Like a Hurricane: Neil Young opens the Festival in epic style!
- Catherine
- Jul 24, 2013
- 7 min read
Paléo Day one - Concert reviews by Jonas Parson of the following acts: Southern Lonesome Comfort Company, Mama Rosin, Shangan Electro, Sophie Hunger, Heymoonshaker, Mokoomba, Jagwa Music, Les Clandestines, Filharmonic von Strass, and of course the headline act of the night - Neil Young.Note: latest news (Weds 24th July at 13:35) Despite the storms of last night the festival is now fully operative and the car parks are open. Some rain is predicted for later on. Keep checking the Paléo site for latest info and don't forget there is also a Paléo App to check for latest news. Let it be...gin! (Folk music from the Ticino) Cajun Music from Geneva, Techno from Africa and Neil Young in the rain.
What a start to the festival! Everybody's spirits were high as the first festival goers came flooding onto the grounds. The sky was clear, everyone was feeling really hot, everything seemed great. The music hit off when the Southern Lonesome Comfort Company, a folk-ish band from Ticino walked on stage in the Club Tent. One of this year's changes is the swap between the lineup of the Club Tent and the Détour. The former now hosts all the Swiss bands, giving them a better exposure, and the Détour now welcomes the smaller international bands.
No time to watch the end of the concert though, as coming to Paléo also means sprinting from one stage to another to see the three or four amazing bands that have been scheduled at the same time. It was time for 's baptism, with Living In Nyon all time favourite trio Mama Rosin. They do not need introducing any more, but the concert was great, what a better way to inaugurate the new stage! Their punchy, quirky music, blending bandoneons, banjos and washboards got the crowd without much difficulties. It was Cyril (one of the band member's 30th birthday), and so he was wished a happy birthday in front of a huge crowd at Paléo. Not bad eh?
Then a rush up to the Dôme, the stage situated in the centre of the Village du Monde, here it was time to experience an interesting mix of African marimbas and 80's techno. Add four dancers dressed up in bright colours, with fake stomachs and impressive dancing skills, showing off on music as fast as 180 beats per minute (that's 3 beats per seconds!), and you get an explosive and highly enjoyable show. Shangaan Electro,who come from South Africa, will be playing again today at the Dôme, at 20:00.Sophie Hunger, defying the Röstigraben
Did you say röstigraben (i.e. the cultural barrier that separates the French and German speaking parts of Switzerland) ? The people in front of the Grande Scène didn't seem to have got the message, as they gathered to listen to Sophie Hunger. As punchy as ever, the Swiss-german singer gave a lively show, switching from guitar to piano and from rock to folk with ease. She spoke to the crowd in impeccable French, and after a few songs in German and English, gave her rendition of “Le Vent nous portera”, Noir Desir's star song. Sophie Hunger is in herself a symbol of the friendly coexistence that exists in Switzerland between the different cultures that make up the country.
Heymoonshaker, the improbable British combo of a beat-boxer and a banjo player, who met whilst busking in New Zealand, were playing under the Club tent. The atmosphere under the tent was wild, and the band had the crowd clearly under their influence. On of the two kept pushing the crowd to make more noise, clearly enjoying himself (and wondering why all the big bands in front of huge crowds didn't do this more often!). You could clearly see this wacky duo were enjoying themselves, matching the spirits of the people watching them blast everything away with their music. Everybody went mad at the end of each song, jumping up and down, clapping and shouting (much to the pleasure of the beat-boxer!). They finished by reminding everyone that we are all free, and should ask ourselves if we are really living the life we wish to live. It looks like they are doing just fine.
Tradition and Modernity at the Village du Monde
It was time for some more African music at the Dôme. Jagwa Music were on, inviting us to discover Tanzanian marketplaces and crowded streets through their music which blends tradition with modernity. Mixing African percussions with cheap synthesisers, they have as much energy as the Jaguar jet they take their name from. You can listen to their fast-paced music again tonight at 22:45.
The next band on at the Dôme was Mokoomba. This six-man orchestra from Zimbabwe delivered one of my favourite shows of the day- good thing you can see them again today at 17:45! Guitar, bass, percussions and drums,lead by an explosive singer (where do they get all of this energy from?!) who led the show with such enthusiasm it it left no one the same. They were backed by an all-white brass trio, giving for a raucous and joyous hour and a bit of dancing and exulting in front of such life.
