a couple of years ago via 6 on the St Adelaide instrumentalists The Bearded Gypsy Band have really made a mark for themselves on the national folk scene. We sat down with bassist Kiah Gossner following their performance at WOMADelaide to chat about their upcoming appearance at the National Folk Festival and their first foray into the world of vocals, all while avoiding the fact that none of the band have beards.

Evan Hughes: So you’ve just performed at WOMADelaide, is that right?
Kiah Gossner: That’s right, yeah. It was a fantastic weekend.
EH: Did you enjoy the festival?
KG: We had the best time. It’s been a dream come true for us because being Adelaide boys we’ve been going to the festival for years and years. We were so chuffed to play and had a great turn out so we really can’t complain – we’re pretty happy with it.
EH: WOMADelaide doesn’t always have a lot of local Adelaide acts – they mainly focus on international acts – so it’s pretty special that you guys got on the bill.
KG: Yeah it was. They only really have one or two acts from the Adelaide scene. It’s a great international platform. There’s people from all corners of the globe so we’re very lucky to get on the bill.
EH: Did you get a big crowd?
KG: Yeah, we got a lot of support from our usual fanbase but then there was a bunch of other people we’d never seen before so it was great for exposure. It was a good crowd, really happy with it.
EH: Your music fits really well with the WOMADelaide crowd. You probably get this a lot but how would you describe your music?
KG: [laughs] That’s always a tough question. If I had to describe it in one word I’d say “eclectic”. It’s a blend of gypsy jazz, folk, blues, swing, a bit of bluegrass, funk now and then, all thrown into this melting pot.
EH: I normally find it easy to describe you as gypsy, mainly because it’s in your name, but you’re so much more than that. You pull from all sorts of traditions.
KG: Definitely.
EH: Your music is not really mainstream but you guys have a bit of a following at the moment and you’re popping up on festivals all over the place.
KG: We’re flabbergasted ourselves with that. Originally we never thought we were going to be any kind of band at all, we were just kind of thrown together in school and started writing our own material and playing some shows around the place. Playing WOMAD and stuff it’s all snowballing, very surreal.
EH: Did you manage to hang out with any of the other artists at WOMADelaide?
KG: We were hanging out with The Barons of Tang, they were cool. We got to see a lot of great music – there’s a lot of inspirational stuff out there. It’s fantastic.
EH: And now of course you’ve got the National Folk Festival coming up. Have you been before?
KG: No! We’re only just getting old enough to do the whole festival thing. I’ve heard great things and the lineup’s always interesting. It’s a huge lineup.
EH: It’s such a fantastic festival. I think you’ll have a ball there.
KG: Definitely, we’re really looking forward to it. It’s got a bit of everything like dance and music and storytelling.
EH: And the crowds that are there are really there to discover new music. People aren’t just there to see a headliner.
KG: That’s good to hear. I think WOMAD’s got a bit of that element. There’s artists that you know but then there’s always those bands around that you’re not quite sure about, that you stumble across and fall in love with them.
EH: Do you get many people up and dancing at your gigs? Was WOMADelaide a dancing gig?
KG: Yeah. We had some help from our friends I think, they really got into it. Got some dancing going on which is always fun – its good to feed off and everyone has a good time.
EH: It’s funny – the kind of music that you play, the traditions that you draw from, is all about dancing. It must be surreal to play to a crowd that is sitting down or staying still.
KG: I think it takes that one brave soul to start the dancing but by the end of most shows we often get a bit of a dance floor happening. We try our best to get people into the music and moving around.
EH: You’ll also have to check out the Session Bar at The National. That’s basically a jam session that lasts all weekend – it gets pretty rowdy at night time.
