When I visit Thamuang, I really enjoy playing in the 'Glong Neow' band. It is a loose collection of the some of village men folk playing traditional Isaan drums (glongs) to the accompaniment (or is it the other way round?) of a pin, which is an ornate three string guitar. The music is not varied, it is not particularly melodic to the western ear, neither is it necessarily in tune; but it is authentic and a great deal of fun. It is my way of communicating with the village and joining in, and they seem to like my company, or at least tolerate me.
I have blogged several times before on events involving the band - from the ordination of monks to a battle of the bands, but playing at the Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival parade is a real treat.
Firstly, not all village bands are invited, and secondly as far as they know a farang has not performed in a band at the festival before. Naturally, I have been looking forward to this for a long time.
The events leading up to the parade involved a few practice sessions in the streets around the village. Khamma's son Yo is a very keen dancer, and very good as well I might add. The dancers had most work to do as far as learning the intricate movements and shaping the hands and body to represent the dance. As far as the band was concerned, it was as much to provide the music as anything was, because I do not think there are any more then three tunes they can, want or are able to play. That is not decrying from the sound they create, because it is very authentic of the village.
The way in which the village comes together for such events is very interesting. As many as forty or fifty dancers and twenty odd members of the band, make an event involving nearly every family. This is very special.
Khamma's son was up at 1:30 am on the great day! There is a lot preparation required for making up and dressing correctly, and with the parade starting at 9:00am, there was not a moment to be wasted.
As for me, 6:00 am seemed early enough to wake up and a saunter up to the meeting point for 7, as planned (for once) for the traditional blessing, followed by a quick practice to get the adrenaline pumping.
We loaded up the truck with the amplifier and six speakers powered by a huge battery that probably takes a week to fully charge. The drums were safely stowed away, which is more than can be said for the thirty or so passenger’s squatting and hanging on to any available space in the back.
We arrived in Ubon and parked the truck in a temple close to the start point. One of the reasons for the Candle Festival is celebrate the end of the rainy season, unfortunately, it had rained the night before and the temple grounds resembled scenes similar to Glastonbury
We quickly prepared our traditional clothing of jackets and sarong like skirts. Most items were co-ordinated, but the array of headgear and footwear left much to be desired. Again, this did not detract from the fun we having, and the banter was as good as any I have experienced.
The sun made its appearance, and it became hotter as we grouped with our traditional dancers and a last minute addition of another group displaying traditional Isaan life of growing rice, fishing and general frolicking around.
We slowly made our way into the parade. Many spectators pointed and smiled when they spotted the farang in the glong neow. My ear tuned in to pick out the word 'farang' in their chatter. Smiles, thumbs up, handshakes and posing for photographs became the routine for me. I was in the spotlight, and I must admit, it was pretty good!
One enterprising young man gave each member a baseball cap advertising his insurance company, so at least now our head gear looked good, but the footwear was a right off.
We entered the main grandstand viewing area and the guests of honour greeted us enthusiastically. The commentator introduced each group, and, most importantly, the cameras were in abundance. It was a great atmosphere and everyone smiled and waved at our performance. I think there were only a few glong neow bands in the whole procession, so we must have been a little different. Of course, the star attractions in the parade are the magnificent wax carvings celebrating scenes from Buddha's life. It is impossible to describe the fantastic detail of carvings and to relate their scale, for they are beyond the justice of words. A tractor pulled each creation closely watched by several attendants whose job it was to make sure the overhead power cables did not get in the way, and to spray the wax with water to prevent the sculptures from melting.
Meanwhile, our route took us through the centre of Ubon and the crowds lined the streets. In fact, it reminded me of the time I ran the New York
Eventually, after three hours and rising temperatures we reached the end of the parade. Somebody bought the whole entourage an ice cream each, and we wearily made our way back to the truck for sticky rice and chicken.
What a fantastic morning I had with the village folk of Thamuang. It was a privilege and I felt honoured that they took me into their lives.
I am looking forward to next year already.
As Khamma and I walked back to Owerrrouse, I spotted one of the band members in his rice field. He was already back at work, in the searing heat, working in the same way they have worked in this part of the world for centuries. In the morning, he had celebrated his tradition and in within ten minutes of returning home he was back into the reality of Isaan farming. This was my abiding memory of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment