Live at WOMAD 1982

Can it really be 40 years since the first WOMAD took place at the Royal Bath and West Showground in 1982? And how has a full decade passed since Songlines was so recently celebrating our favourite festival’s 30th anniversary with a cover feature (Aug/Sept 2012, #86)? This two-disc set capturing live performances from that first, groundbreaking event says yes it can and neatly illustrates how WOMAD’s programming has always been eclectic and gives the lie to the hoary old jokes about wall-to-wall nose flutes and didgeridoos.

Across five stages, some 60 bands from more than 20 countries performed over the three days, as the Drummers of Burundi and the Musicians of the Nile lined up alongside stadium rockers Simple Minds and 2 Tone heroes The Beat to celebrate music as a universal language in which world music artists were given equal billing with the Western pop stars of the 1980s. The spirit of collaboration was exemplified by festival founder Peter Gabriel sharing the stage with West African drum and dance ensemble Ekome on the poignant version of his anti-apartheid anthem ‘Biko’, which closes this splendidly nostalgic double album, a welcome reminder of how the WOMAD story started.