Was a brilliant day yesterday. Took it fairly easy through the afternoon knowing what was to come in the evening. The Italian group Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino were very good, saw La Dame Blanche, then listened to a bit of Dona Onete while having a bite to eat and a beer. But then it got serious.
Another great set from the Amsterdam based blues, funk trio My Baby (the guitarist is a Kiwi).
Then got a good spot by the main stage for Shantel and much jumping around and singing Tsiganizatsia tsiganizatsia, Disko disko partizani! Good times. Shantel (German Stefan Hantel) does like to get the crowd involved.
Then quickly to the Novatech stage very much against the flow of traffic. Looked liked everyone was keen to see The Bamboos and later the Original Gypsy Kings which I am sure would have been good but I had my agenda set.
Another enjoyable time was had with LaBrassBanda, so in fact 2 quite different German based brass bands. LaBrassBanda are mostly Bavarian though the bass player is Austrian and the drummer Dutch. Good playing and a very good sense of humour - doing polka, yoga Bavarian style. Amusing doing the "Soul train shuffle" though that did create quite a bit of dust.
Finally then to the pavilion in the park nearby which was mostly used for speakers over the weekend, now with most of the chairs cleared out. Got up front for DuOud - 2 guys playing Oud - An Algerian and a Tunisian. I had seen Mehdi Haddab here a few years ago with Speed Caravan which I really liked. Now though together again with Smadj who has added electronics to the mix which ramps it right up. Was loving it. Then a few other people turned up next to me up front namely Shantel and the sax and trumpet players from his group. Another aspect of Womad I love. DuOud then played their new piece 'Get Sexy, get Mad''. It got pretty wild in the Get Mad part. Shook Shantels hand as he was leaving. Womadelaide are generally pretty strict with their timing, to ensure everything runs on time which they almost always achieve. This time though at almost the very end it was a bit annoying. No one wanted to stop, so the stage manager had to almost literally pull the plug and cut the power. There was a final DJ set nearby which I wasn't really interested in, so after a bit of rest reflecting on the night I called it quits.
Have always been reluctant to call any of the previous 20 Womads the best. Far to judge as a whole, but in this case for me personally this one was. Everyone has different experiences and when I see some of the reviews you wonder if they were at the same festival. Plenty of big acts that I didn't see that I am sure would have been good also.
Till next year.
The good thing this time though is that I don't have the thought of having to return to the real world by going straight back to work.
