Live Review: WOMADelaide Day One

2017 marks the 25th anniversary of WOMAD. It's an accomplishment that requires a certain level of adoration from their audience and despite the competition from Fringe, Clipsal and Adelaide Festival, the event's influence continues to grow seamlessly each year.

So where does one start? Any aficionado looking to take in everything on offer right from the (very) early beginning of day one might be driven mad. One had to ease into a day that would become blissfully overwhelming at every turn and, thankfully, Warsaw Village Band made it easy by demanding South Australia's attention near instantaneously. For a group billed at such an early point of the festival they had an irresistible formula. Violins and xylophone wed with open pagan spirituality transfixed the morning crowds, who were quick to fall under the sway of an outfit clearly deserving global recognition. To call it an "awakening" would be an understatement; WOMAD was well and truly underway.

Ana Tijoux broke the WVB's spell with pure volume, blending ska, jazz, mariachi soul, hip hop and funk effortlessly. Adelaide quickly became vivid and frenzied and the reaction was more than deserved. Tijoux gracefully revealed her motivation as one of equality and understanding and another pillar of artistic excellence landed easily and gracefully into WOMAD's lap so early in the day.

Gawurra's progressive folk is pure elegance; in all capacities the showcase he exhibited was memorable to say the least. Continue your dream Gawurra, life implores you, as does Australian music.

It is easy to forget one of the vital facets of WOMADelaide - the culinary delights. This scribe indulged in an okonomiyaki pancake from Kokochi street vendors; an unbelievable savoury pancake filled with calamari that gratified with every bite. The flavours didn't stop there by any means: the entire festival is adventure in culinary delight. Craving Coffin Bay oysters and a Coopers' Pale Ale? Or a Yemen Malawach plate paired with a glass of Yalumba Savignon Blanc? These treasures (and more) were literally a step away.

New Orleans is historically a hot pot of musical and cultural output, the two rarely separate along that stretch of the Big Muddy, and The Hot 8 Brass Band are all that and more. The only comparison this writer had to such a prosperous posse was acclaimed artists The Roots. The brass band delivered a hybrid of street culture, hip hop and jazz with an intensity that had to be witnessed to be believed. At one point they threw in a sample of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, the eight-piece joining the audience at ground level. Thing accelerated to an inconceivable degree with a cover of Sexual Healing, gospel-like in its delivery by the brass legends. Bewildered? Assuredly. That's the only description for this occurrence. Actually netting The Hot 8 Brass Band experience with just a pen and a pad is near impossible.

Unbelievably, this year there was a display of flaming terracotta pots couched in black metal frames that ranged from concentric, rotating rings, looming arches and towering, literal flame trees. This captivating vision was titled Cie Carabosse, a display that simply couldn't be outdone. A composed disaster field, it was a thing equally beautiful and fearsome. Simply exceptional - it was a mesmerising and remarkably haunting inclusion.

Oumou Sangare's performance and her band's unimaginable expertise were a wonder. Traditional yet modern, orchestral but intimate, tribal and other-worldly, they led us through a journey of atmospheric opera-rock. If heaven exists on an artistic platform this was it. The soulful display of immaculate musicianship left those fortunate enough to witness it in awe.

But suddenly, just as South Australia was elevated to another dimension of bliss, the first night of WOMAD came to an abrupt conclusion. Don't be dismayed just yet, though. This is just the initiation and the rest is OUR adventure. Enjoy.