WOMADelaide 2021: Re-inventing for the Pandemic<\/p>\n
Murray Bramwell talks with Artistic Director, Ian Scobie about the challenges of planning a music festival during COVID.<\/p>\n
The last time I interviewed Ian Scobie about WOMADelaide it was late January last year and Kangaroo Island was burning down. The bushfires -which engulfed huge sections of the country, sending serious smoke haze into the cities – were on everyone\u2019s mind. Scobie\u2019s company APA was running a national tour for the Italian composer, Ludovico Einaudi, who was due to perform at the Myer Music Bowl. It was uncertain to happen because of poor air conditions. Fortunately, the smoke dispersed and the concert went ahead.<\/p>\n
But nothing matches 2021. As Scobie describes it :<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been very, very challenging really. I have to say that since working in Festivals-land since 1984, you come across the usual challenges \u2013 air traffic control for Peter Brook\u2019s The Mahabharata<\/em> at the Quarry, or suddenly finding a tented venue has a third of the capacity it is supposed to have.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this is a whole kind of other degree of uncertainty \u2013 which, of course, the whole world is dealing with, it\u2019s not just poor us. It\u2019s the constant uncertainty that\u2019s so different. When we found out we couldn\u2019t get a permit to do the full scale event we had to ask ourselves \u2013 \u2018Do we do anything, or just cancel ?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision came very late in the year. We were meeting with SA Health in some detail from June 2020 onwards and we were backwards and forwards discussing ways of dealing with the situation and avoiding over-crowding. We were maintaining parallel programs – an international one if things got better, and then an Australian one. By late August we thought international was unlikely so by September it was going to be a program sourced within Australia. We had that arranged, with the diversity one would expect – culturally and musically.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was then not until the second week in October when, after more back and forth to SA Health, they said \u2013 \u2018Mmmm. No. We just think the combination of the duration, from noon to midnight, and the multi-stage format with audiences crossing over\u2026\u2019 It wasn\u2019t something they were able to support.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just had to call it. So then we had to find out from SA Health what maximum event number we could have, and addressing their concerns meant we came to our decision \u2013 to have one stage, individual reserve seats, individual tickets not day passes. That meant contact tracing for Person X sitting in C 27 on Friday night or Saturday B 36. The QR app was not introduced yet. \u201c<\/p>\n Scobie consulted with other event organisers such as the Adelaide Oval management \u2013<\/p>\n \u201cThey were very helpful and keen to have us use their venue and it is a fabulous stadium. But it\u2019s an oval. It is not really part of the ethos of the WOMADelaide event. Which is how we ended up at King Rodney Park.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce we set parameters we had three days to get back to SA Health with a plan for six thousand seats, spaced in a version of checkerboard, a single fixed stage and operating hours confined from 6 pm to midnight. The duration of people\u2019s exposure is reduced and we know who and where they all are. \u201c<\/p>\n At first Scobie considered using Elder Park but it was impossible to establish good sightlines for the size of the crowd. The same held for Botanic Park \u2013 the home of WOMADelaide since it began in 1992. Since it is a park full of trees there was nowhere that a seating rig could allow an unimpeded view for more than three thousand which, considering the overheads, was not financially viable. So Scobie and Mark Muller, the production manager, drove around the city looking for possible sites.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came across King Rodney Park \u2013 bounded by Dequetteville Terrace, Wakefield Road and Bartels Road. It contains an arena, has a fringe of trees, and parkland all around. So you have a sense of arrival and enclosure. It is the Christian Brothers College oval which is owned by the City of Adelaide and leased to the school. It is maintained for sport but open to the public. We have divided the area into zones \u2013 two thousand people through each of three gates, with six thousand the capacity. It will have a park feeling and we wanted a sense of enclosure. It will be a different concept but I did have one longtime WOMADelaide supporter say to me \u2013 \u2018I\u2019m so looking forward to having a seat !\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n Scobie is pleased with the venue and the arrangements.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought we had an obligation to run WOMAD in some form or other. I was opposed to presenting something like a single concert inside an auditorium that bore no resemblance to the event. I also had a concern that we needed to provide employment for the artists. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the arts are the first hit and the most heavily impacted \u2013 I think, even more than tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2021 four night concert program, developed by Associate Director Annette Tripodi and her team, is the tip of an organisational planning iceberg that has been busy all year. The 25th<\/sup> WOMADelaide, in its 29th<\/sup> year and one of the city\u2019s most enduring events, will be remembered by the staff as a massive contingency exercise, a carefully constructed framework of events that could have been, but never happened. Scobie observes :<\/p>\n \u201cAnnette has done an amazing job. There is a full Australian program that\u2019s never seen the light of day \u2013 which would have been terrific. But planning like this may be the future. I do hope we are gong to have a full scale event in Botanic Park in 2022, whether it has an international component, who<\/p>\n knows ? Next year will be a bit of a Groundhog Day with the same uncertainties. We will plan parallel Australian and international programs and see how it goes. Ziggy Marley is keen to come, if we have internationals, he will be in it !