Checking the BOM site on Saturday night it appeared the weather forecast had been updated from fine to a few showers. It was a last minute decision to take a raincoat and an umbrella although as it turned out it was merely a few spots of rain that fell on Sunday and they were quite refreshing.
Got to Botanic park fairly early and caught the Yabu band who but on a pretty solid performance. Next up was Calypso Rose on the main stage. Despite her being in her 70s and she reminded us of that a few times she was still pretty spritely and entertained the crowd. There were a few notes she struggled with during the performance but given her age it’s not that surprising and no one will hold that against her. I moved across to stage 3 to see Archie Roach. The three performers on stage were Archie, his son and his nephew and then there was the empty chair on stage signifying his recent loss. Archie himself was quite emotional and really opened up to the crowd and there more than a few people in the audience who were wiping away tears.
Heading back towards stage one I heard the familiar sound from a few days before of Amadou and Mariam and caught the end of their workshop on the Moreton bay stage. On stage 1 next was Os Mutantes whose dress sense was very 1960s/1970s. They played an entertaining mix/style of easy to listen tunes. The parade was up next with all the colour and movement that regular Womad audience come to expect from the participants and in particular the kids. Although seeing Whitireia Performing arts on Friday I decided to watch them again as they had finally got hold of all their costumes and props which had been delayed in transit on their other performance. They manage to really mix up some of the Maori singing and dancing morphing from quite an aggressive “angry” chant to soothing melodic rhythms.
Dereb the Ambassador was next up and I only caught the tail end of his show but it was enough for me to wish I’d seen more. There will always be clashes though and sometimes you just cant fit everything in. Joanna Newsom was next. It was pretty hard to get any decent photo of her due to the piano and Harp being at the rear of the stage and every photographer in the pit vying for the only spot you get a clearish shot. There is NO video of Joannas performance either as her management decreed that none shall be taken.
I’d heard a lot of good comments about Dub Marine, a Brisbane outfit so I left Joanna Newsom hot footed it across to the Zoo stage to catch the end of their set which was the last time they played at Womad. The crowd was quite pumped and being on the zoo stage meant no decent photo access, so it was a case of holding the camera overhead and using Live view for a few photos. Onwards next to see Sidestepper who were another one of my highlights with 3 vocalists up front and a solid percussion behind them, sidestepper had the crowd moving from the start to the end of their set.
I wanted to see Luka Bloom as Sunday night was his only performance and it clashed with Afro Celt for whom also it was their only performance. I chose Afro Celt due to the higher likelyhood of some great photos and a Photography pit at stage 1 whilst nothing at all for Zoo stage. Afro Celt were next and after acknowledging the boost they got to their profile after their original Womad performance some 10 years ago fired up that formula to get the crowd dancing. Infectious rhythms, lots of percussion mixed with some synth kept the crowd moving until the end of their set. Before the night was over though I had to check out The Necks whom I had heard a lot about. Their performances are completely unrehearsed so anything can happen. After about 30 minutes though and a long day with another full day ahead I pulled the plug on seeing their full set and headed home to transfer the days images/ recharge the camera batteries and my own batteries. Just one more day left.
LINK to FULL Gallery for Sunday -> CLICK HERE
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