The "ooh-ahh" for Friday was the opening ceremonies scheduled at the Woodland Stage on the grounds at 4:00pm. Peter Gabriel was to arrive via helicopter at 3:50pm to be greeted by King County Executive Ron Sims, then at 4:10 he was to introduce the Brazilian band Amizade, who would be the first to play this year's event.

I admit that I planned to leave neurotically at around 3:00pm to catch the opening ceremony. Once we arrived at Marymoor Park the once hazy Seattle skies started to brighten. There was a decent-sized crowd--and not too many of the to-be-expected patchouli-laden, Birkenstock-wearing kind were in sight. Instead, the crowd was agreeably diverse in both age and ethnic background. There were a lot of parents with young kids, and a playground on the park grounds proved convenient for children and parents alike.

As I hiked along the fence to get to the media check in, the multi-colored WOMAD flags gloriously waved in the skies as a warm welcome to the festival grounds.

Amizade  At check-in, I was told that the opening ceremonies were delayed and to expect for it to start around 5:00pm at an undetermined location. Instead of moping around for an hour to find out what stage the opening ceremonies were held, I gravitated over to the Woodland Stage where the opening to hear Amizade. The band featured Seattle musicians who came from two different regions in Brazil: pianist Jovino Santos Neto and Eduardo Mendonça. Amizade generated some contagious polyrhythms with Guil Guimarães (bass), Jeff Busch (drums), Randy Neal (guitar, mandolin) and special guests from Vancouver: Mestre Marcos Barrão (percussion, capoeira), Barrãozinho (percussionist, capoeira), and Aurinha (dancer).

Amizade displayed a liveliness and playfulness, a perfect kickoff for a music festival indeed. Consequently, my disappointment of the delayed preliminaries waned as the Brazilian rhythms infused my body and watching the acrobatic feats of the capoeira dancers was the perfect remedy to lift my spirits. This was definitely where true festivities began. Who's Peter Gabriel? This was the opening ceremony.  -Hope Lopez

Isaac Hayes  What a rare opportunity to have Isaac Hayes perform in the Northwest. Once I heard that the legendary soul artist was to perform at WOMAD, it was on my priority list to check out, and at the mainstage Hayes got the crowd going with some of his classic hits.

Before he was known to South Park viewers as Chef, Hayes was the hot, buttered soul--the black Moses to many R&B aficionados. He started his career as a session player/composer/producer for the Memphis soul label, Stax. In 1969, his versions of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Walk on By" made it to the Top 40, making him one of the top R&B performers of that year. In 1972, Hayes was the first African-American to win an Oscar for best Musical Score for Shaft, which became as much of a signature trait for him as his distinct look of the fine, buff, bald and bearded, dark shades and glistening gold chain-wearing, smooth soul singer. Hayes also heads up a humanitarian foundation under his own name, and in the '90s he was enthroned as King of Ghana with the name Nene Katey Ocansey.

History lesson is over. My point is that Ike is more than the entertaining South Park culinary figure. So as soon as he hit the stage and I heard an audience member yell out, "Chef, you rock!" I knew that my ideal scenario for seeing Isaac Hayes wasn't going to happen. Not that his set was less than the laid back, funky, soul suite that we would expect from the huge band that backed him, but to think that I would get Wattstax at WOMAD would be a Sisyphean attempt on everyone's part.

The set pretty much consisted of songs that would appeal to the three generations of his fans. With elaborate and extended intros and endings, the full band, with terrific backup singers to complement is sultry basso vocals, often lent itself more to a laid back vibe rather than inspiring some booty shaking. However, there were moments that would rev up the crowd, including the intro to "Shaft," from which he did "Do Your Thing." Blaxploitation fans further got their fill with the smooth "Ellie's Love Theme," also from Shaft.

My favorite part of the evening were his selections from Hot Buttered Soul. The much-sampled intro of his version of the Dionne Warwick classic "Walk on By" was great to hear live with real instrumentation. Plus, to hear "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" was terrific, even if Ike claimed that he had no idea what the title of that song meant.

And just when things were progressing along, Ike just had to do "Chocolate Salty Balls" from the 1998 release Chef Aid: The South Park Album. Yikes.  -Hope Lopez

Blind Boys of Alabama  No matter what your religious convictions are, the Gospel presented by The Blind Boys of Alabama will move you and make you move. To promote their new release on Real World, Spirit of the Century, the group brought black church music to Marymoor Park and graced us with their presence this year at WOMAD.

At the Windmill Stage the crowd around the front was sparse at first, but as soon as the gospel group began to create their soulful boogie woogie, droves of people (mostly tall folks) began to move up to the stage. Starting with "Run on for a Long Time," singer Charles Fountain and his group got the audience moving with a traditional that has a highly rhythmic groove punctuated by incredible harmonies emanating from the members' pipes. Next came the beautiful hymn "My Lord, What a Morning." Being diminutive in stature, I felt like Zacchaeus wanting to see Jesus, but unfortunately there wasn't a nearby tree for me to climb. With many futile attempts to get closer to the stage for a better view, and to get some photos, I gave up and headed off to the side of the stage to hear the music.

The music really speaks to your spirit. Traditionally, the call-and-response in traditional Gospel is done by the individual singer, and the choir (here the secular crowd) became the vocalists to Fountain and Carter's chorus. Following was "Nobody's Fault But Mine," sung by Jimmy Carter, Clarence Fountain, George Scott and Joey Williams. A traditional song with its repetitive chorus and bluesy, slower Gospel sound, it inspired the audience to sing along as guest guitarist David Lindley brought out its soul from his dobro. "Play it David. Play that thing," said Fountain.

With the intro to "Across The Bridge", vocalist Carter said, "We didn't come here to Seattle to find Jesus--we brought him with us." Next came a rather unique rendition of "Amazing Grace" done to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun." The upbeat "Look Where He Brought Me From" inspired the deceivingly frail looking Carter to hop into the crowd. This definitely evoked a lot of church clapping and arm flailing as if we were in a church jubilee.

Ending the set with "Soldier," a great number that left the crowd singing, "I'm a soldier, in the army of the Lord." Whether you're thanking God or some other higher power or to the universe in general, the Blind Boys' undoubtedly presented a music that had a broad appeal of speaking to the human soul. Who would have thought that at WOMAD, you could get your praise on?  -Hope Lopez