GlobalFest 2012 Review

Concerts in January tend to be hard to find, let alone a music festival. The lovely people at GlobalFest however see the month as a great time to hold their event and this idea has yet to prove them wrong. For those reading who are unfamiliar with what GlobalFest is; it is an annual festival which showcases twelve artists from all over the world who then occupy the three rooms of Webster Hall (Marlin Room, Ballroom, and Studio basement) and showcase their talents to the crowds. This year marks the 9^th incarnation of the festival and a true achievement due to the festival selling out. While outside I noticed conversations of excitement filling the air as crowd members would bring up how they traveled various states just to see these artists (some traveling as far from California and Canada just to attend the event).

Kicking off the night at the Marlin Room was Irish band The Gloaming. It was spectacular to see the band quiet the room at the beginning of their set with their intricate violin chords which found their way into everyone’s ears nicely. After catching a couple tracks off their set I headed downstairs to watch Haitian sensation Belo perform. I was left floored by not only his incredibly fun performance but also but people were struggling to get into the room because it was so packed. That’s one of the most amazing things about GlobalFest, people are never shy to let their excitement show for the artist who are playing.

Yemen Blues was already in full swing by the time I made my way to the ballroom and seeing band leader Ravid Kahalani smiling and holding his arms up in a passionate stance truly symbolized even more why GlobalFest was a truly special event. Between songs you could see him looking into the eyes of audience members with an expression on his face that read “wow I’m here now”

A large crowd amassed for Canzoniere Grecanico Salenno, a large ensemble band who hail form Italy. They’re energetic performance failed to disappoint as the crowd of GlobalFest clapped their hands while cheering throughout a good chunk of the bands set. Back at the ballroom, French super star Zaz began her set and it was wildly apparent from the crowd that her set was one of the most anticipated of the night. What blew me away about her performance was how seamless it was for her to incorporate 1920-30s style to her presence yet having tracks which just felt modern.

I caught some of Wang-Li’s performance in the Studio for a brief second, who is an incredibly talented musician from North East China. Something that has been said of Li’s way of playing music is that he draws power from silencing the crowd while he plays music and that was a talent which showcased greatly during his set as he played his primary instrument, the Jew’s harp.

The last performance I caught before having to retreat was Mayra Andrade and her band from both Cuba and France. After her first song Mayra admitted to feeling incredibly nervous in-front of the crowd who filled the entirety of the Marlin Room. Everyone began to showcase looks of confusion because during her singing the only emotion that showed was confidence. After a nice applause from the crowd Mayra and company started their second song of the night, showing the crowd that confidence just wasn’t a fluke but rather a product of their passion.

Along with photos from the event you’ll find an image which gives a synopsis of each of the artist that played GlobalFest that night.

Be sure to also visit twitter facebook and the official website for more info on GlobalFest.