A musical voyage through Aboriginal Australia: Black Arm Band’s Dirtsong
On 26 March, Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre hosted Dirtsong, a concert by the acclaimed Indigenous collective Black Arm Band, with guest artist Paul Dempsey. The performance first premiered to sold-out audiences during the 2009 Melbourne Festival.
Black Arm Band draws together celebrated Aboriginal singers, musicians, performers and actors to present and honour Australian Indigenous music, stories and identity. Dirtsong draws its inspiration from the words of Miles Franklin Award winner Alexis Wright and leads listeners on a powerful sonic expedition across Australia’s cultural heartland.
Against a breathtaking backdrop of moving images and text, the show presents unforgettable songs in 11 distinct Aboriginal languages. The extraordinary roster of featured performers is backed by a superb ensemble drawn from Melbourne’s finest jazz musicians. Paul Dempsey also contributes a number of English-language protest songs.
Though Dirtsong is billed as a concert, its stage is dominated by striking visuals in black, white and grey — footage of “elders singing their country,” “spirit talking to you, it comes in dreams,” and images bearing messages such as “sitting in the land, this land she’s alright” and “we are made the same, you and I.” Much as the Australian landscape towers over its people, these on-screen projections dwarf the band, casting the musicians in bold silhouette against pictures of country, community and individuals.
The visuals do not exist in isolation, however. The songs and music — delivered by featured artists including Emma Donovan, Deline Briscoe, Ursula Yovich, Trevor Jamieson, Yirrmal and Mark Atkins — intertwine so seamlessly with the imagery that one cannot be separated from the other. As Donovan croons her delicate melody, early-morning mist from the film seems to drift onto the stage, with no artificial haze required.
Most of the pieces are sung in Indigenous languages, yet music transcends language. Audiences are able to travel the journey alongside the performers without needing translation. The songs in Dirtsong explore love, sorrow, loss, celebration and — without accusation — anger, rebellion and determination. One melody was recognisable as “My Island Home,” famously performed in English by Christine Anu; sung in its original language in this concert, the piece becomes extraordinarily powerful, reaching into the soul and sending shivers down the spine.
The Black Arm Band’s ensemble includes some of the finest instrumentalists in Australia: Andrea Keller, Nigel Maclean, Julien Wilson, Michael Meagher, Greg Sheehan and Genevieve Lacey. Live sound engineer John O’Donnell deserves special mention; he draws every nuance from each voice and instrument, allowing their distinct personalities and glory to be fully experienced — a feat many aspire to but only a handful achieve.
Dirtsong is not merely a concert — it is a journey, a full performance. One memorable moment occurs when a drum kit is assembled on stage from backyard paraphernalia — paint tins, hubcaps, buckets and assorted odds and ends — set in front of a graphic of an old wrecked car. These pieces coalesce into a complete instrument, sparking a thrilling drum battle between the formal kit and the homemade one. The sound from the backyard kit was remarkably sharp.
The instrumentation itself was fascinating to watch, spanning generations and continents. Atkins performed on the didgeridoo, playing side by side with Maclean on electric violin, a grand piano and a recorder. The true genius of the Black Arm Band lies in its ability to blend these seemingly disparate influences — along with Indigenous language and voice — into something beautiful and harmonious. Perhaps that is a vision for the future.
The show concludes with a return to the land. A pile of red dirt has rested downstage centre throughout the performance and, coming full circle, Jamieson and Yirrmal sit with it, honouring and intertwining with the earth before the final songs: “sitting in the land,” “land strong with law.”
Sadly, the Black Arm Band held only this single performance at Darebin, but two more shows are scheduled in Tasmania that weekend. The show is well worth the effort to travel — it is truly magnificent.