Australasian World Music Expo 2010

Over its three year lifespan the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) has grown from a smallish music expo to become the Australia-Pacific region's premier music industry conference and showcase of Indigenous, roots and world music. It is a unique event which has been described as the South by South West of world and Indigenous music.

By day, AWME is a trade fair whereby you can attend workshops and panel discussions with some of the world's most prominent and influential festival bookers, talent agents, and record labels. By night, AWME transforms a variety of Melbourne venues into a festival showcase in which delegates and music fans rub shoulders and sample some of the most exciting world, Indigenous, roots and folk music the planet has to offer. Soulshine was there over the four days to catch some amazing sets from Femi Kuti and the Positive Force, Groundation, Dan Sultan, the Bombay Royale, Stone Love, Mista Savona and the Graveyard Train.

As I walked into the Hi Fi Bar on the opening night of the expo it was not hard to see the excitement surrounding this event; as artists, promoters, talent agents, media delegates and punters all mingled and planned their schedules over the coming four days.

Ngaire from Papua New Guinea / Australia was first up and she quickly caught the crowd’s attention with her soulful voice. A mad dash up Swanston Street to the Toff in Town to see Melbourne’s own Cumbia Cosmonauts was perfectly timed as Saca la Mois, Soup and their band for the evening hit the stage as I entered. Over the course of the next 50 minutes these tropical cowboys tore the lush, intimate setting apart and had punters grinding on the dancefloor like they were in a sweaty club in South America. Their tracks were mostly taken from their mix tape release of this year 500% Cumbia with La Pollera Rebaja being the highlight.

Then it was time to rush back down Swanston Street and into the Hi Fi Bar to see the last half of Jeff Lang, the rush was worth it as he showed the capacity crowd why he has been a mainstay on the Australian Blues scene for over a decade. The lush sounds of slide guitar are always a highlight to see.

Dan Sultan who three years earlier was one of the smaller acts at AWME, returned to close the opening nights as an ARIA award winning “Best Male” artist whose star has shown ever so bright in 2010. Maybe it was due to the amount of touring he has done this year or maybe he over indulged in partying post ARIA’s, but Dan’s voice didn’t have its usual range and he lacked the stage presence which usual captures a Dan Sultan.

I doubt that the Hi Fi Bar has ever hosted such a killer reggae line up as it did on the Saturday night of the expo; you had ska/reggae heavyweights Groundation from the USA, Jamaica’s oldest foundation sound system Stone Love and Australia’s premier reggae producer Mista Savona all at the venue for 5 solid hours of reggae and dancehall.

Mista Savona was up first, with Jake Savona and Vida Sunshyne taking to the stage as Savona Sound System to warm the crowd up before they were joined by a 10 piece band. Mista Savona took the capacity crowd on a journey over the next hour through his latest album Warn the Nation and his previous release Melbourne Meets Kingston. Vida Sunshyne shared vocals with recorded acapellas from Horace Andy, Capleton and Sizzla during the sound system set, before being joined by local MC Mr Monk from the Black Jesus Experience in the latter half of the set. Heard it All Before tore the roof off the Hi Fi Bar with Vida Sunshyne captivating the crowd with her presence.

In their only Melbourne show Groundation blew the audience away with a bass heavy 90 minute dub set that surely would have scored many new fans. Having seen them a few weeks earlier at Island Vibe, it was was great to see them player a wider ranging set covering material from all their studio albums. A definite highlight was seeing the interaction of band leader Harrison Stafford’s on vocals with backing vox/dancers from Kim Pommell and Kerry-Ann Morgan.

Ratant Crow and a cover of Bob Marley’s Is this Love were the highlights of a brilliant ska/reggae/dub set.

Stone Love swapped the stage for the sound booth and had the whole room shaking to old school dancehall, modern hip hop and reggae. As I dragged my weary feet up the stairs and headed home for some rest I couldn’t help but think that tonight was one of the best shows I have seen all year.

The closing night of the Australasian World Music Expo and who better to close the festival than Femi Kuti, the oldest son of the late, great Fela Kuti? Over the past 30 years Femi Kuti and the Positive Force have forged their own identity and helped bridge the gap between Afro-beat with contemporary Soul and Hip-Hop.

The Bombay Royale had the envious task of the main support slot and made the most of it. For such a young group (the band were formed in April this year), they looked at ease on the stage in front of a capacity crowd. The horn section led by their Captain was tight and punchy, and front woman Paryvn Singh caught the crowds’ attention with her hypnotic presence and predominantly Hindi vox. A highlight of their set was Parvyn getting crowd participation by asking us all to pretend we “were changing a lightbulb”.

If you are after seeing something different and exciting in 2011, check out the slammin’ surf/disco tunes of the Bombay Royale. Tracks such as Kar Le Pyaar Kar Le will surely have your feet moving and you’re your thoughts wandering “can I afford a trip to India”.

As I spanned the crowd before Femi Kuti took the stage I spotted practically every act that had played this year’s expo and the previous two! Such is the esteem that Femi is held amongst artist across all genres.

His horn section entered the stage first followed by his rhythm section and then his backing vocals/dancers, rounding a 14 strong backing band known as The Positive Force. They opened with instrumental song which clearly showed how tight his band is from constant touring around the globe; the driving Afro Beat drums and bass reverberating throughout the venue and the horns razor sharp, the time was right for Femi to grace the stage and put on the show of the expo! He entered with his saxophone and launched straight into Truth Don Die, a perfect start to the gig with its driving funk guitar and horns ever present.

With a cracking new album just about to be released called Africa for Africa we were informed that the majority of tonight’s show would be compromised of new tracks and a couple of old crowd favourite’s. Usually this can be a problem for the audience, but here lies one of main differences between pop music and afro-beat as the listener does not need to recognize the song to enjoy it, as long as the groove hits you your feet will move and with Femi it is impossible not to find your hips shaking.

During the show Femi took the opportunity to talk to the crowd about politics in Africa, invite us to the new Africa Shrine in Lagos, give a simple solution to the problems of Haiti and advise the men in the room on how to please a woman.

Dem Dobo, Africa for Africa and E No Good all taken from his new album were well received by the crowd; however the largest applause went to Beng Beng Beng with his backing dancers entrancing the audience with their tribal booty shaking moves.

It takes a rare artist to step out of their famous lineage and be regarded as a pioneer in their own right, Femi Kuti is such an artist and his breathtaking two hour set to close festival reinforced this view. One of the best shows I have seen in 2010!