KG: We had a bit of that at the Illawarra Folk Festival. There were sessions everywhere. You just walk around the corner and there’d be people playing all styles of music. You just rock up with your instrument and join in – it was great.
EH: So you join in on the sessions?
KG: Definitely. One night we just started jamming at about 12 and ended up finishing around three or four in the morning. It was bucketing rain and we were under this pavilion. Really good times. The collaboration, the sharing of musical ideas is really valuable. It was just a great experience.
EH: There must be quite a jam element to your band.
KG: It often starts with someone bringing an idea to the band, a rough idea about the melody, a bit of a chord progression, and goes “alright, lets work it out”. The way most of our songs are formed at the moment is just by performing them and getting them up, deciding what works and what doesn’t with an audience. The song just develops.
EH: I guess you never get tired of playing the songs because they evolve so much.
KG: I think that’s why they evolve – we’re just trying to keep it interesting for ourselves and everyone else.
EH: If you enjoyed the Illawarra Folk Festival, in particular the sessions, the you’ll love The National. It’s like Illawarra on a much bigger scale.
KG: We’re really looking forward to it. I think we’re a little bit addicted to the folk festival scene and the community that is behind a festival. We’re really excited about the folk festival season.
EH: You’re the perfect band – your music is so infectious. It’s the kind of music that draws people into a tent.
KG: Cheers – appreciate that.
EH: So apart from The National what have you guys got coming up?
KG: We’re in Adelaide for the few weeks before The National and then the Apollo Bay Music Festival. Then off to Brisbane after that. Just moving around and stuff.
EH: It must be cool being a band from Adelaide and being able to go to all these interstate festivals.
KG: It’s a blast. We have to thank our management for that. They make our lives easy.
EH: The Adelaide music scene is so vibrant but it tends to get ignored by the rest of the country. It’s great that you’ve broken through.
KG: Totally. I think Adelaide it overlooked a lot which is a shame because there’s really cool things going on, especially this time of year.
EH: The amount of talent that’s there is amazing.
KG: That’s so true. And in a variety of different styles. It’s hard to beat.
EH: We’re big fans of 6 on the St here. Do you think they were a catalyst for Adelaide bands, like yourselves, to get heard outside of South Australia?
KG: I think 6 on the St was a catalyst for the music scene in Adelaide, not just the bands that were involved. It was definitely a catalyst for us. It showed a lot of people who live in Adelaide what was going on in Adelaide and the rest of Australia as well – there are things going on in Adelaide and there’s plenty to get involved with. It exposed what was there in a really beautiful way.
EH: It’s funny that all the bands they featured have seen their national profiles explode.
KG: In our case it was a turning point. We went from not having a foothold anywhere to people knowing our name.
EH: And you still use the photo they took to promote the shoot (above) as promo.
KG: And we send out their video. It’s really well done.
EH: Do you have any recordings coming up?
KG: We’ve just been recording an EP in fact which is going to be digitally released soon and, depending how things go, a hard copy will be released as well. That EP contains our first two vocal tracks.
EH: Nice
KG: And we’re also working on an album for release towards the end of the year.
EH: That’s really cool. And you’re branching out into vocal tracks?
KG: We find that instrumental music is what we’re mainly doing but having that element of vocal opens up a whole new avenue for the audience to understand. The vocal just instantly gets across. A guitar solo or a violin solo or a melody works well but the vocal just adds another element for people who might not get the whole instrumental thing.
EH: That’s really exciting. You’ll have to let us know when that hits the web. Thank you so mcuh for chatting to us today.
KG: No worries at all, thank you.

