Review: The Big Day Out, South Hill Park, Bracknell

Published 16 Jul 2010 15:00 0 Comments

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THE sun was shining, the drinks were flowing and the stage was set for The Big Day Out at South Hill Park on Saturday.

Families headed down to the arts centre in Bracknell for the one-day festival that was packed to the brim with music, entertainment, art, puppet making, face painting and even an underwater adventure.

Danielle Cumber went along to see some great bands taking to the stage...

**Limpopo at South Hill Park, Bracknell**

THE third act to hit the Explore The World Stage was Limpopo, named after the province in South Africa.

The band had a jazz, soul and reggae vibe to their songs, and claimed to have taken influences from all over the world.

The band, which has only been together for less than a year, is made up of lead guitarist Samuel Mugede, drummer and vocalist Tomson Chauke, bass player James Smith, saxophonist Jean Christophe Ballarini and Fungai Gahadzikwa on the mbira, an African musical instrument also known as a finger piano.

The use of different instruments gave the performance a fresh feel and the improvised, saxophone-driven melodies merged the jazz and African influences well.

The fact that the band looked like they were enjoying themselves had a rub-off effect on the audience, with one group of boys even starting a conga line as the carnival atmosphere took hold.

The performance area filled up as Limpopo were performing, as if drawn by the band's infectious music.

Frontman Tomson Chauke made a bid to "go out on a high" by teaching the audience some words to Shona, a type of African music, and a Macarena-esq dance routine with questionable lyrics about pepperoni and cheese.

It's safe to say that after Limpopo's uplifting performance, the summer party spirit was in full flow.

Limpopo also performed later in the day on the Global Café Stage.

**Arun Ghosh at South Hill Park, Bracknell**

ANOTHER Big Day Out highlight was acclaimed clarinettist Arun Ghosh from Manchester.

Arun Ghosh is a British-Asian clarinettist, composer and music teacher who has performed all over the country and at the Jazzahead Festival in Germany last year.

He uses the "spirit and language of jazz" and combines it with hip hop to create a musical genre on a whole other level.

Arun's use of the clarinet is outstanding, with the accompanying band playing a steady beat so that the clarinet melody shines.

Arun looked confident in his ability to amaze the audience with his talent and did not hesitate to talk to the audience and even warned them to wear suncream.

The band included Aref Durvesh playing the tabla and dholak, which added a mystical sound to the music.

Arun's debut album titled Northern Namaste is available at the website www.camoci.co.uk/arunghosh/

This article appeared in Royal Borough Observer 15 Jul 10

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