\u201d<\/p>\n The Friday night line-up opens, as WOMAD has done often before, with the participation of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. They will be ccompanying Lior, another festival favourite, in his performance of Compassion<\/em>, a song cycle composed and conducted by Nigel Westlake. Commisssioned for the Sydney Symphony, Compassion<\/em> incorporates texts and themes from both Islam and Judaism. Of the project Westlake has said – \u201cWe have tried to imbue the ancient texts with a contemporary interpretation, adhering to the purity of a single voice and orchestra. \u201c<\/p>\n Also appearing is Archie Roach, whose classic album Charcoal Lane<\/em> featured the anthem of the Stolen Generation, \u201cTook the Children Away\u201d. His music has been re-released in recent years with the box set, Creation<\/em>, and a remastered version of Charcoal Lane<\/em>. His performance will be the first of many over four nights, highlighting indigenous culture and issues.<\/p>\n Completing the night\u2019s list is the excellent Sarah Blasko whose ARIA nomination and Triple J Album of the Year, As Day Follows Night<\/em>, has celebrated its tenth anniversary with a re-issue plus bonus tracks. It sounds fresher than ever and her set will be a great note to close on.<\/p>\n Saturday night is an especially hot ticket and is already heavily subscribed. It opens with young Indigenous rappers MRLN x RKM (aka. Marlon Motlop and RullaKelly-Mansell) new talents sponsored by WOMADelaide and the NSS Academy.<\/p>\n Next is the near legendary Vika and Linda and their outstanding band, and we will be reminded what a strong repertoire they have gathered over a brilliant career. Their ample compilation album, Akilotoa<\/em>, is impressive, not only for its range and appeal, but also because they are some of the finest interpreters of the songs of long-time collaborator, Paul Kelly.<\/p>\n Headliners on Saturday are Midnight Oil. As Ian Scobie observes:<\/p>\n \u201cMidnight Oil have been regularly on our books and we check them out to ask \u2013what are you doing this time ? They played WOMADelaide in 1997 and Peter Garrett has returned a couple of times to Planet Talks. He has fond memories of that particular gig. They also performed at WOMAD UK going back a way. So there\u2019s always been a connection. We had been talking for 18 months to two years out. They were planned for this year. Nobody thought it would be like this, but it was great to have it in prospect. People thinking \u2013 \u2018Oh God this is not a traditional WOMAD ! \u2018 Instead, they see it\u2019s Midnight Oil and they are also doing their Makarrata Live project on the closing night.\u201c<\/p>\n Sunday night was scheduled to open with Zambian-born singer, Sampa the Great, but she cancelled all Australian commitments because she had travelled to Botswana and, due to COVID border restrictions, could not return. Instead, two emerging talents will perform. Pitjantjatjara\/Torres Strait Islander artist , Miiesha, winner of a 2020 ARIA best Soul\/R&B for her album Nyaaringu<\/em>, will feature, along with PNG-born Melbourne artist, Kaiit, 2019 ARIA winner for her single \u201cMiss Shiney\u201d.<\/p>\n The amazingly multi-talented Tash Sultana tops the card. Their debut album Flow State<\/em>, double platinum single \u201cJungle\u201d and the multi-platinum Notion<\/em> EP have all been streamed hundreds of millions of times, some say up to a billion. Tash Sultana has a massive global following and they will also be featuring material from this month\u2019s release, Terra Firma<\/em>.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s program opens with Adelaide band Siberian Tiger, featuring Bree Tranter and Chris Panousakis, who released their EP Last Dance<\/em> last year. They will also feature a string quartet. The Teskey Brothers \u2013 Josh and Sam – plus Brendon Love and Liam Gough formed in Melbourne in 2008. Since then they have added keyboards and horns and have begun the most sought-after soul\/blues live act in the country. Their excellent album, Run Home Slow<\/em> won ARIA for Best Blues\/Roots album. Last year\u2019s release, Live at the Forum<\/em> is a glimpse of their presence on stage. Their show will be quite something.<\/p>\n And to close this one-of-a-kind WOMADelaide, Midnight Oil will perform the world premier performance of Makaratta Live<\/em>, a concert featuring prominent First Nations artists and raising public awareness of The Uluru Statement. The Oils will perform familiar hits connected to Indigenous Reconciliation as well new songs, \u201cGadigal Land\u201d, \u201cChange the Date\u201d, and \u201cTerror Australia\u201d. It will be a significant occasion \u2013 and a chance to affirm the values of the Uluru initiative which have been shamefully deflected and ignored by the present government.<\/p>\n After all the speculation and logistical modelling, Scobie is hoping that much of his team\u2019s time-consuming anticipatory work will not be necessary. There won\u2019t be interstate lockdowns, or last minute border closures, or quarantine emergencies. The artists will all arrive in time for COVID tests to be cleared, and hotel floors will be sealed off for their greater safety. But as Scobie acknowledges \u2013<\/p>\n \u201cIt all rests with SA Health and their committee. Everyone is doing their best but no-one can give you a guarantee. Months ago a colleague said to me \u2013 \u2018Who knows? No-one. That\u2019s who !\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n So, says Ian Scobie with a wry smile, I keep saying \u2013 \u201cIt\u2019s going to be great. \u201c<\/p>\n WOMADelaide 2021 Sunset Concert Series runs from March 5-8 at King Rodney Park , Wakefield Road, Adelaide.<\/p>\n The Barefoot Review, February 23, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WOMADelaide 2021: Re-inventing for the Pandemic Murray Bramwell talks with Artistic Director, Ian Scobie about the challenges of planning a music festival during COVID. The last time I interviewed Ian Scobie about WOMADelaide it was late January last year and Kangaroo Island was burning down. The bushfires -which engulfed huge sections of the country, sending serious smoke haze into the cities – were on everyone\u2019s mind. Scobie\u2019s company APA was running a national tour for the Italian composer, Ludovico Einaudi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,5,15,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-41","category-archive","category-music","category-womadelaide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3275,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3274\/revisions\/3275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/murraybramwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}