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New Blue King Brown Video “The March” feat. Jah Mason

March 9, 2012 at 14:08 (News, Video News)
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Blue King Brown
Image Courtesy of Blue King Brown

This article goes out to everyone heading to WOMADelaide this weekend. Blue King Brown have released the video to their single “The March” featuring reggae star Jah Mason just in time for their appearance at this year’s festival. Take a look at the video below and stay tuned for Timber and Steel’s coverage of WOMADelaide coming soon.

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WOMADelaide Interview: Jinja Safari

January 30, 2012 at 06:45 (Interviews)
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Jinja Safari
Image Courtesy of Jinja Safari

Jinja Safari had a massive 2011 and their 2012 shows no signs of slowing down with the band announced for both WOMADelaide and Gum Ball to kick the year off. Timber and Steel’s Evan Hughes sat down with one half of Jinja Safari’s original duo, Marcus Azon, to talk about what’s next for the band.

Evan Hughes: We first came across you guys via Husky who you toured with last year. Although you’re not a strictly folk band, despite the folk reference in your bio, we really liked your stuff so started following what you do.
Marcus Azon: When we first started we were thinking that we might just be this duo, an acoustic kind of Simon and Garfunkel or MGMT type of experience. We both really like Midlake and a lot of the new folk, medieval folk artists. And then as we became a bit more of a band it just turned into something else – a bit more of a party, a bit more wild I guess.
EH: I can see that folk was a starting point for you but that your music has come a long way since then.
MA: It’s nice that it’s happened just naturally and that we didn’t have anything specific we set out to achieve.
EH: So you’ve just been announced for a couple of festivals including WOMADelaide which is not the type of festival you’d normally play.
MA: No but it’s the sort of festivals that we’d love to go to. That’s one of the great benefits of playing in a band is all the fantastic festivals that you get to go to as a result. And if you’re lucky like us where your in a space where no one really knows who you are so you play early in the day and you’ve got the rest of the festival to enjoy yourself, really soak up some artists and have a really good think about what sort of musician and what sort of band you want to be.
EH: You’re in a pretty unique position because WOMADelaide never has too many local bands on the bill, mainly internationals. I reckon you’ll get a lot of curious locals coming up and supporting you just because you’re Australian.
MA: I think the only way we got onto the bill is because we’ve got the name of an East African town in the title of our band so I think the organisers just got confused and thought we were from Uganda [laughes].
EH: I was at WOMADelaide last year and it was fantastic – one of the most professionally run, slick festivals in the country with this really chilled out, friendly vibe. I think you’ll have a ball.
MA: That’s really good! We’re all big Peter Gabriel and Genesis fans so it’s an honour to be at something that he’s loosely associated with.
EH: Is there anyone at the festival that you’re keen to see while you’re there?
MA: There’s a few artists on the bill that I’ve heard of and have albums of but there’s a lot there that I don’t know and that’s what I’m really excited about – going and finding something none of friends are listening to and there’s no other way that I’d hear about them other than just bumbling into them by accident at a festival.
EH: You also just announced for Gum Ball festival as well.
MA: Yeah, that’s really great. I think it’s the very last show we play in Australia before we go overseas for a short little trip. It’s so so good to play these smaller, outdoor festivals where it’s just about having a great time in the field with some good vibe music. There’s nothing better.
EH: It’s got a really family, community vibe, the Gum Ball.
MA: I haven’t been but we’ve played Peats Ridge and it sounds like it’s the same vibe – kids and partiers can be in the same place and there’s no danger and no threat. Everyone can just have a great time. How a music festival should be.
EH: Those small festivals are where you discover so much music as well
MA: Absolutely. I watched a documentary on the ’69 Woodstock and boy – they already achieved back then what we’re still trying to replicate now. It’s just that we’ve got the wrong sort of drugs now, we can’t quite get there [laughs]
EH: Now your track “Mermaids” was all over the radio last year and seems to have touched a chord with people. It’s one of my favourite tracks last year – I think you guys were giving it away for free at some point…
MA: Yeah we did our second EP [Mermaids and Sirens] as a free download just because we didn’t have many overhead costs in our band. We haven’t signed to anyone and anything we’ve recorded has been at home in our bedrooms so there’s not much of a cost for us just to go straight to the guys who like our music and get in their iPods. It was a pretty easy thing to do.
EH: I think we linked to the free download from Timber and Steel and to this day we still get hits on that article.
MA: Really?
EH: Almost daily we get at least 10 people visiting that specific article. It must be pretty high up in Google.
MA: That’s great! That’s really good!
EH: I don’t think the link works anymore though. But it still gets hits even though we posted the piece mid last year. People must just like that song.
MA: It’s a fishy little song, pun intended, and it’s been pretty surprising so far how a simple song like that can turn out to be a little bit of fun. It’s certainly a fun song to play live – it’s one of those songs which came about fairly quickly and naturally and once you jam it out with two drummers, having a couple of kicks, it just makes it into something that gets very exciting.
EH: So you said you’re heading overseas. What else is coming up? Any plans to record an album?
MA: We’ve actually got about 25 new demos that we’ve been showing around to the boys and the managers and deciding which songs they like and which songs they hate and trying to figure out if there’s enough for an album in there – which it seems like there is. We’re hopefully going to release something in August and then do a tour with a whole bunch of new material.
EH: That’s definitely something to look forward to. Well thanks so much for spending some time with us today and good luck with WOMADelaide and everything else this year.
MA: Thanks man, it was a pleasure.

