World Drums Festival

Got off work a little early today so I had time to head over to Berjaya Times Square to catch some of the acts there in conjunction with the World Drums Festival. Not all of the participating countries performed there today. The main show will actually be on tomorrow night at Dataran Merdeka.

The first group to perform today was The Diplomat of Drums from Malaysia who performed Bhangra beats on the drums.

When the Bhangra drums and a Scottish bagpipe were performed together, the fusion of sounds was quite hypnotic .

Next on was the group from the Trinity College, Kandy, Sri Lanka. They were the only group to incorporate dance moves in their performance and to feature elaborate costumes.

Events like these draw shutterbugs like honey to a honey bear

The lighting at this venue was atrocious with some areas overlit with the uneven spotlights and the other areas quite dark. I still haven't got the hang of using the new flash in wide open spaces like this where the bounce effect is of no use. So quite a lot of the photos today ended up overexposed or underexposed when I used the flash, or blurred when I decided to go without it. I'm gonna need a lot more practice with the flash at events like these before I can get results as good as the ones I got for the Live & Loud Concert.

Next, it was time for the group from Venezuela who performed several catchy Latin style numbers which got my feet tapping the whole time.

This is not a bunch of the mall's cleaners waiting to mop the stage after Venezuela's performance

It's actually the only group that really got the crowd wild, the Yawa Eco Drum Circle, also from Malaysia.

YAWA stands for Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam. This group of youngters incorporate everday objects and recyclable materials in their performance. It's so uplifting to see kids this young have so much passion in performing.

And their performance was truly captivating and highly energetic. So energetic that one of them broke the glass with his enthusiastic use of the drumsticks.

This is a short sample video clip of their performance. Sorry for the quality audio & video. I still can't afford to get the Viewty yet, so my old phone had to do.

For those interested to catch the main show which will feature performances by all of the participating countries, it'll be on at 8pm this Saturday 29th December at Dataran Merdeka. For those of you who don't intend to catch the show, better not go anywhere near the area as several road will be closed to traffic.

Honey bear just cannot resist the opportunity to pose for a photo :)