WOMADelaide @ Botanic Park, Adelaide 8/3/2024
Searing vocal harmonies fill every corner of Adelaide’s Botanic Park as Ukrainian folk quartet DakhaBrakha open up proceedings at the Foundation Stage for what is the thirty second year of the WOMADelaide festival. No strangers to the WOMAD stage, their thumping, synchronous percussion interlaced with haunting cello, delicate keyboards and piano accordion get the crowd to their feet and dancing early, as their powerful set takes place in front of a backdrop of probing and often political imagery.
A healthy crowd is gathered at the Frome Park stage for Melbourne’s Folk Bitch Trio (plus band of three, but who’s counting!). The beautiful harmonies of Gracie Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington and Heide Peverelle saturate the tent as their set of elegant and dreamy folk-pop, akin to the likes of First Aid Kit and Laura Marling, gently ushers onlookers to relax into their Friday evenings.
At Stage 2, the crowd is working up a healthy sweat boogying to Amsterdam’s Mauskovic Dance Band. The Dutch collective meld wild Afro-Caribbean and Cumbia rhythms with hints of psychedelia to produce dancefloor fillers that could last well into tomorrow morning. Allowing space for each individual member to shine, there’s slap bass solos, synths, samples, and a multitude of percussion instruments that employ a persistent rhythm from start to finish – with no shortage of cowbell to go around.
It’s a much more soulful affair at the Moreton Bay stage as Brisbane’s Dean Brady and his fantastic live ensemble entertain an enthusiastic crowd with an elegant mix of R’n’B. Brady’s cover of Maxwell’s hit Ascenion sparks the deep 90’s memory of many of the older watchers-on, while his song Falling is met with screeches from the younger contingent at the front (which may, or may not, coincide with him losing his shirt – it is a hot evening after all).
Did someone say more energy? Look no further than Dubioza Kolektiv to turn the tempo up to eleven. Dressed in matching yellow-black baseball uniforms, the seven lads from Bosnia don’t disappoint as they bring their unique style of high-energy Balkan ska-dub-punk to the Foundation Stage. Incorporating lashings of electro beats, sax solos and thunderous percussion, combined with the dual vocals of Almir Hasanbegović and Adis Zvekić, they have the crowd in the palm of their hand working through a pulsating set featuring Free.Mp3, USA, and Kazu. As the sun sets, even the flying foxes soaring above enjoy their own sky-high circle-pit.
With so much talent from across the world in one place, it’s lovely to see local talent like Erin Buku slot right into lineup and kick it with the best of them. The Adelaide-based singer, songwriter, producer and DJ plays a beautiful set of neo soul and R’n’B, intertwined with softer moments of indie chill-pop to the Frome Park stage crowd. Supported in tow by a multi-instrumental band featuring muted trumpet, flute, Roland keys, guitar, bass and fragile DJ beats, Buku lays it all out there with her ethereal vocals on tracks like The Way and Only One Me from her new LP Self Titled.
Staten Island’s The Budos Band are fine cocktail of upbeat funk, rock, psychedelia and afro-soul – and the soundtrack to the car-chase of the 70’s cop movie you didn’t even know you were in. Opening with the unmistakable riff of Old Engine Oil the eight piece band pummel the Stage 2 audience with a horn-heavy set featuring …Adeniji, Chicago Falcon, Up From the South, and Black Venom – which they dedicate to all the snakes in Australia.
A juggernaut of a live band, they provide the irresistible urge for WOMAD to dance as guitarist Thomas Brenneck rips Zeppelin-style riffs and Hendrix-style solos to the sounds of congas, a Roland VK-7 organ, all while the undeniable groove of drummer Robert “Bobby” Lombardo sets it all into place.
The thumping bass can be heard from miles away as DJ Debmaster fills the sweltering tent at the Frome Park stage with an enormous trap beat making a mass of heads nod and arms wave. Kenyan-Ugandan rapper MC Yallah strolls across the stage spitting rap rhymes in what seems like a million words per minute, her unique lyrical style, which is smooth but intense, flows naturally as she twists a combination of East African languages with English throughout her verses.
At the Foundation Stage, UK singer-songwriter sensation Corinne Bailey Rae treats the crowd to a diverse collection of songs from across her almost twenty year career. Playing songs from her new album Black Rainbows, including the M.I.A/Le Tigre-esk New York Transit Queen and Earthlings, it’s a lively set of rocking jams interspersed with soulful contemporary R’n’B. Her gentle, angelic voice and bubbly demeanour endears her to the last of the Friday night crowd. Her 2006 hit, Put Your Records On is a beautiful moment with friends, families and strangers all gleefully swaying and singing together.
As kids sleep on the grass and the crowd slowly begins to filter out of Botanic Park, there’s a formidable assemblage of partyers at Stage 7 keen to keep the Friday night revelry in motion. DJ Koco AKA Shimokita is more than happy to provide the soundtrack too, as the Japanese superstar DJ infuses hip-hop, 80’s dance, disco and whatever else he unearths from his from his exclusively 7-inch vinyl collection into his set. It’s a delightfully upbeat vibe, a demonstration of why he’s one of Japan’s most sought after DJs. His set is a fitting end to the high-calibre entertainment of the first night of WOMAD 2024.
WOMAD Review By Matt Eygenraam