a psychedelic take on cambodian pop sounds of the 1960's
so read the program for this act appearing on stage 3 saturday afternoon
this band formed by a couple of americans specifically to impress in cambodia
but here they are at womadelaide presumably looking for a wider audience
for me sometimes it's a matter of taking a punt on something a bit off centre
the schedule such that there are gaps between more desirable performances
my experience is such that the unknown ones are sometimes the best
a small-ish crowd in front of stage - many more under shade of trees
an interesting introduction from stage 3 m c mr lucky oceans
telling us that we are about to witness another first for womadelaide
then deflating most of the expectation by using the word cheesy
hardly complimentary i would have thought but we decide to go with it
an interesting mix of musicians on stage for this band
most striking was a tall imposing bass player and hirsute guitarist
on saxophone a geezer looking chap with a pork-pie hat
keyboardist and drummer at the rear of the stage
and a stunning diminutive figure in pink up front
another case of a odd mixture of races, genders, styles
but happy to go with that on this day in this place - the mind is open
as they crank into action it becomes clear why mr m c used the word cheesy
it's pop, it's world, it's rock but mostly it seems to be all for fun
you only call me when i'm drunk - i can tell by your voice
it's the only time that you open up to me and tell me you love me
or something like that - all very much tongue in cheek stuff
there's a real sixties sounding organ at work adding to the flavour
i quite like it taking it purely as intended - a bit of fun
which admittedly made it quite unusual in this serious place
serious in the sense of the music delivered by other performers
i'm not so sure the crowd in attendance really got it
a lot of earnest looking people do some symbolic head-scratching
but the band ignored that and continued to churn them out
a mixture of english and cambodian lyrics mixed in also
apparantly they have hit the target in their chosen country
they may not rate this performance as a crowd pleaser
mainly because of the small number in attendance
but full points to them for a fun/serious show
all good fun really - nothing wrong with that
