baka to eden

On our first visit to Eden, we were invited to gift aid our entrance fee (thus making it a donation rather than a charge) giving the Eden Project more money and, in return, giving us free entry passes for the next year. We did it, thinking we'd not use the passes given that we live just a little too far from Eden for a day visit.

It's Jungle season at Eden at the moment so in addition to all the usual plants and sculptures and stuff, there are a few jungle-themed activities going on - face painting and craft activities for the kids, drumming groups on the stage, a carnival on Thursdays and live music in the evenings from the rainforest areas of the world.

After our rock adventure in Looe, we headed back to Eden to hear Baka Beyond - a band describing themselves as a blend of celtic music and music from the Baka tribes in Cameroon. Interesting mix?

The chilled out atmosphere of the warm temperat biome was a great backdrop for their music - stage surrounded by citrus trees heavy with fruits, audience nestled between trees, bushes and herbs. The music was more Baka than Celtic I think, although that might have something to do with the way the fiddle was set so low in the mix you couldn't really hear what he was doing.

The singers were great - choreographed to perfection and hocketing melodies as if it was the easiest thing in the world. It isn't. Hocketing is a technique often used in folk music in which two musicians perform a melody together by singing or playing alternate notes. It's very difficult to do, especially keeping the rhythm going and keeping in time with the rest of the band and these guys did it SO fast!

We had a fantastic evening which could only have been improved by a longer gig and a glass or 2 of Merlot.

So... we persuaded Mum and Dad to come back with us on Thursday evening to hear Latin band Duende. It was... nice... but not as good as Baka. Latin music is much more rhythm based so was harder to listen to than the Baka pieces. It's great to dance to but I don't dance, much less Mum dancing and Dad and Dan, both of whom probably would dance given half a chance, opted not to dance with each other and stood and watched too.

Three visits to Eden for just £7, including 2 live gigs. Nice.