I was a little late to get going this morning, but I did manage to arrive in time to catch Ndidi O’s performance on the East Stage. She’s another power house.
She opened by saying, “Thank you all for coming. I’m glad you have enough shade, and I hope you have enough water.” Then she busted into a bluesy tongue twister of a song about divorce. This woman has lived. She describes her sound as “rootsy blues with a tinge of soul and country.”
Her music is a travelogue of the life she’s lived. The song I found most touching was a lament for her cat. The cat didn’t die, it just left her. Somehow she was perfectly able to describe the feeling of betrayal and loss.
I’m making her sound morose, but in fact her sound is joyful: powerful and life affirming. She ended her set with a hymn about how this moment is all we are promised. The past is behind us and the future is not a given. Between songs she is vocal about her politics and consistent in her feeling that we all need to be good to one another. She is a treat to experience.
After absorbing her, I felt I needed to detach a little, so I wandered about walking past the other stages as they played amazing sounds from the Middle East to the Midwest. What brought me back into myself was hearing Jeremy Dutcher’s ethereal voice singing in his ancestral language. He was hosting a workshop called songs that slay. Or as James Vincent McMorrow said, “We promise to just maim you lightly.“
And herein lies the problem with festivals like this: I stuck around long enough to hear one song from each of those two performers, as well as one from Leif Vollebeck and Grace Petrie. And then I had to leave.
Barney Bentall was performing on the West Stage, so I had to abandon my shady spot and go sit in the sunlight to listen to a legend. I’m glad I got there in time to hear “Cosmic Dreamer.” It perfectly fit my mood.
The West Stage is right beside the beer, wine and cider tent, and I thought a little ice cold refreshment would do me some good. Even better, they had some non-alcoholic options, so I picked up a San Pellegrino, thinking in this heat that alcohol would go straight to my head. I do try to be a good boy some days.
I’m planning on heading over to the South Stage later to catch the Ancestral Roots workshop. Hosted by Kim Gouchie, it features Mama Mihirangi & The Mareikura, Ethan de L’Air, and my newest favourite, Krut, that lovely young woman from Ukraine.
After that, the Main Stage will be firing up with performances by Highway 61 Reimagined, Mel Parsons, Iris DeMent and Grace Petrie, and just before the fireworks, James Vincent McMorrow.
Etran de L’Aiir will close out the night.
