womad (adelaide)

the countdown has begun to womadelaide
womad - world of music and dance
peter gabriel dreamed up the concept
and impressively and thankfully converted dream to reality
adelaide hosts the first womad event for the year
closely followed by an event in new zealand
there is one in spain in may of each year
ditto in on the italian island of sicily in july
2 in the uk in the same month
singapore hosts womad in august
and finally the canary islands are hosts in november
my first womad experience was in 2001 in womadelaide
heaven on earth for this music junkie
so a promise was made to myself at that event
come back every year no matter what
so far so good and i never, ever regret that pact
it used to be a bi-annual event
so as to not clash with the also bi-annual adelaide arts festival
but in 2003 popular demand made it an annual event
so every second year adelaide is oozing with events and people
2008 is a year when both events are on
so for 2 weeks there's comedy, theatre, street performances
buskers, fringe theatre, talks, exhibitions
and music, music and more music in various formats
womadelaide is a 3 day event this year from march 7-9
it all kicks off on friday evening in the botannical gardens
i love the feeling of walking through the gates for the first time
a sort of 'home again' feeling comes over me
and then time slows right down for another 2 glorious days
i usually stay at the classic austral hotel in the middle of the city
there's a lot of history attached to this place i'm told
the downstairs bar has hosted many bands over the years
the ultra-basic accomodation upstairs is entirely adequate
providing all that is necessary over the weekend
a room with a bed and a common bathroom
there are cafes galore downstairs in rundle street
and it's an easy 10 minutes stroll to the womad site
the organisers to their credit stick to a successful format
so really every year it's the same except for the performers
though in one sense even they are the same
there's always 1 or 2 big names that are at least known of
and then any number of unknown overseas performers
filled out with an equal number of local groups
that typically have a roots, acoustic, jazz or folk based element
john butler trio have performed (pre mega fame days)
similarly the cat empire before they became a hot item
for me it's the middle ground that i zone in on
the unheard overseas acts that can knockout
they are there because they have been invited
they have been invited because they deliver
they are stage and crowd savvy
and have perfected a faultless set of music
there's countless examples of such performers
and just for my own indulgence
i'm going to document them in this blog
as a completely separate exercise
but for now think 2008
cesaria evora is the star
9 weeks and counting
can't wait