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Back to life, back to reality

July 15th, 2007 · Posted by Skuds in Music · No Comments · Music

Yesterday there was a Labour Party national day of action, with lots of members from outside town coming in to join in campaigning activity in Crawley, so of course I was up in Croydon having a picnic.

Well, it was the weekend of the Croydon World Party, and that is one of the highlights of the year – and it was in my diary a long time before I even heard about this day of action…

Jayne has been feeling a bit under the weather lately and didn't feel up to the journey, so she stayed in Crawley and went to the county party's AGM instead, leaving me to take the kids up to Croydon.  We cocked up a bit by getting there a bit early. Not a huge problem but it does make it a long day, and not a lot happens until at least 2pm anyway.

The Sunday is always the Mela and the Saturday is the World Party, which this year had a theme of being African and Caribbean.  Thats fine with me, but it did make everything a bit less diverse than previously. I enjoyed the gypsy bands last year, and the Chinese violinists, and the Spanish headliners.

The day kicked off with a gospel choir, and continued with a local ska band called The Dualers. They were pretty good, although I still can't understand why they did Monkey Man twice in a 45-minute set. I am positive they have more material than that.  The real crowd-pleaser of the afternoon was the Sould II Soul Sound System.  I didn't really see them – I was miles away from the stage just chilling – but I could see the field go mad when they did Back To Life, which is still one of the best dance songs ever in my humble opinion and took me straight back to the 80s.

Over on the second stage, called the Sunshine Stage, I saw a chap called SW Storm and someone else called Nuru Kane with his band Bayefall Gnawa.  SW Storm sounded like he should be good: his music was described as soca mixed with rock, bhangra, R&B and Turkish music.  I thought he was OK – great summer music: not edgy at all but pleasant enough – but I wasn't excited. Call me old-fashioned but I like to have a band playing and not a singer plus backing tapes. 

Nuru Kane was brilliant though. He was a charismatic chap, looking a bit like Eddie Murphy.  His band was a bloke on acoustic guitar, a drummer with a single-drum kit, and a multi-tasking bloke who switched between playing tom toms, an African drum and the kora.  A strange mixture but effective mixture. I was endlessly fascinated by that drum kit.  The single drum worked as a bass drum if hit with the hand or as something more conventional if hit with a stick. The rest of the kit was a cymbal and small set of chimes. I wonder how someone like Neil Peart would get by with one drum?

Nuru Kane himself came on with a guitar which looked like it had been made from a cricket bat which had been made from old driftwood and a broom handle – but it made a great sound, even when played behind the head.  The music was a bit like Tinariwen crossed with Baaba Maal, with a bit of White Stripes thrown in.

Kane knows how to work a crowd too. He was explaining how the first time he came to Britain he played in Croydon, and on five visits since then he has played in Croydon every time – and then said that when anyone back home or elsewhere in the world asks him why he like playing in Britain he tells them it is because of Croydon.

As soon as I got home I checked out e-music and found an album available there. This month's quote was used up downloading the new Gogol Bordello album – but Nuru Kane is top of the queue for next month.

Apart from the music, there were the usual food stalls, craft stalls, fairground and 'good causes' stalls. A lot of charities were there to raise money, raise awareness, or get information out and several political parties had stalls too.  Someone with a sense of humour put the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Labour stalls next to each other in a row in the main 'shopping' area.  UKIP were there too, but right over the other side of the field.

The kids had a go in the fairground earlier in the day, but during the early evening Chrystal persuaded me to go in the spinning thing.  She still seems surprised that I don't consider myself too old for that sort of thing.

The headline act for Saturday was Jimmy Cliff – a popular choice and a real catch for the organisers. I don't know how they manage to get some of their acts for a free concert which must be on a tight budget.  Headliners from previous years included Ojos de Brujo and Rachid Taha: huge acts in world music circles but unknown to the majority. Jimmy Cliff though, he is a true superstar with several hits most people would know.

Not that we stayed around to watch all his set.  Jimmy Cliff may be a legend, but I really prefer roots, dancehall and ragga more.  I intended to watch half his set and then get a head start on the trams home, but he started half an hour late.  We stood watching an endless soundcheck while a Femi Kuti album was playing over the PA.  Nigerian big bands always have really ong songs, but it took several of them before the Jimmy Cliff band was ready, and then when they were they started with a drum rhythm while a band member build up to the main event. "Are you ready for the legend that is Dr. Cliff?" he asked.  "He's a legend in reggae and he's going to be on this stage in a minute" after several such announcements, which all contained the word 'legend' or variations on it I really thought he was milking it. Don't they know that the Croydon festival is equally legendary for making sure all the music stops dead on time?  Starting 30 minutes late just lops half an hour off the set.

Eventually Cliff himself came onstage and his voice really is remarkable.  I would have liked to hear him sing Vietnam but it was good enough to hear him sing You can get it if you really want.

A good day again, although it would have been better if Jayne came along. And we remembered to take a cool box full of cokes and water to avoid spending half the day queueing at the bar like last year.  

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