The World In A Day
For a number of years WOMAD festival was my ‘calm before the storm’ - the last stop before going onsite for Boomtown. A relatively easy ride but with excessive amounts of nourishing and inspirational music. Often I would take notes on who to look at bringing in for Boomtown the next year. I remember booking BCUC literally seconds after watching them at the Siam Tent, but I’ve found many other favourites there over the years.
This year I’ve opted for only a few smaller festivals, and it’s my first season without alcohol. However I got a last minute WOMAD pass and decided to pop in for one day only, and I’m so glad I did, as is always the case I saw some of the best bands in the world from my short stay.
Dutty Moonshine Big Band kicked off proceedings at the Open Air stage, their very first WOMAD gig, and the band leader Mike made no secret of how special it was for him in particular, having grown up going to the festival, and playing it many times as a DJ. The field was packed out for them and as always they absolutely rocked it. Lots of new tunes I’d not heard before and for the first time I caught Mike actually rapping! They even brought out super soul singer Greg Blackman to perform their new single ‘Eveybody’s Talking’ from their forthcoming album, ‘Villain’.
Due to WOMAD’s manageable size and minimal overlap of acts, I got to see healthy chunks of many other bands throughout the day, from Peruvian Cumbia legends Los Wembler's de Iquitos to Korean Post Punk Pansori Pop group (say that 5 times fast) Leenalchi, and from Rajhastani Sufi group the Amrat Hussain Brothers Trio back to Peru again for the indomitable triple Latin Grammy winner Susana Baca. As always the quality of music on offer is second to none.
Many acts at WOMAD carry stories of triumph over adversity. In the UK we seem to love hearing uplifting music born from tragic situations. Whilst this is not the time to unpack that, one act who certainly weren’t going to play that game were Dakh Daughters. Their avant-garde cabaret (think Voltaire, not Butlins) influenced music has always been rather dark but with the horrors of war that have ravaged their Ukrainian homeland, there was an increased bleak intensity to their performance, leading to one of the most powerful expressions of grief and frustration I’ve seen. Unfortunately it was a little too much for those of the group who had been out partying til late, so we opted for the ever uplifting sounds of Ibibio Sound Machine for the second half of the hour, which is never going to be a bad move. They remain just as exciting and entertaining as when I first saw them at Big Love in 2016.
Highlight of the day had to be Queen Omega & The Royal Souls. The Trinidadian powerhouse is a serious force to be reckoned with, and her royalty is unquestionable. I had booked her for Boomtown last year and she was one of my highlights then. Holding the stage with presence and an almighty voice that flowed from reggae to soul to gospel to dancehall, she delivered tracks from her recent Freedom Legacy album as well as live interpretations of her Manudigital and Little Lion Sound collaborations. If you happen to be at Boomtown next week then please do go and see her on the Grand Central stage.
I finished off the day with Mokoomba, one of my favourite Mailian acts of the last decade. They’ve come such a long way since the first time I saw them as part of Damon Albarn’s Africa Express, I was quite surprised at how many people I spoke to over the day hadn’t heard of them before as they’ve played Boomtown a couple of times and even the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. They’ve lost none of their edge, although they've definitely matured. I’m yet to dive into their new album Tuson: Tracings In The Sand but I might just do that right now! I suggest you do the same.