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Final WOMADelaide Artists Added

January 11, 2012 at 12:01 (Festival News, News)
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The Dirty Three

With WOMADelaide exactly two months away (9th to the 12th March) the final additions to an already jam-packed lineup have just been announced and it’s looking like it’s going to be one of the must-attend events of the year. Just check out the list of names that have just been added:

Baaba Maal (Senegal)
Mad Professor (UK)
The Dirty Three (Australia – above)
Pajama Club (NZ)
Joe Bataan & the I Like It Like That Orchestra (Phillipines/USA/Australia)
Electric Wire Hustle (NZ)
Bunna Lawrie (Australia)
Tété (Senegal/France)
Toninho Ferragutti & Alessandro Kramer (Brazil)
Cambodian Space Project (Cambodia/France/Australia)
Anda Union (China)
Chris Finnen (Australia)
Tenzin Choegyal & Monks of TIBET
TORI Ensemble (Korea)
Picture Box Orchestra (Australia/UK/India)
Two Pianos “Canto Ostinato by Simeon Ten Holt” (Australia)
Sivouplait (Japan)
Gramophone Man (Australia)
The Pitts Family Circus (Australia)

When you add that to artists including Eddi Reader, Sharon Shannon, First Aid Kit, The Bearded Gypsy Band, Gurrumul, Jinja Safari and more we can’t think of a reason not to go.

For the full lineup and ticketing information check out the official WOMADelaide web site.

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Eddi Reader’s Full Australian Tour Dates

January 11, 2012 at 07:32 (News, Tour News)
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Eddi Reader

If you’re only exposure to the wonderful Eddi Reader is as the lead singer of Fairground Attraction (best known for their 1988 hit “Perfect”) then you’re in for a treat. The Scottish singer and Rabbie Burns enthusiast has a simply sublime back catalogue of folk releases under her belt and she’s headed our way.

Already announced as part of the WOMADelaide and Blue Mountains Music festivals, Eddi Reader has added a string of sideshows to her visit including appearances in Sydney, Melbourne, Newcastle, Canberra and Freemantle. Check out the full list of dates below:

9th and 10th March – WOMADelaide, Adelaide
15th March – Live n Cookin
 at Lizotte’s, Newcastle
16th March – Southern Cross Club, Canberra
17th March – The Blue Mountains Music Festival, Katoomba
21st March – Live n Cookin
 at Lizotte’s, Newcastle
22nd March – Blue Beat, Double Bay, Sydney
25th March – Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
28th March – St Mary’s Basilica, Geelong
30th March – Melbourne
 Recital Centre, Melbourne
31st March – Fly By Night, Freemantle

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More Artists Added to the 2012 WOMADelaide Lineup

November 22, 2011 at 13:58 (Festival News, News)
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The Barons of Tang
Image Courtesy of The Barons of Tang

After impressing us with a folk-heavy first round of artists WOMADelaide have done it again dropping their second announcement this afternoon. With the festival in its 20th year WOMADelaide is looking to it’s past bringing back some of its most popular acts as well as showcasing some exciting new talent.

