Venue:
The Briars, Mt Martha outside Melbourne, Vic, Oz
Date: 20/02/2021
Last March I attended Womad NZ, pretty soon after borders shut, doors slammed and the world has never been the same again. Due to a mix of good luck, good management and geographical isolation Australia has fared better than most , though my town, Melbourne has had it tougher. A 5 day lockdown threw plans into disarray but in the end it went ahead. The music was ok, everyone was enjoying being out, especially the bands. The Teskey Brothers are now slicker, better sound, Josh’s voice is still incredible and they are trying to have more of a stage presence. On this they fail. Josh and his brother Sam on guitar have no stage presence, no sex appeal, no charisma. Live they are still a bit boring. Cat Empire started as a latin, ska, rap fusion. As with all curate’s eggs they were good in parts. They have been touring internationally and a pretty slick now. I particularly liked their latin jazz pieces which sounded a bit like Weather Report/Return To Forever and Caravanserai era Santana. High praise in my book.
There were others too but the » Continue Reading.