WOMAD Abu Dhabi is back for its second year from 22nd-24th April with a bigger-than-before line up of 24 eclectic acts coming from all corners of the globe. Abu Dhabi Week caught up with some of the artists ahead of the three day festival

Transglobal Underground (UK)
This will be our first time to the region, and coming from London we’re looking forward to the weather and hitting the beach... oh, and the performance! It’ll be interesting to play for an Arabic audience because our music has always had a strong Arabic and Asian influence. We’ll be featuring the sitar, dhol and Indian vocal arrangements and we will perform the entire set backwards but standing sideways. Not really. But expect lots of music from our 17 year career.Don't miss: Hakim because we collaborated with him a few years back. The only problem is our workshop coincides with his performance – hopefully we can catch some of his set.

Damian Marley

Hanggai (China)
We’ve never been to Abu Dhabi so we can’t wait to perform. We’ve heard that the people are very hospitable, so in return for that we would like to share with them some of our music from the grasslands. We’re also really excited to see if the Abu Dhabi desert is similar to the desert we have in Mongolia. We have a song about the Gobi desert – maybe we'll make one about this one as well!

Don't miss: Rachid Taha, because he performs such good crossover music. Many of this year’s performers are new to us so we’re looking forward to hearing them.

Le Trio Joubran (Palestine)
We’ve performed in Abu Dhabi before but performing for WOMAD will be a one-of-a-kind experience for us so we’re really excited. With such a huge, diverse crowd, we know we need to make even bigger efforts to attract their interest throughout the concert. We are sure it is going to be an unforgettable weekend.
Don't miss: The 2010 programme is so rich – we’re eager to take in any and everything on offer for us to see and hear.

Drummers of Burundi (Burundi)
This is our second WOMAD after London and we’re even more excited about Abu Dhabi because our last WOMAD gig was such a great experience. This is also our first time in Abu Dhabi and we’re interested to experience the culture (and to go for camel rides!). We also have a lot of surprises planned this year.
Don't miss: The junior Reggae King Damian Marley! We also really admire the slide guitarist Debashish Battacharya.

Babylon Circus (France)
It’s always exciting to visit somewhere new, especially when you have something to share, and we’re bringing the best we have to offer: our music. We’ve travelled to Arabic countries before but we heard there are few places like Abu Dhabi when it comes to hospitality.
Don't miss: Musafir Gypsies of Rajasthan, and we already know and love Femi Kuti because we’ve performed with him before.

Rachid Taha (Algeria/France)
Performing for the first time in a country is exciting and offers me the pleasing challenge of communicating with a new audience. I’m really excited to meet new people, observe how people live in Abu Dhabi, eat some good UAE food and to generally have a great time!
Don't miss: Certainly Damian Marley, Femi Kuti and TheDrummers of Burundi.

 

Rango

Rango (Sudan/Egypt)
We can’t wait for the festival. Our band is named after a very special and rare Sudanese Xylophone called the Rango. The instrument we use is over 190 years old and is thought to have originally travelled to Egypt during the period of the slave trade following Egypt’s conquest of Sudan in the 1820s. We played a concert in London last October and The Times newspaper called the show “one of the most joyous and exhilarating concerts of the year.” We’re hoping this will also be the case in Abu Dhabi with 20,000 people on the Corniche on the Friday night!
Don't miss: As we have an interest in Bedouin music, we’re looking forward to seeing Al Ayala to have a taste of UAE’s historical roots.

Tinawiren (Mali)
We’ve played WOMAD many times but we’ve never peformed in Abu Dhabi so we’re very curious and eager to learn more about the region and to interact with the population (as well as the artists). Our performance is going to be pretty different and interesting this year as we’re collaborating with Medhi Haddab and some members of TV on the Radio. You’ll also hear from our brand new album ‘Imidiwan’.
Don't miss: We’re excited for the whole event and all the acts!

Dubai Drums

Dubai Drums (Dubai, UAE)
We love WOMAD. It’s a real ‘coming together of the cultures’ experience, like a meeting of tribes where everybody shares the beautiful rhythms of their cultures and creates bridges of friendship through music. We can’t wait to do some interactive community drumming circles this year – as well as the drummers’ procession - and continue to spread unity through rhythm.
Don't miss: The Drummers of Burundi, of course!

Kara Martin

 

 

 

For this and other events click here > Abu Dhabi Week Events Calendar