MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
We arrived yesterday in Melbourne to find the city in the middle of hosting the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which are just about as big a deal as the Olympics. (Who knew?) Like the Olympics, they're held every four years in a different city, and 72 Commonwealth countries compete in a range of sporting events. Right now the city is buzzing, games-related advertising and merchandise is blanketing the city, public transportation schedules have been altered, and there are thousands of foreign visitors and police in the streets--exactly like Atlanta ten years ago.
One cool thing is that in addition to the sporting events, there's a cultural festival going on throughout the city as well, so there's a lot of free music, art, etc. So tonight after completing a self-guided walking tour of the city's waterfront, I headed to the park and saw several international artists perform: First up was Miriam Makeba, "Mother Africa," the legendary South African singer who's worked with Paul Simon and performed for President Kennedy, and who at 73 is still belting 'em out (although she announced that she would be retiring soon). Her band consisted mostly of her children and grandchildren, which I thought was pretty interesting. Then I saw the Dhol Foundation, led by Johnny Kalsi of the Afro-Celt Sound System. The band consisted of an electric guitarist and seven percussionists: five dhol players, a tabla player, and a kit drummer (plus some samples and sequenced stuff). They were really good, and by the end of their set had whipped the crowd into a complete Punjabi frenzy. I then ran over to Federation Square so I wouldn't miss Talvin Singh and Tabtek, who performed a set of cool Indian-influenced electronica with computer-aided visuals. (I'd liked his music before, but hadn't heard too much of it until tonight--it was really good as well.)
Oh, and another odd "performance" I saw tonight: 72 giant metal fish sculptures (each a different species representing one of the 72 Commonwealth countries) are arranged in a line in the middle of the Yarra River, which runs through Melbourne. At various times during the night, they turn into fountains and "perform" to colored lights and music. Bizarre....
We arrived yesterday in Melbourne to find the city in the middle of hosting the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which are just about as big a deal as the Olympics. (Who knew?) Like the Olympics, they're held every four years in a different city, and 72 Commonwealth countries compete in a range of sporting events. Right now the city is buzzing, games-related advertising and merchandise is blanketing the city, public transportation schedules have been altered, and there are thousands of foreign visitors and police in the streets--exactly like Atlanta ten years ago.
One cool thing is that in addition to the sporting events, there's a cultural festival going on throughout the city as well, so there's a lot of free music, art, etc. So tonight after completing a self-guided walking tour of the city's waterfront, I headed to the park and saw several international artists perform: First up was Miriam Makeba, "Mother Africa," the legendary South African singer who's worked with Paul Simon and performed for President Kennedy, and who at 73 is still belting 'em out (although she announced that she would be retiring soon). Her band consisted mostly of her children and grandchildren, which I thought was pretty interesting. Then I saw the Dhol Foundation, led by Johnny Kalsi of the Afro-Celt Sound System. The band consisted of an electric guitarist and seven percussionists: five dhol players, a tabla player, and a kit drummer (plus some samples and sequenced stuff). They were really good, and by the end of their set had whipped the crowd into a complete Punjabi frenzy. I then ran over to Federation Square so I wouldn't miss Talvin Singh and Tabtek, who performed a set of cool Indian-influenced electronica with computer-aided visuals. (I'd liked his music before, but hadn't heard too much of it until tonight--it was really good as well.)
Oh, and another odd "performance" I saw tonight: 72 giant metal fish sculptures (each a different species representing one of the 72 Commonwealth countries) are arranged in a line in the middle of the Yarra River, which runs through Melbourne. At various times during the night, they turn into fountains and "perform" to colored lights and music. Bizarre....
posted by John Kuge at 11:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home