AFRO CELT SOUND SYSTEM

"...their magic is euphoric and equally enduring"

The close of the festival for me was the reunion of one of WOMAD’s favourite bands, the Afro Celt Sound System who returned after a 10-year break. They came to celebrate their 15th anniversary and launch of a retrospective CD. The Pogues and Afro-Celt multi-instrumentalist, James McNally told us, “The band were born in the Whirl-y-Gig tent,” that long-gone psychedelic den which launched a genre of cross-cultural collaborations. ‘Music without Borders’ is their category, and their music a model of enduring brilliance and collaborations. This was a non-stop, racing performance which exploded to a different level when the turbaned kit drummer Johnny Kalsi, leapt up and strapped on a thunderous dhol drum (the rhythymic voice of bhangra).

He rushed around the stage, in conversation with the high-pitched, chattering talking drum, dropped the volume to meet the bodhran player’s softer rhythms, weaved amongst the prancing, spirit-like Fulani dancer, Demba Barry, then at a whim, paused the organized chaos, to allow a chiming cascade of notes from N’Faye Kouyate‘s kora and Simon Emmerson’s psychedelic bluesy abstract electric guitar melodies. Phew. Every song brought an upsurge of energy in an almost orchestral collusion. Unlike the performance of Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara, this music is not transcendental but Afro Celts operates as an organism, truly genetically mutant and their magic is euphoric and equally enduring. Sue Steward

http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1901:womad-2010&Itemid=27

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