Despite volcanic ash clouds, last-minute cancellations and hurricane-like desert winds, WOMAD managed to pull off a fantastic free event in Abu Dhabi. It’s very satisfying to see some of the UAE’s oil money being spent on a WOMAD festival for an audience that was an eclectic mix of music fans, sheikhs, the curious and passers-by.

‘Desert Cultures’ was the theme and Justin Adams picked out bands to represent the ‘sound of the desert’, which he describes as: “remote… all that space and the slowness of time in a desert creates certain kinds of atmospheres.”

Mali’s Tinariwen were on his list, topping the bill on the final night with an interesting collaboration with Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe from New Yorkers TV On The Radio. The latter are huge fans of the desert blues rockers and Malone said the collaboration was “beyond their wildest dreams”. Algerian oud impresario Mehdi Haddab also joined them on stage, his energy and charisma making this an undoubted highlight.

Adams also programmed Namibia’s The Gubi Family, Al Ayala, outstanding connoisseurs of the traditional Arabic stick dance, and the Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan, whose melodies are centred around a Jewish harp and the rhythm of the dholak hand drum.

The stars of the weekend, however, were Rango, Cairo-based Sudanese desert musicians, whose thumping beats and outrageous frontman had the crowd jumping. The rango is an ancient, controversial, nearly lost-and-forgotten voodoo instrument now being revived by this band. Performing again on the final night, thanks to a last-minute drop-out by a poorly Damian Marley, Rango were joined on stage by the inimitable Zawose Family, a staple of WOMAD’s past and surely of festivals to come. A sheer delight.

Ruth Barnes

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Tags: abu dhabi, justin adams, tinariwen, tv on the radio, womad