Review: WOMAD 2024 wraps up with notes of humour and solidarity

By Elliott Childs*

Review - The final day of WOMAD 2024 got off to a good start with Ukrainian four piece DakhaBrakha taking to the stage at the Brooklands Bowl.

Utilising instruments from across the globe to make songs rooted in the folk music of Ukraine, DakhaBrakha had a dramatic stage presence despite all four members remaining seated for most of their set.

Their engaging performance had some elements of humour to it, but the primary message they conveyed to the audience was one of solidarity and the hope that Ukraine will prevail despite the dire circumstances the country finds itself in.

Next on the list was Vanuatu's Tio on the Dell stage just to the side of the bowl.

Tio's relaxed, reggae-infused folk music was just right for that time of the day and proved a hit with the audience. By the third song a good number of people had wandered over from the bowl to see what was going on.

Tio and his guitarist harmonised beautifully and despite a relatively simple set up of two guitars, vocals and drums, it never felt like there was anything lacking from their sound

Bailey Wiley was the next artist to take to the Bowl and the only performer from Aotearoa that played that particular stage all weekend.

Wiley's soulful R&B was well performed yet, perhaps due to the time of day of her set, there seemed to be a disconnect between her and the crowd.

I had been hearing effusive praise for Angolan-Portuguese Kuduro musician Pongo from other festival goers following her set on the Gables stage on Saturday, so I was curious to see what her performance at the much smaller Dell stage would be like.

As it turns out, when you have as much energy and stage presence as Pongo has, the size of the stage makes no difference.

Her vibrant, Dancehall-infused music had the whole crowd moving and their proximity to the stage made it easy for Pongo and her audience to connect which, later on in the set, lead her to inviting a large number of kids up on to the stage to dance and sing her song 'Kalemba' with her.

Zambian psych-rock band Witch who opened the festival on Friday played their second set at the Brooklands stage on Sunday afternoon and whilst front man Jagari was not as physical as he was the first day, the band were in fine form and gave the crowd the funky, fuzzy rock they came expecting.

One of the most-anticipated acts scheduled for Sunday were UK Trip-hop legends Morcheeba. Taking to the Bowl stage I was surprised when they delivered a more rock-oriented sound than the electronica I was expecting.

However they made it work and hits such as 'Rome wasn't built in a day' had the audience on their feet for the whole set.

Vocalist SKYE, who along with the rest of the band seemed to be having a great time on stage, charmed the crowd effortlessly. She even had everyone laughing as she paused the show after their second song to take off her very stylish but somewhat impractical shoes.

The final act of the festival to grace the Bowl stage was Senegalese musical icon, Baaba Maal.

Central to his music and the performance is traditional African percussion and Maal went to great lengths to highlight those instruments and the musicians who play them in his band.

There were times during some of the longer instrumental passages where I thought they might lose the crowd but I was proved wrong.

Easily the best-dressed band I had seen over the weekend, Baaba Maal's group's synchronicity and cohesion was captivating and their vibrant, upbeat music was the perfect end to a great weekend of music.

*Elliott Childs is RNZ's Team Lead, Live Operations and a dedicated music fan.