A Concert-Wise Look Back at 2014

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2013 has been outstanding concert-wise but who would have guessed that 2014 would be even better? Of course that’s what I had hoped but knowing that it wasn’t an easy task I was slightly reticent. But then came The Liberation-Indie Nation (indie-nation.org), a website of indie culture based in Geneva, which sent me to loads of concerts and festivals as a free-lance journalist. This was all I ever dreamed of! Thanks to The Liberation I also had the chance to do my first interviews with artists and bands, needless to say that I had a blast, but let’s look back to what happened in order.

I started off the year by seeing Poliça at Les Docks in Lausanne, it was mine and my sister’s coup de foudre of the previous summer and proved to be amazing once more. Then in February, The Liberation sent me to cover Haim‘s concert at Härterei in Zürich, new venue for me and a great band which I was glad to see once again. On March 23^rd I saw Bastille again in Malley, another memorable performance by this great band. Then off with some good old rock n’ roll, dancing all night with The Baseballs at Les Docks on April 30th, an incredible show topped with 77 Bombay Street as a surprise guest. At the end of May I flew to London to see my beloved Arctic Monkeys at Finsbury Park along with Miles Kane, Tame Impala and Royal Blood. I made amazing discoveries and I finally saw The Last Shadow Puppets live as Alex Turner and Miles Kane joined to play “Standing Next To Me”. I had also a taste of a British open air festival, with sunshine and rain, of course.

Once back in Switzerland I started covering the summer festival season for The Liberation-Indie Nation with Caribana Festival in Nyon. A small but really good quality festival featuring big bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and Pixies. There I had the chance to interview, among others, Blood Red Shoes and Kodaline. After Caribana Festival, on June 9^th, I headed to Zürich to see Kings Of Leon at Hallenstadion. A beautiful gig despite the fact that the band seemed to be rushed and barely talked to the audience. While I was working at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, on Saturday 28 June I attended the Nuit des images, a big event organized by the museum. Besides photography and other great activities this event hosted also a double performance by Duck Duck Grey Duck. In the afternoon, they delighted the public with an acoustic set in the gardens and later at night they released all their energy, spreading their colourful notes into the pouring rain.

Kodaline & me after the interview at Caribana Festival, 5 June 2014

At the beginning of July I ventured myself to the huge Roskilde Festival, in Denmark for my very first festival outside Switzerland. It was an amazing experience and luckily I went with a Danish friend who knew it well and enjoyed my time with the locals. There I saw many music icons like The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder. Not to forget the mind-blowing surprise ending with Jack White and his band! Roskilde was immense in every way.

When I made my way back to Switzerland my long festival marathon continued. I went to see The Animen, an amazing Swiss indie-rock band, at the Festival de la Cité, in Lausanne where also Reptile Youth, a Danish rock band was playing. I saw Babyshambles at Montreux Jazz Festival with their unpredictable frontman Pete Doherty. Their opening act Von Pariahs was one of the greatest discoveries of my music summer. The day after, I went back after three years to one of my very favourite festivals in Switzerland: Gurtenfestival in Bern. Being back there was like finding myself at home again, I was familiar with most of the bands as well, I saw Kodaline and Bastian Baker for the second time in a few months. One of the most memorable gigs at Gurtenfestival was that of Franz Ferdinand, as the Scots’ energy was incredibly contagious at the point that the audience started entertaining the band by sitting down and doing the wave. I also saw Family Of The Year and Mighty Oaks which were part of the indie-folk soundtrack of the summer.

Bastian Baker & me after the interview at Caribana Festival, 6 June 2014

A few days break and then The Liberation sent me to cover the six days of concerts at Paléo Festival in Nyon. I’ve been going to Paléo every year since 2008 but this time I had the full experience of it as I could have a glimpse of the backstage as well. I saw 30 Seconds To Mars, The Black Keys, Stromae, Elton John, Cats On Trees and many many many others! I also interviewed Cats On Trees and Polar. On the 9^th of August I went for the first time to Heitere Openair in Zofingen, where among others had a fun time seeing The Vad Vuc, an Irish folk band from Ticino, and the brilliant Stromae once more. In the mid of August I went back to Open Air Gampel after 6 (!) years, there I saw an outstanding performance by Mando Diao which I had seen 6 years before in the very same place. Like back then it was memorable! I also made some great discoveries like Hozier and Clean Bandit; and enjoyed some hard rock and metal with Skindred and Volbeat. In Gampel I also had fun interviewing two great Swiss bands: YOKKO and Pegasus. I topped the bill and ended the summer with yet another new festival for me: For Noise Festival in Pully, where I interviewed Siôn Russell Jones and saw Beirut. A great end to an amazing summer of festivals. But I must admit I could barely stand at a concert after this long series of festivals.

