There is always a particular flavour to the moment the gates open on the first day of the festival. The fact that this year marks the 40th edition of Paléo made it an even more important moment, and the people milling behind the gates, waiting for them to open felt like they were part of some historic moment. Coming back on to the grounds for the first time after a whole year, a bit like greeting an old friend, curious of what has changed, or not, glancing over the dry grass and then going off to find some shade and a beer to cool down. Those are an important part of the year for many a person in the region, for who - as you can hear Rossellat saying in an archive from the 80's or 90's- Paléo is a fixed event as surely as Easter or Christmas. So there they were, the true, hardcore fans, who had come up more than an hour before the first concert would start, simply to be one of the first people to tread on the grounds. First of the festival-goers, that is, for a couple hundred volunteers have been busy building this ephemeral city over the past few weeks, and most of the nearly 5000 volunteers who work here during the week had already started working by then. Nevertheless, it was with gusto that the people waiting at the gates took up the traditional count-down before surging towards the ticket-controllers.
Some of these were apparently Robbie Williams fans (you can read more about his concert in the other Living In Nyon review for last night here on the site), so dedicated that they went straight to the main stage and braved the very hot weather for the next five or six hours! When you're a fan, you don't count, and it would have been indeed hard to count the number of people who gathered to watch his concert later on in the evening. Also hard to imagine the amount of bruising those pour souls must have undergone during the Caravan Palace concert, earlier in the evening on the main stage (in this reviewer's humble opinion, a concert which had the punch to kick-off this 40th festival with way more style and energy than Mr. Williams). Indeed, the crowd right in front of the stage partook in some pretty violent pogoing.
But the very very first audience to the very first concert of this year's festival where the people who had found their way to La Ruche, the area dedicated to street theatre, situated at the very far end of the festival, after the Quartier des Alpes (you know, the area that smells very strongly of cheese). La Comédie Musicale Improvisée de Rue (the improvised musical, street version) showed of their talent for improvising a 20-minute musical based on an idea from the audience. This is obviously a show for a French-speaking audience, but if your French is good enough, make sure you don't miss them, as their capacity of improvising songs that actually feel like they came from a musical, as well as their hilarious sense of humour makes for a great start to the day (they perform each day at about 17:30, and obviously do a completely new show each time!)
Also at La Ruche, the Cie Lucamoros present a breathtakingly beautiful show of music and live-painting. Six musician/painters on a piece of scaffolding paint on big Plexiglas boards to the sound of music (accordion, cello, saxophone) and poetry in different languages. Works of art appear magically under your eyes, transforming as they play with the paint, sometimes even projecting animated images over the paintings. A poetic and fragile experience worth the while, like a breath of fresh air and calm in the midst of the glaring sun and blaring music.
Backtracking a bit, the first "real" concert was also the first of this band's goodbye tour. Explosion de Caca, the very delicately named band (I won't be translating that) with their very subtle and delicate music had prepared a truly memorable show, a perfect start to the festival and to their last tour. This band, which has developed quite a cult reputation over their existence (they have played on and off for over 17 years) are famous for their absurd costumes and noisy covers of themes from children's television shows.
Their concert included two barbers giving free hair-cuts to whoever was brave enough to climb onto the stage (special mention to the young metal fan who had the guts to have his long black hair cut right off!), parkour athletes doing some pretty impressive tricks including a sideways somersault from the stage into the middle of the crowd, kids dressed as princesses and superheroes with water-pistols and last but not least, the legendary Henri Des. For those who do not know who Henri Des is, he is the most famous children's singer, with all of his songs known off by heart by any kid who grew up in the past 30 years. He is also the father of one of the two band members. He came on stage to the delight of the crowd for a very noisy version of "La petite Charlotte" one of his biggest hits. A concert bringing together children favourites, rather weird and edgy behaviour, people doing crazy things and a lot of energy: isn't that a perfect summary of Paléo Festival?
Monday night also featured some really top-class music, from Franco-Japanese flautist and singer Maia Barouh, and her mix of electro-pop and traditional ritualistic music under the Dôme (the best place to discover unknown but very talented musicians) to Too Many Zooz and their raunchy balkan-beat flavoured jazz. The trio, who first stared playing in the New York metro, create a mix of jazz and music that sounds like techno but using only a trumpet, a bass saxophone and a drum-kit. A mix of virtuoso performance and explosive beats.
The night ended with Gramatik who turned the Arches into a huge open-air club- as has become the tradition at Paléo- with their special brand of electro mixed with live music. From swing to dubstep, they got everybody shaking their bodies in rhythm under the starry night sky.
All in all, a perfect start to the week, that can only leave us wanting for more, as we prepare to continue exploring the jungle of music, people, heat and food that is Paléo Festival.