In her 63 years on the planet, Angelique Kidjo’s cultural and humanitarian impact is difficult to summarise and to quantify. Five Grammy Awards, a Times Top 100 Most Influential list inductee, a UNICEF ambassador, and the founder of the Batonga Foundation, which empowers and educates girls in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kidjo began performing at six, alongside her musician father and choreographer mother, speaks and sings in five languages, and has traversed the globe, integrating and celebrating the diverse sounds she has found there. Returning to Adelaide, which she first visited in 1992 following the release of celebrated dance album Logozo, Kidjo gave fans who did not brave the Womadelaide heat a chance to dance in air-conditioned comfort and an encore for those who didn’t get enough in the Botanic Gardens.
As the world endures a raging and overwhelming polycrisis, Angelique Kidjo, who fled to Paris to escape political conflicts in Benin in the 1980s, is a beacon of hope. Touring in support of her 2021 release, Mother Nature, Kidjo’s performance of opening track from this release, Choose Love, was a poignant call to return to the resist the pull towards division and hatred. Backed by a four-piece of bass, percussion and keys, Kidjo showcased, with tracks like Free and Equal, Take It Or Leave It and Meant for Me that, even on her fifteenth album, her innovative creativity has not diminished. Given that the album is collab heavy, with guest artists such as African-Australian Sampha the Great, entirely faithful reproductions of the album was not possible, but Kidjo has more than enough stage presence alone.
Alongside more recent releases, Kidjo filled her 90-minute set with back-catalogue hits, such as Black Ivory Soul’s Afririka, performed with Young Adelaide Voices, and her Talking Heads’ cover Once In A Lifetime from Remain in Light; the latter was the first, but not the last, occasion that Kidjo summoned the seated audience to their feet. It was a joyous highlight of a set that was filled with them. While the crowd danced at times, Kidjo grooved across the stage unceasingly, including when paying tribute to the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, who she saw live while still in high school. You can only imagine how many of the Young Adelaide Voices will be similarly inspired by sharing a stage with Kidjo. Kidjo was supported by Western Australian Noongar-language singer songwriter and doctor of philosophy Maatakitj (Clint Bracknell), whose songs which revive language like Yornan (bobtail lizards), Kworlak (bullshark) and Woordawoort (dragonfly) were a timely reminder that some of the many sounds and languages that always were and always will be home on this continent. After more than three decades of Womad, Adelaide is probably Australia’s most appreciative world-music capital. On this night, that appreciation was on full display.
No Comments