On September 6^th I headed to Bern for NRJ Air a free (yes free!) event held at the huge Stade de Suisse hosting Kodaline, Jan Oliver, Pegasus and other artists. It was really cool and colourful. From the 19^th to the 21^st of September I attended the 6^th edition of Label Suisse, a free festival entirely dedicated to Swiss music which takes place every two years in the beautiful Lausanne. It’s pretty cool because it’s the city in which I live so the festival is right next door! This year it hosted more than 100 bands across seven venues: D!Club, Le Bourg, Les Docks, Le Romandie, EJMA, Church of St. François and last but not least the open-air stage on the Place Centrale. I saw some new acts like the talented Anna Aaron and danced a lot to the addictive rock n’ roll sound of Mama Rosin. Robin Girod, the singer of the latter band also happens to be the singer of Duck Duck Grey Duck, that I saw earlier in the Summer. Both bands are really cool! I saw The Animen again and I had a blast as usual, they even played some new songs for their next album that I’m really looking forward to!

Jan Oliver & me after the interview @ Caribana Festival, 7 June 2014

After the summer festivals it wasn’t over as I spent the autumn covering concerts for The Liberation, mostly at Les Docks, where, among others I saw The 1975 and The Notwist. On November 11 I ventured myself to yet another new venue, Ebullition in Bulle, where I interviewed and saw Maybeshewill, a mind-blowing post-rock band. Their support band Flood Of Red was also a great discovery! I also had the chance to see the mighty Ben Howard once more, this time at X-Tra Club in Zürich supported by the very talented Jack Garratt. Ben Howard presented his last album I Forget Where We Were and his gig was an absolute treat! I ended the year by seeing a mind-blowing performance by Mighty Oaks at Les Docks and with two tiny but great gigs at La Cave du Bleu Lézard in Lausanne featuring Samaris, Evelinn Trouble and Jordan Klassen. Check them out if you don’t know them yet!

I’m curious to see what awaits me music and concert-wise in 2015… I hope there will be lots of new and old bands, and of course more interviews and concert coverage with The Liberation! Thanks to my newer and older concert buddies who shared with me these great moments, here’s to hope that you’ll be up front with me also in 2015 🙂

ROSKILDE FESTIVAL (Denmark) – DAY 3, Saturday 5th July 2014

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Bottled in England, Apollo, 15h30-16h30

They’ve got a bit of everything from hip-hop to electro. Throughout their set they change singers, both guys and girls, so that the audience experiences different voices as well as different styles. They make the audience dance to their tunes no matter if some are only instrumental, others are in Danish and others in English. A various explosive mix for every taste!

Psyched Up Janis, Orange Stage, 17h-18h30

This Danish band is loud and rocks, the singer of the band, Sune Wagners, is also part of The Raveonettes. Psyched up Janis reunites in 2014 after having stopped playing in 2009. They have great riffs, which drag you into their music and never let go off. The singer has a great rather nasal voice which fits well with their rhythm! They’re entertaining and create a great atmosphere on the Orange Stage.

Icona Pop, Arena, 21h-22h

The Swedish duo Icona Pop takes you back to the ABBA era, both musically and visually through their flashy clothes. Their tunes sound great and get you dancing. Their most famous song “I Love It” sounds rather hard if compared to the other songs they play, which are rather soft pop and recreate the ‘60s dancefloor atmosphere.

 Arctic Monkeys, Orange Stage, 22h30-00h

This was the 7^th times I saw Arctic Monkeys (hell yeah!) but unfortunately it wasn’t among the best ones. Musically speaking they were good but singer Alex Turner seemed and sounded rather tipsy, he was slurring when he talked and so on. I guess he just had a bit too much booze to boost him before coming on stage, which however had the opposite effect.
They started the set with the constant and addictive beats of “Do I Wanna Know” followed by other songs from the AM album as they did in London at the end of May. The setlist they chose featured a bit too many slow songs in a row, too much to take for a Saturday night festival goer who remained stuck in their two first albums hoping they would play some old bangers. When they played songs like “My Propeller” and “Brianstorm” there was a great atmosphere. Although beautifully played the songs would have needed a bit more energy put into them. Alex Turner ended the concert with a rather cheap exclamation: “We’re sorry we have to leave, we would love to stay here all night with you but we have to go”, before starting to play the drums and guitar riffs of “R U Mine”. If they would have played something like “Mardy Bum” instead of uttering those words they would have made the audience 10’000 times happier. Perhaps their show at Finsbury Park was just too good to be repeated, here’s to hope that next time will be better and leave a more positive mark.

