Monday, September 26, 2005
The 2005 Lotus World Music Festival
Loved it!
We started the evening with Seu Jorge. If you saw Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, then you saw him singing David Bowie covers in Portuguese. While he didn't do any Bowie while we were at his set, the contemporary Brazilian music was energetic and awesome.
From the muggy outdoor venue where Seu Jorge performed to the contemplative - and air-conditioned - sanctuary in the First Presbyterian Church... we saw contemporary Scandinavian folk band Frigg. Again, excellent music. (Tho' Hedningarna continues to be my favorite Scandinavian band, at least from among those I've been exposed to so far.)
We avoided the street parade in favor of grabbing a quick dinner at The Trojan Horse, a locally-owned Greek restaurant. Yummy, yummy gyros and fries. Then we dashed over to the First Christian Church, where the Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran wowed us and everyone else with their masterful performances on the oud (a large, sort of pear-shaped stringed instrument, in case you were wondering). We had hoped to hear Ana Moura sing Portuguese fado during this set, as well, but the line to get into the venue where she was performing wrapped around the corner. Instead, after Le Trio Joubran finished playing, we went over to First United Methodist and heard the last two pieces by Rachael Davis with Jake Armerding, both singer-songwriters. With its bluesy tone, the last tune showcased Rachael's voice.
Avoiding the second street parade wasn't a possibility, so we stood on the sides waving a flag to the beat of the percussion for a few minutes. Then we took off in search of restrooms, air conditioning, and more great music back at the First Christian Church. A woman approached us and asked if we would mind participating in a short survey for a graduate student doing research for her dissertation on the Lotus Festival. We agreed to answer a few questions; the crux of the survey seemed to involve what we felt about using local churches as venues for performances during the festival. Apparently she'd heard a lot of stupid stuff about how the environment was great (AC, plenty of seating, good acoustics, etc.), which misses the point, I think. Every performance I've ever seen at Lotus has been by someone who is really, really into his/her art, and there's a special joie de vivre that they have, that their music evokes, and that you're allowed to partcipate in as a member of the audience; and I just feel that the churches contribute to that feeling with their architecture, stained glass, and so forth. Make a joyful noise and all that...!
Spent the last set entranced by Nawal, a singer who resides in France but is from the Comoros Islands (off the east coast of Africa). Her performance was where I found the essence of the Lotus Festival for me. I can' recommend her music enough, although I can't tell you if what's special about her live performance carries through to the CD because her CDs sold out! (But amazon.com has it in stock. It's called Kweli. I recommend it - or seeing her live. She's on tour in the US through October.)
Afterwards, we heard some music from Funkadesi and then a few songs from the Creole Cowboys. All in all, it was a great night of music. The organization that runs Lotus has made some changes that, I'm afraid, make the showcase concerts less appealing, in some respects, and I worry a little for the future of the festival because of this. But as long as it's around, do consider visiting Bloomington for the festival. I hear next year it's going to be October 5th through 8th. Mark your calendars!
We started the evening with Seu Jorge. If you saw Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, then you saw him singing David Bowie covers in Portuguese. While he didn't do any Bowie while we were at his set, the contemporary Brazilian music was energetic and awesome.
From the muggy outdoor venue where Seu Jorge performed to the contemplative - and air-conditioned - sanctuary in the First Presbyterian Church... we saw contemporary Scandinavian folk band Frigg. Again, excellent music. (Tho' Hedningarna continues to be my favorite Scandinavian band, at least from among those I've been exposed to so far.)
We avoided the street parade in favor of grabbing a quick dinner at The Trojan Horse, a locally-owned Greek restaurant. Yummy, yummy gyros and fries. Then we dashed over to the First Christian Church, where the Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran wowed us and everyone else with their masterful performances on the oud (a large, sort of pear-shaped stringed instrument, in case you were wondering). We had hoped to hear Ana Moura sing Portuguese fado during this set, as well, but the line to get into the venue where she was performing wrapped around the corner. Instead, after Le Trio Joubran finished playing, we went over to First United Methodist and heard the last two pieces by Rachael Davis with Jake Armerding, both singer-songwriters. With its bluesy tone, the last tune showcased Rachael's voice.
Avoiding the second street parade wasn't a possibility, so we stood on the sides waving a flag to the beat of the percussion for a few minutes. Then we took off in search of restrooms, air conditioning, and more great music back at the First Christian Church. A woman approached us and asked if we would mind participating in a short survey for a graduate student doing research for her dissertation on the Lotus Festival. We agreed to answer a few questions; the crux of the survey seemed to involve what we felt about using local churches as venues for performances during the festival. Apparently she'd heard a lot of stupid stuff about how the environment was great (AC, plenty of seating, good acoustics, etc.), which misses the point, I think. Every performance I've ever seen at Lotus has been by someone who is really, really into his/her art, and there's a special joie de vivre that they have, that their music evokes, and that you're allowed to partcipate in as a member of the audience; and I just feel that the churches contribute to that feeling with their architecture, stained glass, and so forth. Make a joyful noise and all that...!
Spent the last set entranced by Nawal, a singer who resides in France but is from the Comoros Islands (off the east coast of Africa). Her performance was where I found the essence of the Lotus Festival for me. I can' recommend her music enough, although I can't tell you if what's special about her live performance carries through to the CD because her CDs sold out! (But amazon.com has it in stock. It's called Kweli. I recommend it - or seeing her live. She's on tour in the US through October.)
Afterwards, we heard some music from Funkadesi and then a few songs from the Creole Cowboys. All in all, it was a great night of music. The organization that runs Lotus has made some changes that, I'm afraid, make the showcase concerts less appealing, in some respects, and I worry a little for the future of the festival because of this. But as long as it's around, do consider visiting Bloomington for the festival. I hear next year it's going to be October 5th through 8th. Mark your calendars!
