Barrio, Hajek Plaza
Adelaide Festival Centre
Thursday, March 8, 2011

An evening of screaming never sounded this good, and these two intimate ensembles – featuring musicians from Indonesia, Korea and Australia between them – put stadium acts with their rows of Marshall amps to shame for sheer explosive power and vocal chops.

Senyawa and Chiri are the kinds of acts usually seen turning the concept of traditional world music on its head at WOMADelaide, but performed here as part of the neighbouring Adelaide Festival’s surprisingly diverse contemporary music series, Dreamers. Perched on a padded milk crate in the outdoor “Barrio”, surrounded that night by a shanty town of local crafts kiosks, ad hoc art installations and creatively costumed street performers, I had a truly transcendent experience.

The duo Senyawa hails from Yogyakarta, the Javanese arts capital of Indonesia. The local style of male singing comes as a shock to most who hear it for the first time, but Rully Shabara takes it to the next level with ripping shrieks and ferocious outbursts that could sit just as easily within a hardcore rock or black metal band – certainly his gangster-like outfit of leather jacket, black gloves...