2024 is shaping up to be a glorious summer. England’s Euros adventure, the Paris Olympics and wall-to-wall sunshine throughout Glastonbury and we’re not even in August yet, writes Tom Berry.
It was a similar sunny picture at WOMAD last weekend, a festival that always carries a strong Stroud Flavour. From Thursday through to the festival’s culmination with Baba Maal’s set on Sunday the sun shone without interruption and 40,000 punters united in celebration.
More than ever, it was female performers who stood out; from the charismatic Dessislava Stefanova who led the 38-piece London Bulgarian choir; the soaring voice of Orange Blossom’s Leïla Bounous and Stroud’s very own DJ Amelie, women seemed to deliver the best sets throughout. There has been much discussion in recent years about securing gender equality on festival bills and WOMAD is an excellent example of a festival that has addressed this and has benefitted as a result. Bixaga 70, a Sao Paulo funk collective who played on Sunday afternoon arguably gave the best performance of the whole weekend, their two female drummers sending the whole SIAM tent into ecstasy with their driving rhythms.
An early highlight on Friday were the Flamingods on the Charlie Gillet Stage. Their middle eastern space rock soon got the crowd moving and a tender tribute to the people of Gaza (a reoccurring theme throughout the weekend) captured hearts. Amadou and Mariam were another popular choice. The blind Malian duo’s guitar melodies became increasingly drawn out as the sun set. Undoubtedly though the most anticipated set of Friday was by the Scottish art-rock trio Young Fathers. Their poly-rhythmic beats and punk-funk vocal interplay was utterly captivating despite the fact that most of the audience clearly only knew one or two of the songs. Despite a few sound issues their headline set was a triumph and the band could reasonably claim to be the most important band in the UK right now.
Many of us raced off at the end of their set to see DJ Paulette. Initially her tech-house stylings underwhelmed but slowly and surely, she pulled in a large crowd with a first play of the weekend for Baianá (which was without a shadow of a doubt the song of the weekend with the DJs) and then classics from the likes of Leftfield and Orbital.
Saturday began strongly with the afore-mentioned London Bulgarian Choir. This beautiful traditional set-piece provided a perfect palate cleanser for Friday night’s excesses. Dozens of Stroud residents then made a beeline for the D&B audiotechnic tent to catch local jazz hero Daniel Inzani. This was not the fastest-paced set of the weekend – Daniel and his ensemble play in a deep spiritual place, but the trio of saxophones and string quartet soon won over the increasingly large crowd – it all bodes well for his debut triple LP which comes out on Hidden Notes Records this autumn.
As the heat continued to rise the obvious sunset choice was the Balearic Brazilian pop of Bala Desejo. This frankly comical looking ensemble featured a man in gold silk trousers and a scantily clad female singer standing on one leg. Slowly though their Rio-based pop songs drew us in, the bass getting funkier and funkier until a rousing climax brought to mind Earth Wind & Fire.
Getting our disco groove on we headed on to watch a sexually-charged Alison Goldfrapp who got us all dancing, a job continued by Bristol’s TC & The Groove Family who thrilled with their afrobeat jams and proto-jungle workouts. By midnight everyone is looking for a party. We end up at Molly’s bar for an entertaining set by the Allergies who play live versions of Stevie Wonder’s Uptight and Dee-lite’s Groove Is In The Heart. Finally, we dance-off remaining energy in a very crowded Lizard Lounge with the Scuba Sound System and their ramshackle, deep-house beats.
Sunday and it is soon clear that it is going to be even hotter than the previous two days. Conservation of energy is key throughout the daytime. A perfect starter is TLK. This female Bristol-based trio echo some of the great acts of their hometown, most noticeably Portishead. The icy, mournful vocal recalling both Beth Gibbons and James Blake and perfectly demonstrating the surround-sound virtuosity of the D&B soundsystem helmed by Jack Powis.
Another sonically perfect performance on Sunday comes from Orange Blossom. This French band clearly have a wide tapestry of influences from Depeche Mode, the Clash and Hawkwind yet manage to sound completely unique. Leïla Bounous’ beautiful voice holds the whole thing together to provide an unexpected highlight of the whole weekend. We drag ourselves over to Sampa The Great who provides one of the most contemporary performances- her red-decked dancers catch the eye with their twerking while Sampa’s raps increase intensity to a thrilling climax. Finally, we reach the pinnacle with Baaba Maal who delivers a spiritually charged if, slightly sloppy set to leave us all dancing into our final night.
If there is one act though that perfectly captures the spirit of WOMAD though its Stroud’s own Joicy Collective. This collection of teenage female DJs seize their big opportunity playing each evening on the Molly’s Bar stage. Each of them brings their A-game to proceedings. A combination of unbridled enthusiasm and banging tunes receive a rapturous reception each time they play, and they should be so proud of their achievement on one of the world’s greatest stages. We can’t wait to do it all again next year…
