Travel Malaysia Commission

A formula of afternoon music workshops in replica longhouses, impromptu jam-sessions, plus 3 evening stage performances drew in crowds by the thousands who paid RM250 for 3-day passes to revel in this 11th reincarnation of Sarawak's biggest and best musical bash.

One winning draw must be the iconic venue of a well lived-in Sarawak Cultural Village with indigenous longhouse buildings, walkways and gardens following the terrain of the land beside the lake. Spaces are well planned. Those wishing to avoid crowds can sit under open skies watching and listening to performances relayed to tall projection screens and powerful speakers positioned beside the water for a thoroughly mesmerising effect. Sonja from Albany NY says back home, you attend such concerts held in huge open spaces - think football fields - and of course pay hundreds of US dollars for the pleasure.

Food and beverage stations are conveniently located. Those housed in main buildings worked best for me because when it rained, I was comfortably seated eating a hot Roti sardine pancake dipped in curry sauce - chased down with a frothy Teh Tarik. Overhead, an electric fan blows away the mugginess even as it rained buckets outside. But as happenns in the tropics, we have intense showers for a short while and then it clears. The rest of the evening is wonderfully cool and there's no sticky humidity. Once again your world is perfect, and its best if your body's moving in synch with the music pumping out from main stage.

This was opening night and at entrance turnstiles, they strap you with a green wrist-band so you can move freely in and out of the village thereafter. The air is heavy with humidity. The moisture sticks on your shirt and you can smell rain is imminent. In Kiasu fashion, we pass the heaving masses fronting main stage and head for higher ground, a tall Community Hall on stilts is set quietly back from the crowds. Here chilled cans of beer cost RM 8 and Colas go for RM2 each. Within minutes of settling down on the wooden floor, a gentle shower starts pitter pattering then increases in intensity. But the show is already blasting away, moving ahead on its own momentum with a crowd determined to have a good time - rain or no rain. Sounding gongs and clashing cymbals rent the air. Soothing flutes, violins and fildles play, and the music just kept flowing.

Follow the crowd and all boardwalks lead to main-stage. Opening act SeniDa - Sarawak Cultural Village's own dance troupe portray it's rich traditions and cultural diversity. One dance weaving into the next, they wow the audience with colourful costumes, deft steps and darting moves accompanied by whoops and primal screams. For the finale an Iban Warrior spins spread eagled 12 feet high atop a twirling bamboo pole with music rising to a crescendo. The crowds cheer and applaud only to have the MC darken the stage and move the spotlight - and with it the audience - to a nearby hillside stage where another band begins playing.

This evening sees an eclectic mix of music from Malaysia, Palestine, Philippines, UK. Some were traditional, complex and not so easily understood. Still the crowd is supportive and generous with applause. Read the crowd well. Give them what they've come for...a stream of tunes and percussive rythms they can sway chant, clap, stomp and if possible head bang to. And inspite of reservations from the purists amongst us, connecting the music with the crowd was what really mattered.

Among the crowd favourites this evening was Fadomorse from Portugal. Some said they were not true to Portugal's Fado musical genre which is melancholic, full of angst and longing for a lost love that can never be.. retrieved? Instead, Fadomorse's music that evening was lively and vigorous, keeping the crowds swaying and stomping even as the rain kept up an intermittent drizzle. Raincoats and umbrellas glistening wet showed you came well prepared. The grassy grounds soon turned into squishy seas of clay reflected in the blue and yellow glare of sweeping limelights, but the people partied on.

Saturday night was reported to have the best performers and the biggest crowds, so much so hundreds were turned away when organisers closed the main entrance at 9.45pm as the crowd was getting too big. Sarawak Tourism Board CEO Gracie Geike said 9,063 music fans bought tickets to the concert on Saturday and this huge turnout was because it was a weekend and the weather was good. Our Singapore group actually missed all this excitement.

Saturday Adventures: . We slipped away Saturday morning for a 30 hour wilderness explorer with Outdoortreks hosts Eunice & Malcolm Jitam, Iban adventurers you may visit with confidence at http://www.bikcloud.com/ They'll help you suss out the Proboscis monkey on a photo shoot, show you some scenic tracks for serious mountain bikers, help novices climb intimidating rockwalls or abseil down a cliff. Our friends went 4X4 offroading for the day and all got back together late afternoon at Camp El, a 50 acre retreat just an hour by road from Kuching. A clear stream runs thru the property where we splashed in and soaked away the dust and grime of the day then headed back for a thorough clean up at washrooms with high pressure water showers piped from an Artesian spring 3km away.After a slow 3 hour BBQ dinner with coffee and easy banter, we retreated to clean bunks and slept like babes. Must be the fesh air in these cool forest glades that allows serenity to seep into you quite unawares. This camp is basic and best of all - kept clean. Dormitories can house up to 100 people and at "around RM 6 each per day" is one cost effective facility I would like to visit again just to sleep in the bunks. Email: best@bikcloud.com for personal or group Outdoor Adventure advice.

Sunday Night: Tonight they wrist-band you in pink, the music starts at 7.30 pm and the rain promptly follows suit. However, most people come prepared with raincoats and umbrellas. Fast Learners. We see quite a number walking barefoot too! Its simply going back to Iban basics

The grounds fronting main-stage have become like quicksand 12 inches deep and keeps eating flip-flops. Sandles get swallowed in the dark. And it bothers no one as they've come for the music. At afternoon workshops you get to hear unique sounds from demonstrations of esoteric instruments like the Sape, tablas or native Lutes. But at main-stage, with thousands weaving and gyrating in the night, all that matters is that it be loud, elevates your mood, and makes you wanna swivel your hips some more.

Tonight's line up reflects the best of Sarawak, Greece, India, Japan and the UK. As one band exits main-stage, another seamlessly takes over at hill-stage. Everything goes smoothly with rain softly drizzling. Then at 10.30pm, an intimidating presence takes centrestage.

“Voodoo King” Nickens Nkoso, tall and lanky wearing a traditional Masai robe reaches out to the audience with piercing eyes. The percussionist, singer and dancer leads the Kasai Masai band from the Congo now based in London. Named after the Kasai river and the cattle owning Masai tribe, they play ancestral music rooted in the healing power of percussion and chanting. This is combined with provocative sounds of the Congolese folk guitar with the sensual growl of the saxophone. They lead the audience into a trance, a fusion of African grooves with Reggae. Think a new version of Paul Simon's Graceland. They've got the crowd moving, and grooving and swaying and moaning. We slip away satiated and exhausted, happy knowing well the party's not about to stop till well past midnight.

New Rope String Band (United Kingdom), Yakande (Gambia/Guinea), Pinikpikan (the Phillipines), Adel Salameh (Palestine), Ross Daly Quartet (Greece), Fadomorse (Portugal), Kasai Masai (Congo), Hiroshi Motofuji (Japan), Oikyataan (India), Beltaine (Poland), Sheldon Blackman and the Love Circle (Trinidad and Tobago).
From Malaysia: Anak Jati Bisaya Orchestra, Kan'id. And from Sarawak Cultural Village - SeniDa and Tuku Kame.