Wednesday night was probably the most sought after night this year, with Belgian pop phenomenon Stromae finishing the evening on the main stage. All the tickets for the night sold out in a record 8 minutes in April. Paléo boss Daniel Rossellat said they could easily have sold another 25'000 tickets that day and the remaining 1,500 that went on sale at 9:00 Wednesday morning sold out in a another record-breaking 2 minutes, with more than 15,000 people desperately trying to log in to the site.
The weather continued on its streak of greyishness with no rain, the grounds slowly drying up (and it is set to stay this way for the next few days). Spirits were high on this second night, everyone eagerly anticipating Stromae's catchy hits. But Wednesday was not a one-hit act, and the line-up was again varied and incredible. Adieu Gary Cooper, a Swiss garage folk band whose music is heavily influenced by the gritty music of the west-coast,but who sing in French, started the evening with just enough style and grit, with some haunting riffs on the lap steel guitar.
At the Dôme, Meridian Brothers -one of my favourites from Tuesday night were playing again, and it was a pleasure to delve even deeper into their complex tunes. Needless to say that I was also present later on for a second helping of La Chiva Gantiva's boisterous tunes.
Before the young Stromae, and his crowd of even younger fans gathered in front of the main stage, it was time for blues legend Seasick Steve, who brought with him some of the sun of his native Tennessee. Living In Nyon managed to catch up with the 70 year old musician after his concert, read about it here.
Paléo isn't all about the music, and one of the charms of the festival is its amazing street performers. Whether you see them performing through the grounds, such as this very special string trio, who play on custom made instruments. Shy yet mischievous, they play their way through the crowd, stopping to give some lucky soul a private concert. A variety of different artists can be seen across the grounds throughout the week, so keep an eye out for a magical encounter!
But the real magic goes on at La Ruche, where the circus and street theatre takes place. This year, la Cie 2Rien Merci is back with a beautiful and poetic love declaration to the magic lantern and its first uses in fair grounds. The show, that goes on for about an hour, takes you through different installations, plunging you in the wacky and rusty universe of 2 Rien Merci, one of the best street theatre collectives that I know of. I won't tell you more about the show, so as to leave the magic of the discovery, but note that as it takes place partly in a small caravan, the seats are limited- tickets are handed out 10 minutes before each show, which take place about 5 times a day, so if you want to see the show, make sure to get there in time!
Reggae at Les Arches The night had a roots tinge to it, with Naâman playing earlier in the evening at Les Arches. This young musician from Normandie is one of the rising stars of the roots reggae scene in France. Once you get over the irritation caused by a young white French guy trying to sing in Jamaican patois, and saying “Jah” every other word, the music is actually really great, and he communicated his energy with the crowd. Later on, Ky-Mani Marley, a member of the great Marley tribe was on on the same stage. His hybrid mix of reggae, electro and hip-hop pleased the crowd, everyone moving their body to the reggae-man's riddims. "Alors l'Asse dance" Coming up to 11:30, everybody started drifting towards the Grande Scène for Stromae, including a lot of family with kids. Anticipating the high demand for this concert, additional screens had been set up to let everybody enjoy the concert. Intent on getting to the middle of the crowd, I engaged in one of the national Paléo sports, weaving through the crowd to get to the right spot. AN interesting fact about big crowds, is that although the edges seem packed out, and it looks like there is no way to get in, once you get yourself past the first few meters, the crowd loosens up, giving you more space, a better spot for the concert, and usually slightly less cross people (there is something about people who make a fuss about being touched in the middle of a crowd which always confounds me) Stromae delivered a memorable concert, in front of a amazing crowd, who danced and sang along with him. Full of energy, he delivered some of his finest dance moves, dressed in the geek-chic outfits he is known for. The music was accompanied by an impressive visual show on a huge screen behind him, whether it was a squadron of dancing men mimicking Stromae's choreographies, or rather disturbing insect legs crawling across the screen, covering it up with darkness during the song about cancer, making for a really intense moment. Really humble and chatty, the Belgian pop star thanked the crowd for being “so many, so fast”, before going off on a rant about “frites” being called French fries instead of Belgian fries in English an outrage he compared to calling Lake Leman “Lake Geneva”, or saying that wine was a Belgian drink. His first big hit “Alors on Dance” had everyone dancing to series of sample from 90's disco music, and he pleased the crowd with all the favourites, from his song on gender stereotypes “Tous les mêmes” to his touching tribute to Cesaria Evoria. He finished his concert by thanking his entire crew individually, before a last a capella version of “Tous les mêmes”, for the greatest pleasure of the crowd.Remember you can watch some concerts live via the website, as well as check some full concerts and "best-of"s of the night before here.