If one thing can be said of Womad, it's that you know where you are when you arrive. Where else on a gloriously sunny day would the first band you hear be a Tuvan throat-singing outfit, in this instance the dependable southern Siberians Huun Huur Tu, playing in the sweltering Siam tent? The audience had just drifted over from watching Kissmet, the bhangra rock group from London, and if they could muster the energy, could then check out Chilean balladeer Nano Stern or Québécois folk band Le Vent Du Nord in the course of the early afternoon. Highlight of proceedings, back in the Siam, was arguably the apperance of Ondatrópica, the supergroup from South America assembled by the UK's Will Holland and the equally dapper bandleader Mario Galeano, whose combined level of musicianship was jaw-dropping, never mind the hip-swivelling entertainment.
Arrived WOMAD https://t.co/84K4p8e05H
— CasparLlewellynSmith (@CasparLS) July 26, 2013
In recent years, the festival - now in its 31st year - has started to showcase acts who don't (just) celebrate a roots tradition but embrace modernity in the guise of hip hop, even dubstep. The combination of Spoek Mathambo, the South African producer and rapper, with London grime MC Afrikan Boy and singer Yadi worked brilliantly in exuberant patches in the Big Red tent, but the set would have been better suited to a late night slot; likewise (in the same venue) with Mala in Cuba, the project of dubstep pioneer Mala, who weaves Cuban refrains through echoing soundscapes from behind a mixing desk.
The contrast between Mala and Lee Perry and co, playing the Open Air stage at the same time, was fascinating - given it was "Scratch" as much as anyone who introduced dub to the world in the first instance. His crack band first hosted Max Romeo, before the main man himself took to the stage, sporting a bright red beard and a purple shellsuit - the 77-year old rocking that look more effectively than anyone since (with apologies) Jimmy Savile. Elements of the performance were unsurprisingly shambolic, and one wondered when Perry launched into his familiar condemnation of UK royalty, namechecking Princes Charles and William, whether news of the arrival of the next in line to the throne had reached him yet. But his charisma was so much greater than that of any sampler-wielding technician - plus in his locker he had cuts such as Curly Locks and his old sparring partner Bob Marley's Sun Is Shining, which couldn't have felt more appropriate at the sun continued to beat down.
Perry was followed on stage by the son of one of the greats, Seun Kuti, who continues to breathe life into the legend of Fela through the excellence of his band Egypt 80. Reports filtered back that the Parov Stelar Band from Austria had smashed it in the Siam, while others in the audience nipped to the tiny Molly's bar to catch the extraordinary beatboxer Shlomo and the Big Red tent was packed to the sounds of 60s soul and more courtesy of DJ Craig Charles - all of it adding up to a world of music.
Watching @ondatropica @womadcharltonpk https://t.co/4ZJf0vaKXJ
— CasparLlewellynSmith (@CasparLS) July 26, 2013