Joining the likes of Eddi Reader, Sharon Shannon, Blue King Brown, First Aid Kit, The Pigram Brothers and The Bearded Gypsy Band next year will be The Barons of Tang (above), The Bombay Royale, Gurrumul, Jinja Safari, Shane Howard and many many more.

WOMADelaide is held from the 9th to the 12th March in Adelaide. The full lineup so far is below:

Staff Benda Bilili (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Tinariwen (Mali)
Gurrumul (Australia)
Jinja Safari (Australia)
Sharon Shannon Big Band (Ireland)
First Aid Kit (Sweden)
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (UK)
Chic (USA)
Chapelier Fou (France)
Blue King Brown (Australia)
Eddi Reader (Scotland)
Johnny Clegg (South Africa)
Dobet Gnahoré (Ivory Coast)
Penguin Café (UK)
Bonobo (UK)
Groundation (Jamaica/USA)
Grace Barbé (Seychelles/Australia)
Master Drummers of Burundi (Burundi)
Diego Guerrero y El Solar de Artistas (Spain)
DJ Krush (Japan)
The Barons of Tang (Australia)
Shane Howard (Australia)
Lo’Jo (France)
Shivkumar Sharma (India)
ponydance theatre company (Ireland)
Le Trio Joubran (Palestine)
Mahala Rai Banda (Romania)
Kimmo Pohjonen (Finland)
JUMPS (Australia)
The Pigram Brothers (Australia)
Nano Stern & the Sindicato (Chile)
Mo’Horizons (Germany)
Frigg (Finland/Norway)
La Voce Della Luna (Australia)
Melbourne Ska Orchestra (Australia)
Pascals (Japan)
Narasirato (Solomon Islands)
The Bombay Royale (Australia)
The Bearded Gypsy Band (Australia)
Jay Hoad Band (Australia/Fiji)

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Review: Womad Earth Station Festival, Belair National Park, SA

October 29, 2011 at 10:46 (Festivals, Opinion, Reviews)
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As a preamble in many of the articles we publish on Timber and Steel, we often feel the need to discuss the evolution of the folk music genre to provide some context, historically and culturally, for whatever artist or subject we mean to write about. After all, it’s very difficult to write generally about a genre which is so varied and dynamic. It occurred to me recently that the enduring nature of the genre and its propensity to be moulded and adapted could be at least partly attributed to the fact that it has been, and should continue to be a tool of the people. It’s common knowledge that folk music has been strongly affiliated with the progressive social movements of modern history. From civil rights, to labour rights, to peace; matters of fundamental ethics that good people know instinctively to be true and worth defending have been championed and circulated amongst the masses with the aid of folk music. Although there’s obviously a lot of problems with the world, it’s this writer’s humble opinion that the next unified and world-wide social movement will occur in reaction to the inevitable changes brought about by climate change, and again, I expect folk music will adapt and become a prominent tool of the movement. The power to motivate and inspire is by no means limited to folk music, and for this reason I am entirely grateful that organisations like Womad and Arts Projects Australia have the foresight to combine the realms of music and ideas festivals, both for people’s enjoyment and the common good of educating and empowering audiences as they’re entertained.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with music festivals for the past few years. Although Womadelaide continues to sparkle as the diamond in the South Australian rough, I’ve really been left with no other option than to stand myself disappointedly at the sidelines of festival franchises such as Big Day Out, Parklife, Future Music and an array of others as the festivals move further away from celebrations of art, innovation, talent and culture as the market unquestioningly binges upon whatever the industry puts on the table. As well as fulfilling all the essential criteria for a positive festival experience (plenty of clean toilets, enough food, lots of space, access/egress, free water, good transport, enough staff/security), Earth Station‘s focus on information and academic pursuit through it’s countless forums and panel discussions on topics such as global warming, population growth, environmental politics, renewable energy, the future of agriculture, sustainable business and development and environmental consumerism from some of the world’s leading academics, journalists, authors, researchers and professionals ensured that not only was the festival an incredibly inspiring and challenging experience, but it was also attended by a wonderful and enjoyable cross section of intelligent, curious and open-minded people. Even myself, that was predominantly there for the music originally, only found time to catch one or two performances all weekend as I found the conversations too engaging and exciting to miss. I’ve never experienced such a pleasant festival environment. The scenic nook of The Belair National Park that plays home to the festival is the most incredible environment for the purpose and you can see it written all over the international artists’ faces when they make their way out onto stage that they are just in awe of the scene.