Note - The Living in Nyon editor saw this band too and echoes Jonas's comments, for dancing music and explosive energy they are a "must see" band!
Photos of Mokoomba below. C-Nelson Pollard
Photos above: Mokoomba - C. Nelson-Pollard
Paléo isn't the same without a good dose of street theatre and circus, so La Ruche is always somewhere that I enjoy going. This year's edition has been placed under the sign of "women"- 90 percent of the performers are female. Most of the acts take place all week, so make sure to go and see them! Les Clandestines, a French troupe, propose "an ode to exile and loss", through the eyes of Italian women from the 19
century. The show is a beautiful mix of traditional singing, quotes from letters and registers that note the passage and loss of so many families torn apart by exile.
In a slightly more boisterous tone, the Filharmonic Von Strasse aim to take Ravel's Bolero to the hit-parade. Showcasing classical music in ways which probably make Beethoven and Mozart (WAM! as they call him) turn in their tombs, but make the audience laugh, their songs tend to degenerate into the Bee gees or a fight. Bringing together an angry pianist, a very religious dancer and broken-hearted singer, along with an incapable servant and an over-enthusiastic sound engineer, their show is hilarious and fast-paced.
And then it was time for legend to come to l'Asse. Neil Young, twenty years later, walked on stage in front of a packed audience. Older fans mixed with younger generations, showing how Neil Young's music is an important part of musical history. Backed by Crazy Horse, he delivered an impressive concert. Surprising people who knew him for his calmer, folkier tunes, the concert started with a grunge side to it,with heavily saturated guitars. Neil Young, playing facing his guitar and bass player, looked like he was just having a good time with some old friends, albeit some extremely talented musicians.
Photo above: Neil Young on stage - C. Nelson- Pollard
They then went on to perform an impressive quarter of an hour of noise music, filled with larsens and saturated sound, whilst two roadies blew what looked like paper and plastic bags on stage, in a very apocalyptic setting. If you add to that the lightning you could see to the right of the stage, announcing the storm to come, it was pretty impressive! Living up to his nickname of "Godfather of Grunge", he gave us an amazing experience.
After a few calmer more ballady songs, which he played alone and with his harmonica, including "Blowing in the "Wind", Crazy Horse came back on stage for what was probably the most epic concert I have ever seen. Just as the first chords of "Like a Hurricane" were played, the storm hit us, as if Neil Young had commanded the skies to fall on our heads.What more fitting weather for such a concert? They then went on to play the song for about twenty minutes, under pouring rain, with an euphoric crowd dancing half-naked in the mud. By the end of the concert, the front of the stage looked like the Amazon river!
As if nothing could happen after such an extraordinary concert, the last concert was cancelled because of the weather. Neil Young had come to Paléo, and he had left his mark. Stalls left in the dark with no electricity, fallen down tents all over the camp-site (including mine...), the train blocked, and over 30 litres of water per square meter... Neil Young, like a hurricane indeed!
Photo above: courtesy- Paléo /Lionel Fusin I caught up with Chris Parson who I interviewed earlier for this site to ask him what he had thought of this much anticipated concert: "It was great! It was a good reminder of what a complex musician Neil Young is. People tend to associate him with a few albums like
, After the
and
, the more folky stuff, and forget he's the godfather of grunge! And when he plays with Crazy Horse, it's more electronic. I also reckon his concert was a timely commentary on the state of the world today, the world has been trashed, and some of the longer saturated guitar sessions were a interesting artistic comment on the state of the world. And finishing with
who could have conjured up such a sound and light show to accompany such a wonderful song? A truly magical and memorable moment! Oh, and I didn't get a second harmonica this time (see previous interview), what a pity...."
Photo above: Neil Young on stage - C. Nelson-Pollard
Footnote: The Alt J concert - We caught up with one concert.goer who said "they sounded better live than recorded . They played some new songs, the crowd sang along to Breezeblocks, the band spoke a bit of French and they thanked their Swiss fans."