When World of Music and Dance comes to town, you can expect a night of auditory sensation, musical discourse and cultural infusion. And when it is free, do be prepared for a full-house attendance.

The University Cultural Centre was full on Aug. 22 when Womad was brought onto the National University of Singapore campus for the first time by NUS Centre For the Arts and ExxonMobil Campus Concerts.

Made to resemble the actual festival held at Fort Canning Park, this 10^th year anniversary of Womad saw seven international bands play gigs back-to-back and simultaneously at three UCC venues for free, leaving audiences spoilt for choice.

Opening act, Iranian father-son duo Ensemble Shanbehzadeh warmed up the early audience by performing ancient instruments of the Iranian culture.

The crowd was quickly lured into the indoor theatre to catch highly-acclaimed Scottish band Shooglenifty.

Their eclectic blend of violin, drums, and guitars fusing folk music with electronica prompted sporadic dancing in the crowd. Violinist Angus R. Grant also invited audiences to step forward to dance to their beats.

But the audience saved their energy for the last two performances. 

The first was one-man band Muntu Valdo from Cameroon. He single-handedly played a deceptively full set as he pounded out percussive strums on his guitar that acted as percussion and musical accompaniment to his harmonica-playing and vocals.

The audience was up on their feet by the time he was done and prepared for crowd-favourite last act Johnny Kalsi and Dhol Foundation member Kalps.

The duo turned up showmanship a notch with their Bhangra beats to get the crowd dancing but not before teasingly trying to teach them the complex drum-playing hand-leg coordination that was hopelessly difficult to follow.

To make up for the absence of other drummers from the Dohl foundation, Kalsi had to improvise with the aid of technology. He layered the bass, tabla, keyboards, and vocals to perform his final number, “Love With No End”, which is on his latest album, “Drums and Roses”. 

And in a night dominated largely by consummate male performers, South Africa’s Mahotella Queens stood out as the only all-women group whose music is inspired by gender politics and inequality.

The trio’s set of liberation music was performed for various causes in the past including the ending of Apartheid in 1994.

Their performance took on a heightened symbolism when they rallied for the cause of women’s rights and the crowd could only gladly and willingly oblige by cheering. 

Besides the free concerts, two free music clinics taught audiences musical possibilities of various instruments. 

Randolf Arriola from Gibson guitars held one session, and another joint session was by Niger group Etran Finatawa and the NUS Chinese orchestra.

To find out more about the festival and the artists mentioned, go to www.womadsingapore.com.