However, in my opinion, the event could be accused of pigeon-holing itself amongst the “world music” audience, albeit understandably. It’s never easy for a festival to get a start. It can take years before word of mouth filters down to where it needs to, and Earth Station Festival obviously looked to take advantage of the fact that many South Australians already have a deep love for Womadelaide festival and programmed the music and procured markets and decorations that would entice that already strong and active existing market. As you would expect, that targeted Womadelaide audience is typically comprised of an already very environmentally conscious faction of the community. Whilst I can understand that Earth Station Festival is as much about motivating people that are already well informed to take action and planting ideas of how one can go about making a difference, at times I got the feeling that the speakers were preaching to the converted. In the future, as Earth Station grows its roots, I’d like to see the music programme diversify and broaden its catchment areas to encourage different communities to get involved. For a movement that seeks to engage the younger generations and whose focus is on the people that are breaking new ground for sustainability in communities, business and science, surely the music programme needs to gradually move towards echoing that and featuring the most talented and progressive artists that are, in the same way, breaking new ground in the world of music and making waves because of it. The Tallest Man On Earth, who was no doubt the artist on the bill with the most wide-spanning youth appeal had the best crowd of the festival and the last day of the three on which he was programmed was by far the busiest. Whilst it will always be worth while broadening an audience’s horizons with fantastic music from other cultures, this festival has the opportunity to engage a much wider audience in the future if its music programme would move only slightly further into the contemporary and reactive direction.

Over the last month, South Australia has been privy to The Adelaide Festival of Ideas, The Festival of Unpopular Culture, and now with Earth Station Festival thrown in the mix, its been a wonderfully empowering and thought-provoking time to be a South Australian (with free time) over the past few weeks. Furthermore, the positive reaction to these “ideas festivals” tells me we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future.

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WOMADelaide Review: Adam Page

March 18, 2011 at 15:34 (Artist Profiles, Gigs, Reviews)
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Image courtesy of  Adam Page

Adam Page

Monday- Moreton Bay Stage

Adam Page is no great secret in Adelaide; he’s a local legend. His beard isn’t the only thing that defies belief. New audiences often find themselves dumbfounded by the sheer range of instruments he’s able to  utilise so masterfully.

Adam Page is a looper- a musician who uses live loop recordings to build layers of sound into a composition. The technique is a fine art, and very few artists can actually do it well. For Adam Page, I’m sure that learning to loop was really the only viable option he had if he wanted to get the chance to play all the instruments he’d learned to wield in front of an audience.

