Review: WOMAD 2015

There have been worse – notably WOMAD’s legendary 2007 debut at Charlton Park – and thus a couple of rain-strewn days barely merit comment, especially when the music is particularly fine. And, by general agreement on Monday morning, this had turned out to be a great year – though general disagreement set in as to what made it so. It is ever thus.

For me the standouts began on Friday with a sequence of old favourites: South Africa’s Mahotella Queens and Colombian diva Toto La Momposina both featured in WOMAD’s early days and, for all that they must be in their eighth decade, both remain vigorous and captivating acts. The Mahotella Queens still couldn’t resist shaking their stuff to those swooping township basslines, while Toto commanded her disciplined Cumbia squad (most of whom seem to be her grandchildren) with benevolent radiance, a queen in her own right. Later headliners De La Soul were less impressive, however: their polished wedding band of a set was at best ordinary. By contrast, Ibeyi’s earlier set on the Charlie Gillett stage was a heart-snatcher, the Franco-Cuban twins haunting electro-acoustic music and emotional openness matched by a spell of real sunshine. Later party action came from Mad Professor mixing dub with drum and bass and taking full advantage of the punchy Bowers & Wilkins quadrophonic sound system tent.

Saturday dawned brightly but took a while to catch me musically: Cheik Lo’s Senegalese mbalax felt poppy and worn and hip Brazilian star Criolo seemed similarly insubstantial. The Siam Tent set from Mbongwana Star proved to be the weekend’s biggest disappointment, however, as this offshoot of the excellent Staff Benda Bilili paid less respect to Congolese rhythms and sounds in favour of metal-minded rock music. Sounds like a bad day? Not at all – because there were some brilliant performances, too, starting with contemporary Tibetan folksters Tulegur on the tree shaded Ecotricity stage, upbeat Bhangrawood from Shikor Bangladesh Allstars, then the startlingly cool Ethio-Soul of Israeli singer Ester Rada. She was a real discovery, as was the vocally startling Bolivian singer Luzmila Carpio whose vocal range shot through the roof and one of whose songs consisted entirely of imitated birdsong. Finally getting to see Orchestra Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp was no disappointment – their live set of world jazz-pop workouts had all the anarchic energy of the Youtube snippets I’d seen – and then things peaked with what would turn out to be my highlight of the weekend: William Onyeabor’s Atomic Bomb!

Despite the absence of Mr Onyeabor – he never plays live – and the much-rumoured David Byrne – who has played in Atomic Bomb before – the band were a perfect WOMAD moment, sprawled across the stage like a George Clinton party, rolling in the psychedelic Afrobeat grooves, with Beastie Boy guru Money Mark and veteran jazz hepcat Charles Lloyd adding stage energy and musical credibility respectively. Onyeabor’s not the most imaginative composer, and his free-flowing lyrics are eccentric but whipped up like this they were hugely enjoyable.

If Sunday had the worst of the weather it also had the most compelling sequence of music on offer. Though you might question the ‘world’ credentials of contemporary British acts like Ghostpoet, Laura Mvula and Eska all three delighted their audiences, with Ghostpoet’s combination of disarming easiness and sharp lyrical content making a great live spectacle. Laura Mvula’s set, complete with sibling string section and a harp, was a grand occasion slightly out of sync with the steaming bedraggled Siam Tent audience, while Eska’s outdoor post-soul performance revealed an uninhibited talent revelling in the opportunity to show what she could do: definitely one to watch out for.

Two visually creative moments stood out: the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble’s live soundtrack to super-slowed film of Tin Henman in action used the powerful sonic palette of a dozen analogue synthesisers to create gut-grabbing electro grooves, while French composer Chassol closed the Siam Tent with his beautifully woven keyboards interacting with the found sounds of birds and speech in a film about Martinique. For many people it was a perfect closing moment, but for me couldn’t eclipse the day’s highlights – septuagenarian, Dona Onete from Brazil’s Amazon region, gaudily enthroned on the outdoor stage, her gravel-edged voice powerfully steering her band and the equally venerable Ethiopique vocalist Mahmoud Ahmed rekindling the wonky funk and full-throated Arabic declamation with the French Badume’s Band. Whether equally-aged or much, much younger these were moments for WOMAD-goers to treasure.