Interpol, Arena, 00h-1h

Their sound reminds me a bit of The Editors. The singer’s voice dips into your soul and ears. Their rock songs are deep and only ask to be singed along and danced to! Surprisingly the Arena is not filled, I wonder why. Even if you don’t know them their songs are great and they are entertaining on stage asking the audience to sing along and so on.

ROSKILDE FESTIVAL (Denmark) – DAY 2, Friday 4th July 2014

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Here comes the Friday, a day peppered with touching and soulful lyrics like those of Damon Albarn and Mogwai’s stunning mix of powerful instruments.

Seeed, Orange Stage, 17h-18h30

Seeed is a German band with great tunes accompanied by a festive attitude which makes them earn a lot of points. They got everybody dancing and falling for their fun groove. They are very entertaining live, me and my friend had never heard of them before but still they managed to get us into the right mood to dance like crazy to their catchy tunes. In reality the audience just had to watch the moves they were doing on stage and copy them. They sang at times in German and at times in English. They also did some covers of famous songs like “Yeah” by Chris Brown and replaced its text with another one. This was definitely one of the funniest and more entertaining acts of Roskilde Festival 2014!

Haim, Arena, 18h30-19h30

The three Haim sisters brought to Roskilde their California pop, along with their peculiar vocals and energy. The show was great, except for the voice-microphone being a bit too low making it harder to hear the lyrics. They spread their singles “Don’t Save Me”, “Let Me Go” and “Days Are Gone” throughout the entire concert rendering it nice also for people who were not familiar with their other tunes! They also went into a rock n’ roll jam in honour of their past times spent jamming in their house in LA. Tough sisters, keep an ear on them!

Damon Albarn, Arena, 20h30-22h

Damon Albarn is most famously known for being the Blur singer and the mind behind Gorillaz. At Roskilde he takes the Arena stage on his own, presenting his solo album Everyday Robots (Warner Music, 2014). He seems to have turned page with his previous bands, his songs sound different although he plays quite a few covers (by Blur, Gorillaz and The Good, The Bad And The Queen), but their rearrangement almost makes them unrecognizable. Very entertaining and smiling all the time he spreads his joy through the songs playing the piano and singing while he is accompanied by his band composed by guitarist, bassist, drummer as well as vocalists. Some of his songs are quite slow and quiet like the touching “Everyday Robots” which he played in the middle of the gig, letting his delicate voice be spread in the Arena. He also played two beautiful Blur songs “Out Of Time” and “All Your Life”. He comes back for an encore and surprises the audience by inviting on stage a guest: Kano, a British rapper who raps in the Gorillaz song “Clint Eastwood”, awakening the audience’ energy as everybody start singinag and jumping along to the song. Yet another surprise is to come, with Damon Albarn inviting on stage De La Soul, an American rapper with whom he plays Gorillaz’ “Feel Good Inc.”. Through these two songs the audience went literally crazy, jumping in all directions, after all who doesn’t know Gorillaz? This 1h30 min concert is the proof that Damon Albarn is well established also as a solo singer, making the public want for more both of his covers and his own songs.

Mogwai, Arena, 23h-00h

Scottish instrumental band Mogwai fill the Roskilde Festival Arena with a stunning build up of guitar riffs as well as drums beats. They take you into a forest of sounds from which it´s hard to depart. Between a song and another the singer says in a friendly Scottish accent “Cheers, thank you very much!”. This phrase contains one of the few words appearing in the entire set since the majority of their songs are strictly instrumental. However, they played a few songs containing vocals. If you’re not a fan of instrumental music you should try and listen to it live, it is an amazing experience which hopefully won’t disappoint you but will allow you to take a journey into majestic sounds without any need to keep a focus on lyrics. Welcome to another sound dimension, one that can’t be easily described but has to be purely and simply enjoyed!