Adam looked like a jubilant child as he made his way onto the Womadelaide Moreton Bay Stage on Monday afternoon, and who could blame him. Womad is the festival that inspires local musicians to reach their potential. As a man that learnt his craft in Adelaide, you could see it written all over Adam‘s face that his dreams were coming true right before his eyes. Adam‘s weapon of choice is no doubt the saxophone, but he is more than proficient in an arsenal of others including clarinets, flutes, ukuleles, bass ukuleles, keys, throat singing, hand percussion, glockenspiels, banjos, melodicas, vocal percussion, and even his beard to the extent that his music is so ridiculously empowered with possibility that he can literally create compositions that fall into any genre. His Womadelaide set ranged from Calypso to Ska to Folk to Jazz to Funk- and went down remarkably well with the large, seated audience. It was fantastic to watch this musician, who has really put in the hard yards to perfect his art, finally get the chance to perform on the grand stage he so thoroughly deserves instead of the front bar at The Exeter. In saying that, you just know that two of Adam’s most valuable assets, his character and charisma, have grown from sheer life experience, which I’m sure includes a large chunk of playing in pubs and bars.

Adam will soon be moving to New Zealand. May I say on behalf of Adelaide- good luck, your music and overall presence will be missed, and please come back to Womadelaide next year.

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WOMADelaide: A Wrap-Up

March 17, 2011 at 14:45 (Festivals, Reviews)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

WOMADelaide
Image Courtesy of Kieran Ellis-Jones @ Life in Colour

At the risk of descending into cliche it appears the adage is true: all good things must come to an end. It feels like only yesterday that we were convincing the security guard that we were indeed media and that we had been invited to the pre-WOMADelaide media conference (don’t worry, we made it). But we’ve danced and laughed our way through four of the best days of music a folk or world fan could want and despite it only being 3 days after WOMADelaide finished we’re already planning our assault on next year.

By now you’ve probably read all of the WOMADelaide interviews and reviews (and if you haven’t click here to get yourself up to speed). We haven’t really covered the festival as a whole but that can be summed up very easily: Awesome. From the venue (with its trees – yes a festival with trees!), to the atmosphere (kids free = family friendly vibe) to the lineup to the organisation of the event everything was top notch. A few of the “big city” festivals could learn a lot from WOMADelaide.

We also thought we’d share some highlights with you that haven’t made our coverage thus far:

  • Adam Page dedicating a song to a friend in the audience, “James Brown”, only for two men to wave and take credit. The two men then made their way through the crowd, like the finale of Crocodile Dundee in the New York subway, shared a hug, and sat down to watch the gig together – only for a third, probably 11 year old James Brown to stand up who then did the same while the crowd chanted “James Brown, James Brown, James Brown!”
  • Asa’s chilled out, intimate acoustic set at Speaker’s Corner only a day after blowing the metaphorical roof off the main stage with her full band
  • A series of covers: Féfé (above) covering Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman” on the shoulders of the biggest man he could find out in the crowd of Stage 2 on Monday night. Space Invadas covering The Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” to close their set on Monday night. Ash Grunwald covering and sampling The Blind Boys of Alabama. Luka Bloom covering “Throw Your Arms Around Me” by Hunters & Collectors in his typical Irish style of ballad. Angus and Julia Stone doing their sublime version of “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease. Martha Wainwright covering Edith Piaf in perfect French diction.
  • Sitting in the media centre writing reviews only to be witness to a group of Papua New Guinean dancers in full ceremonial get up performing an impromptu routine for a crowd of about eight.
  • Archie Roach’s story before he played the song “Weeping in the Forest” literally had the audience in tears before the song began.
  • The “interesting” dance moves being performed at Afro Celt Sound System’s Speaker’s Corner workshop.
  • Witnessing the crowd for Joanna Newsom deciding en mass that the show would be a sit down only gig despite not being advertised as such. Meant we had a better view of the bugs flying into her face and hair.
  • Waiting for Dereb The Ambassador near the Moreton Bay Stage, ready to shoot a session, and seeing the seven piece appear on the horizon overflowing from a slow-moving golf buggy.
  • Byron Bay Organic Donuts. Need we say more?

A big thank you has to go out to the organisers of WOMADelaide for making it such a wonderful festival. We’re looking forward to the festival next year with WOMADelaide hitting it’s 20th anniversary.

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