Milatsika

P arrived last week, which is the main reason why there was no blog post last Monday. I got the Blue Mango to wake up early and three of us came to fetch him at the airport, flower necklace in hand and instruments out. We certainly amused the people who were waiting for the passengers to come out. I think we were quite the attraction, as Dzaoudzi airport is a pretty boring place.

Anyway, last Friday, we went to see a music festival on the other side of the island. Its name was Milatsika, which means "our culture" in Mahorese Malagasy. There were several interesting singers on the programme, and we even happened to know a couple of them personally, which is always nice.

First up was Abdallah, who comes from the Comoros islands. Technically, Mayotte is one of those, but as it's been claimed by France, people talk about the Comoros as opposed to Mayotte. This singer comes from Grande Comore, which is the largest of the four Comoros islands, Mayotte included. Confused yet?

He's an interesting singer, with a nice-sounding group behind him. As it was all in Comorian, I didn't understand a word he said, but the rhythms were strong and he had a good voice.

Second was Del. Del is a friend of a friend, I've met him a few times before, played with him once or twice, but he's not the easiest to get along with. He doesn't smile much, and as he and another member of his group make their own traditional Mahorese instruments, they're not tuned in the same way as Western instruments so we have difficulties playing together. That probably explains why, when we did try, I ended up on the bongo drums.

I first met him two years ago. Two years ago, he played the same tunes he played on Friday. Hasn't changed a bit. I'm not so sure that that's a good thing, though, as it does get a bit repetitive. I can understand a singer repeating the same songs time and time again so that the audience can sing along, but folk music needs to be changed around a bit, otherwise it gets boring.

He was playing with a friend of ours called Abou, whose girlfriend is my age and who has just had a baby called Charlie. He was also playing with Abou's friends, Sourjee and another one whose name I can't remember, guys from Madagascar who we'd also met previously and who are lovely people.

The last one we stayed for - there were another two afterwards, but as the festival had started late, it was midnight by then - was Tritonik, a blues group from Mauritius. P loved them, I was a bit shattered by that time and not that keen. The singer had a very deep voice, he played the guitar and was accompanied by three percussionists, so there was a lot of tapping and stomping going on.

It was an interesting festival, mainly because of the technical aspects. This being Mayotte, therefore the middle of nowhere, nothing really seems to work at 100% of its potential. Something is always missing or has gone wrong. For this festival, there were signs in Mamoudzou (15km away) saying that the festival would be happening on the 18th and 19th of October in Chiconi, but no signs nearer the place itself. Nothing, once you got out of the capital city, to say where to go. Even in the village where the festival was held, there were no indications of something happening.

We happened on a barrier when looking for a parking spot, crossed through, walked under about ten tents and arrived at a chicken-wire fence with three people on the other side. A homemade plastic sign saying "Tikets" was hung up any old how over the top. A man took our entrance fees and gave us two beautifully-printed tickets with holograms on them, which we then exchanged for neon green festival bracelets at the next barrier.

The festival itself was in the basketball court, which had been closed off for the occasion. A big stage, brightly lit, with two huge mixing tables for the microphones and lots of different-coloured lights above head, two guys at the back of the court looking after the mixing tables and the light management table... and a small white tent off to one side, looking rather sorry for itself, which was selling beer.

The festival is known for its mixture of traditional music and modern influences, and that was just what the organization was as well. Beautiful tickets and flashy bracelets in the middle of nowhere on a basketball court with nothing to eat and not much to drink. Interesting. And all for about three hundred people.