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 🙂

A Concert-Wise Look Back at 2013

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Here we are, 2014 has just started but what did 2013 bring me concert-wise?

2013 was probably one of the most musical I’ve ever had. I attended MANY concerts!

I started off with moving to Leeds (UK), for four months from February to June 2013. My stay in Leeds, given the UK bright and fantastic music scene, allowed me to attend a great number of concerts. I didn’t lose time and as soon as I got there I attended the NME Awards Tour at the O2 Academy in Leeds, where Miles Kane, Palma Violets, Peace and Django Django were playing. I just knew Miles Kane so the other bands were great discoveries. Concert-wise the highlight of my stay in Leeds was during Live at Leeds, a 3-day music festival offering people the chance to see many new and more established bands. During this festival I saw, among others, Tribes, The Pigeon Detectives and Maybeshewill. The latter band, although they played for less than 1h left a huge mark, their gig was mind-blowing. The last day of Live at Leeds was headlined by The Vaccines on Millenium Square, a British band that I love and that I had to see again. I rock n’ rolled with Kate Nash at The Cockpit and went to nearby Sheffield to see Biffy Clyro, what a show they put on!

London was not too far and I had the chance to attend some concerts there, like Iwan Rheon’s gig at the Bush Hall and Muse and Green Day’s huge shows at the Emirates Stadium.

Once back in good old Switzerland I took the chance to attend some of the many Festivals and Open Air that my tiny lovely country offers during the Summer! The first one was Open Air St. Gallen from 27 to 30 June 2013, where my sister and me volunteered. There, we fought the cold and the mud, and saw among others, Biffy Clyro, Haïm, Of Monsters And Men, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and the exclusive headliners Kings Of Leon! On the closing day of the festival, Denver-band The Lumineers brought the Colorado sunshine to St. Gallen and we later enjoyed dancing to Parov Stelar electro-jazz music.

A few days later I doubled the score by seeing Green Day for the second time in less than a month when I attended their concert at Moon & Stars, in my hometown Locarno.

The next Swiss festival I attended is one of the most renowned: Montreux Jazz Festival. Despite its name, the music it offers is not just jazz. I went there to see the newcomers Jake Bugg and Of Monsters And Men. The next day I saw an outstanding Ben Howard, supported by Daughter. I also saw Two Door Cinema Club which transformed the Montreux Jazz Lab in a lighted up disco dance floor!

Later on, I went to Paris to visit a friend of mine and it happened to be during FNAC Live, a free music festival held in front of Paris Town Hall. It was pretty crowded but we managed to see Miles Kane and Palma Violets!

As I do every year, I chose a few days in which to attend Paléo Festival Nyon, the biggest music festival in Switzerland. I chose to go when Arctic Monkeys and the Smashing Pumpkins were headlining. This was the first time I got to hear ‘Old Yellow Bricks’ live and it was absolutely fantastic. I also went on the Saturday when Blur were playing, definitely a must see!

There’s not a better way to end the Summer than with a music festival! So off I went as a volunteer to Zürich Open Air (29 August-1 September 2013). I loved the line-up, mainly that of the Friday: an indie-rock party with Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys (yes, again!). I couldn’t have asked for better! Earlier that day I sneaked in to see a bit of Arctic Monkeys’ soundcheck, what a treat! I also got to see, among others, Tom Odell, The XX and Ellie Goulding.

The end of the Summer meant end of the open air season but luckily not the end of the concert season! The next months were rather prosperous concert-wise. I got to see Miles Kane and Biffy Clyro for the third time this year! I saw for the first time Bastille and Kodaline and loved both concerts.

2013 was pretty kind with me concert-wise, I got to see many of my favourite bands again and I got to know a number of great ‘new’ bands. Thanks to my faithful concert buddies who helped making these moments memorable! Here’s to hope that 2014 will bring me as many concerts as 2013, or more… 😉