Live Review: WOMADelaide 2018 - Day Two

The second day of WOMADelaide was welcomed in by gloriously bright sunshine, an undeniable treat for keen festival-goers who arrived early for a pre-boogie yoga session.

However, the sunshine quickly transformed from pleasant to relentless, turning the parklands into a dry dustbowl filled with a sea of sunburnt shoulders. Saturday was visited by a greater variety of punters than Friday night, which had been somewhat monopolised by older fans in fanny packs and sandals. 

Freed from the shackles of the working week, Saturday’s patrons were determined to let their freak flags fly, flocking together in a beautifully chaotic display of glitter face paint, psychedelic tie-dye and loose Thai fishermen pants.

Scottish quintet The Elephant Sessions were first on the agenda. The band embodies the experimental spirit that makes WOMADelaide so unique, using their traditional folk instruments to play an eclectic, upbeat mix of rock, funk and electronica. Their bright, clean chords helped shake out all the exhaustion from the crowd, many of which were repeat visitors from the night before. The song Wet Field Day was a particular crowd pleaser, encouraging even the most hungover of patrons to hop back on their feet.

Feeling re-energised, the next stop was the Foundation Stage, where Chilean supergroup Chico Trujillo were amping up the crowd for a day of non-stop partying. A bombastic mix of relentless ska horns and rumba rhythms, the nine-piece had a playful onstage presence that enchanted the whole crowd. Not a single person watching could stop their hips from shaking, as the potent cocktail of bolero beats invoked the irresistible urge to dance.

In urgent need of some cooling down time, we headed to the Novatech Stage to catch a soulful, sombre set from Melbourne singer-songwriter Didirri. Punters reclined peacefully under the canopies of trees as the singer strummed achingly poignant melodies, watching the local flying foxes glided over the stage.

Much of Didirri’s strength as a performer comes from the raw emotion he puts into his songs, most noticeable in his more melancholy offerings like Jude and Formaldehyde. While the artist seemed a little too eager to impart wisdom about his recent break-up, his onstage banter was undeniably charming and filled with moments of genuine insight.

We took a moment to swing by the Zoo Stage to enjoy the nomadic folk stylings of USA’s Bedouin. The Syrian singer-songwriter’s music was the perfect picture of '60s flower child nostalgia, bringing to mind the softer offerings of folk icons like Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell. The combination of her sweet, drawling voice over gentle acoustic guitar acted like a lullaby, lulling punters into a soporific state as the heat of the day finally began to pass.

We then journeyed to Stage Two to witness the irrepressible raw energy of Ghanaian performance artist Jojo Abot. Accompanied by dancers draped in red and yellow scarves, Jojo invoked an atmosphere of togetherness in the crowd, delivered beautifully through waves of soulful electronica.

She commanded the stage like a boss, pausing to remark that one day, “the oppressed will rise and take over the whole world”. Invoking a heartfelt call-and-response from the audience for the track To Li, Jojo encouraged friends and strangers alike to embrace each other, reminding the crowd of the importance of finding love and beauty in all that surrounds them.

After a short break, it was time to head back to Foundation Stage for an otherworldly aerial burlesque performance from French circus superstars Gratte Ciel. The piece, named simply “Places des Anges”, filled the audience with childlike glee as they witnessed angelic acrobats playing effortlessly on highwires, transforming the night’s sky into their stage.

Taking some time to veer away from the larger stages, we found ourselves grooving along to the hypnotic, grinding beats of Melbourne and Istanbul collective Bashka. An impressive fusion of old world and new world instruments, their performance added a depth and darkness to the festival that cut through its raucous, carnival vibes. Losing ourselves in the looping horn section and drums, we danced manically until the end of the set, utterly bewitched by the music’s juxtaposition of the modern and the mystical.

For an explosive end to the day, we settled in to watch New York City’s monolithic gypsy rockers Gogol Bordello take over Foundation Stage. A particularly unique headliner, the band combines traditional Eastern European musical influences with the frenzied energy of old school thrash punk.

The raw, rasping vocals of frontman Eugene Hutz compelled every member of the crowd to kick up their heels, as the front rows quickly dissolved into a thrashing pit of knees, elbows and kicked-up dust. By the time the band settled into a particularly woozy rendition of Alcohol, the whole crowd had their hands in the air, ready to polka until their knees gave out.

Ending on the unruly, drunken strains of Start Wearing Purple, the band left an entire audience collapsed, disoriented and covered in sweat- a perfect end to a day filled with wonder, whimsy and debauchery.