![]() The lights around the squares flick on and off throughout, illuminating the 33 panel grid in Tetris-like formations, each with its own musical arrangement. ![]() Slowly it begins with the Rajasthani ensemble pulling back the curtains on their own squares to reveal singers, strings or percussion played in a methodical, and entrancing manner. Where Classroom was tied together by the narrative string of school children learning and performing their parts in the show, Seduction is supported by its towering grid artifice, hemmed by red curtains and dotted by light bulbs. For those who saw The Manganiyar Classroom perform in 2017, this Seduction proves a reasonably different show. The Manganiyar Seduction kicks off immediately after Nai Palm, and a swelling seated audience fill Frome Park to watch the first of their nightly performances. Nai Palm makes light of that darkness, thanking the crowd for watching her set “featuring 70,000 bats” and appreciates their own musical talent of echolocation. Photo: AK PhotographyĪs with just about any performer on the Novatech Stage, the overhanging bats are a curious, if not vaguely threatening and noisy novelty. The sun has set, but the warmth still lingers for the crowd, which is talkative as Nai Palm plays a harmonious and soulful performance. Melbourne’s Nai Palm assumes control of the Novatech Stage just a few minutes before Shankar finishes. The festival organisers are strict on performance time, Shankar laments, but the band powers through their final three songs, with the last rising to a speedy and satisfyingly cathartic finish. ![]() It’s a diverse collection of tunes, with the audience guided through low tempo, meditative songs and into faster contemporary work, satisfying both those down on the grass and the up-front crowd who are very ready to dance. The set comes from her latest album, Land of Gold, written in response to the plight of the world’s refugees, displaying her classical capacity with the sitar as well as more experimental, electronic pieces. While Ravi’s performance in 2010 had a reverent feel to it, with the crowd mostly seated, even shooshing one another throughout his performance, Anoushka’s is evenly divided between sitters and standers. Many are preparing for one of the festival’s marquee performers with her own special connection to WOMADelaide from almost a decade ago.Īnoushka Shankar arrives on the Foundation Stage seven years after appearing in a feted performance with her late father Ravi, and she finds a large crowd ready to hear more. More punters roll into the park, while others grab an evening meal, discovering WOMADelaide’s new waste-preventing initiative of drinks supplied almost exclusively in hardy plastics cups and water bottles, purchased via deposit. A freewheeling trombone solo particularly sets the crowd alight in this raucous opening performance. Rolling through a wide variety of styles that mirror Brazil’s own cultural diversity, there are touches of big band funk, guitar-driven psychedelia and electronic noodling here along with deep horn-based grooves. The Brazilian crew hailing from Sao Paulo bring a boisterous set, getting the crowd bopping, clapping and waving throughout on Botanic Park’s still-green grass. On the Foundation Stage Bixiga 70 then blasts into life. It’s a smattering crowd at first, with interstate visitors having slipped through the gates early, and Adelaide’s most eager attendees have knocked off work early to make the first performances. A yidaki is played, and Goldsmith pays homage to the Yolngu people from whence it came, as well as the Kaurna, their ancestors and spirits. Jamie Goldsmith continues the family tradition of opening the festival with a rousing Welcome to Country from a troupe including Uncle Brian Goldsmith, Jack Buckskin and the Taikurtinna dancers. WOMADelaide kicks off in the sunny balm of a Friday afternoon for yet another year of international culture and sound.
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