ROSKILDE FESTIVAL, 29 June – 6 July 2014 (Denmark) – DAY 1, Thursday 3rd July 2014

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New country, new language, new festival! The festival actually started on Sunday 29 June already with a Warm Up programme, but I went there only for the four days where the music area was open. These four days (3-6 July) at Roskilde Festival were full of new things and great surprises! Starting perhaps from the announcement made on the first day that Drake, who was to close the Orange Stage on Sunday had cancelled because of illness and that nothing less than Mister Jack White, yep the pale singer of the White Stripes, was to replace him! The first thing that I thought was that my trip to Denmark was even more worth it now (sorry for Drake though!). I said I was expecting Roskilde to be big, it wasn’t, it was HUGE! For sure the biggest festival I’ve ever been too, and it was pretty crowded too, which did not make it easy to find the rather close spots I’m used to have at other festivals and concerts. Danish people being quite tall didn’t make it easier, but luckily there were big screens when all I could see on stage were a few ants playing.

DAY 1 – THURSDAY 3rd JULY, 2014

 

Outkast, Orange Stage, 18h30

Outkast played quite early on the Orange Stage. They took the audience through their songs from the last 20 years (yes, 20!). Ranging from hip hop to more lively pop tunes they certainly still know how to make you want to dance! They placed their best tunes in a way that even the people not familiar with them had the chance to enjoy themselves. Indeed, they played the infamous “Hey Ya”, the one everybody was waiting for, in the middle of the concert to get all excited and in the singing and party mood. Their music was fun although the attention was perhaps too much drawn on the slideshow pictures of naked women’ parts of the body behind the stage. Which makes you ask whether if after 20 years they had to draw attention for these images rather than their music, quite sad don’t you think?

Likke Li, Arena, 20h30-21h30

Perhaps the name won’t say much to you, but you know for sure her song “I Follow Rivers”, yes the one which sticks in your head and makes you want to sing it all day long. Swedish singer Likke Li has a beautiful and powerful voice reminding a bit that of Lana Del Rey for its softness. However, there was also a touch of rock in her singing live. Her other tunes ranged between songwriting and more pop songs. When she played “I Follow Rivers” the audience transformed itself into a beautiful chorus.

The Rolling Stones, Orange Stage, 22h-00h30

Rock n’ Roll legends The Rolling Stones would deserve a post of their own, their concert at Roskilde was certainly among the best shows at the festival this year. It is with an incredible (and certainly enviable) energy that Mick Jagger, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts endured for 2h30 on stage, no kidding. Throughout the set they played their great and evergreen rock n’ roll tunes. With Mick Jagger introducing the songs in Danish, creating in this way a great link with the audience! After all this years he certainly knows what the public expects from him and the band and that is why they don’t fail and are still such a huge and successful band. On stage there weren’t only the four Stones but also various musicians and vocalists. Keith Richards took Mick Jagger’s place as the lead singer for a few songs, which he enjoyed a lot. Mick Taylor joins in for “Midnight Rambler”, in which he plays guitar amazingly, drifting into an epic solo. For “Gimme Shelter” Mick Jagger is joined by vocalist Lisa Fischer who takes the floor and delights the public with her magnificent voice causing goose bumps. Following this, the amazing “Start Me Up”, sang and jumped along to by all the Roskilde crowd. After the Encore the Rolling Stones come back with a surprise: a chorus singing the lines “You can’t always get what you want”, as Rolling Stones join in in the song the Choir voices gently fade away. As an answer to this song they cunningly chose to close their set with the song everybody knows: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. As the song ends, fireworks start off behind the orange stage closing the 2h30min concert with a bang.

Seeing The Rolling Stones live is probably one of the most amazing experiences one can have, they made the history of rock n’ roll and they are still touring today, which makes them pretty exceptional and a must see for every person who loves rock.

Because this concert was so special and the setlist outstanding, it needs to be shared:

The Rolling Stones

Setlist

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Let’s Spend The Night Together

It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)

Tumbling Dice

Wild Horses

Doom And Gloom

She’s So Cold (song vote winner)

Out Of Control

Honky Tonk Women

BAND INTRODUCTIONS

You Got The Silver (with Keith on lead vocals)

Can’t Be Seen (with Keith on lead vocals)

Midnight Rambler (with Mick Taylor)

Miss You

Gimme Shelter

Start Me Up

Sympathy For The Devil

Brown Sugar

Encore:

You Can’t Always Get What You Want (with Vocal Linene choir)

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction