WOMAD

This past weekend WOMAD, the world music festival started by Peter Gabriel, was on in Abu Dhabi. While I'm not a huge world music fan, this particular festival had two things going for it: 1) it was on the beach about a ten-minute walk from my apartment and 2) it was free.

The first evening I went there with my wife and kids and I the kids had fun digging in the sand while we listened to a Tanzanian group accompanied by dancing by school children from Abu Dhabi. I enjoyed the music, but they ruined it with their whistles that they kept blowing. Otherwise, I would've really liked it. After that, Tia got sand in her eye so my wife took her home while Lucas fell asleep to the music of Hanggai, a Mongolian band from China. Here's some information on them and here is a video of a song I really liked. It was an enjoyable show.

The second evening (Friday), I want on my own after a few drinks at home. It was a different experience from going there with my family. I was able to get close up while watching a band from the UK called Trans-Global Underground which I thoroughly enjoyed and not just because of the alcohol. I ran into a co-worker of mine and we went to see a Cuban band that was OK, but didn't really do anything for me.

Saturday I had tentative plans to go but in the end just stayed home because I was beat from the weekend. While not a big fan of world music, I did get to see two groups I hadn't heard of previously and had a good time.