Friday 7 March 2008

Womadelaide.. UPDATED!

last few paragraphs are the updated sections

Well I didn't think I'd be blogging again any time soon! But then my mum bought me a ticket to Womad.. and here I am, blogging! There's a lot I could say about Womadelaide, and knowing me I'll forget to mention some of it. Basically Womad blew my mind, it is soooo good!! There's not 1 single thing which is better than something else, instead everything culminates to an amazing experience. Having said that there are actually a few things which stand out, detached from the music, culture and culinary delights. It seems like in order to attend Womad you need to do one of the following; sit or lay down for a while and get up with a grassy bum (I did this one on purpose), walk around bare foot to get 'womad feet' (..again, on purpose), wear Thai fisherman pants (even though you probably havn't been to Thailand and don't wear them any other time) and wear something on your head which at any other time would be fairly unsuitable.


I wish I had gone to previous years at Womad, I had always been interest but never said anything about it. And since I wont be here for some time I accepted my mum's offer. I was overwhelmed at first when walking through the huge decorative Angus Watt Flags (http://www.anguswatt.net/), I walked around for a bit and sat down to drink some chai and soak everything in. It was great; you could be a full on raging weirdo and no one would care, furthermore.. you'd fit right in!


I met up with my mum for dinner and had some funky Moroccan food which I had to eat with a wooden spork. I gracefully left her and her friends and meandered my way through the crowds and arty installations and ended up at stage 3 watching Beirut (awesome band) until around 8:20pm and then left to see the John Butler Trio. I sat through 2 songs and felt the need to keep walking, which I'm very glad I did as I ended up watching the La Compagnie Carabosse (a French ensemble creating spectacular flaming sculptures made up of hundreds of candle pots) light all of the candles, very surreal and amazing!


The only downside of Womad is the amount of dust in the air, you have no option but to breathe it in and after a while you'll have breathing problems. Those with asthma will know exactly what I mean. Anyway, I bumped into my friend Harry at the Holy Cow Chai Tent, we relaxed there and then watched this DJ's from the UK, got bored, and ended up at the Zoo Stage. I left Harry and bumped into my friend David, and then the 2 of us went back to the Zoo Stage to watch Watussi, this amazing funky band. I find it strange how I only bumped into people I knew once the sun had gone down, when visibility was at its lowest. Watussi's vibe was so good I ended up dancing somewhat, taking comfort in seeing much much older people also getting their groove on. I guess.. when in Rome!

I feel so lucky having been able to go to Womad on the Friday, but going for a second time on Sunday (the last day) made me feel even luckier. I was more organised on the Sunday and soon as I got through the gates I went straght to the Moreton Bay stage to enjoy Mojo Webb's energy-packed blues/roots music. This stage is shaded by the huge Moreton Bay trees, creating the feeling of a secluded forest clearing with a tiny stage. One moment Mojo Webb was rocking out on stage with his band, and the next he was running through the crowd (still playing a guitar). I ended up standing and dancing as everyone around me did it too. I found out quickly that letting loose is mandatory at Womadelaide!

About half-way through Mojo Webb's set I left met up with my good friend Shaun & his girlfriend Laura at Stage 3 to watch The Beautiful Girls, was pretty cool. Shortly after this Shaun and I went to the food area to kill some time and get some cider, then by chance my friend David walked past and stopped right in front of us! David, his gf, and their friends sat down with us and we all relaxed there on the grass. Around 8;30 we left there to see Sharon and the Dap Kings at stage 3, without knowing they moved to Stage 1, so we accidentally saw Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra instead, woops :)

Next on the list was Mista Savona (roots reggae meets dancehall music) at the Zoo Stage. Everyone was up and dancing, the vibe was amazing!! David put me on his shoulders and for a while I was up there groovin' and recording the band + crowd on my camera (video is on facebook). This was really the last band I watched, and was the last band at that stage. By now it was around 11:30, and we all went to the Holy Cow Chai Tent to chill out on the rugs and drink some iced chai. My friend Harry met up with us in there soon after and that was pretty sweet too. Overall I had a very good weekend, Womadelaide is amazing and I'm going to miss being here for it next year, although.. Womad is world-wide and is also held in England so perhaps I'll attend over there! :)

For more pictures make sure you check out my Picasa gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/melodywoop
Photos:
  1. Moreton Bay stage
  2. Angus Wat Flags
  3. La Compagnie Carabosse
  4. Mojo Webb
  5. Shaun and I at Beautiful Girls
  6. Shaun and I getting cider
  7. Mista Savona

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