Paléo second night reviewed by Geneva University student

Photo above: The crowd watching Portishead. Each year Living in Nyon, features reviews from other writers who give their impression of Paléo. Last year Jonas Parson, the "barefoot writer", reviewed each evening's concerts. This year its the turn of a 20 year old Swiss/British student at the University of Geneva (studying for a degree in International Relations). He says he likes "all kind of music from The Gorillaz to Gonjasufi " and has been coming to the festival for many years, not only for the music, but for the atmosphere, to see friends and to have fun". His review is below. Note:  The Living in Nyon editor gave an audio report to World Radio Switzerland on her take of last night's festival, including a review of Angus and Julia Stone, Portishead and the great concert of Los de Abajo, (see photos of this band in previous post). Plus, there are a few tips on how to avoid some of the long food queues, you can listen to the report here . Second Night of Paléo 2011 After quite a wet first day to Paléo this time my friends and I were a bit luckier with the weather as it didn’t actually rain much for most of the day, a few rays of sun could even be caught around with patches of bright blue sky that lifted everyone’s spirits even higher.

Photo of festival goers in sunflower field Thank god for those wellies though, as the mud was worse than the previous day, offering some in our crowd a few laughs watching others slip around!

Bonobo (a.k.a  Simon Green from Brighton in the UK) , started early under the Chapiteau tent and soon got everybody in a warm "feel good mood",  perfect to start the evening, with quality jazz and electro influenced hip-hop and a beautiful singer. The crowd filled the tent but it wasn't too dense and the sound engineers did a great job, which made the concert a very nice listening experience. See Jeremy's  video which he has uploaded  to U tube here. " The Colline" as people here commonly call "the hill" overlooking the food stands near the Ruche (it says "Les Galets Bleus" on the map which refering to the big new blue waterbags you can sit on) wasn’t as full as it usually is, probably because of the expected weather, so finding a nice spot to sit and have a few drinks with friends was easy.  Getting food down by the Ruche though took quite a long time as the area was absolutely packed when we arrived. We just had enough time to get a hot “sandwich du Berger” before getting in front of the Grande Scène for Portishead. "Chillingly beautiful voice of singer Beth Gibbons" Portishead started its concert a little disconnected from the crowd, as they were playing on the biggest stage reserved for the top acts.  But as I heard someone put it (exaggerating ever so slightly of course), that programming Portishead under the Chapiteau (a smaller tent), would have been like programming the Rolling Stones in the Club Tent (even smaller tent!) .

However after a few songs were played, the crowd started cheering with more intensity and at the chillingly beautiful voice of the singer Beth Gibbons mixed with an instrumental performance mastered over 20 years of the band’s existence. When timeless “Glory Box” was played, everyone in one very big crowd seemed to agree that they were hearing some amazing music, and you could feel it. Free Hugs Hurrying over to the Chapiteau to try and catch the rest of the concert of  American band Beirut did cast a little doubt on to whether the concert scheduling was very appropriate, and so did hurrying back to the Grande Scène to see the Chemical Brothers, but the job of programming mustn’t be easy! And passing a massive guy with a sign giving out free hugs probably made everyone feel much better. Beirut seemed to have created quite an atmosphere under the Chapiteau where you could feel warmth both in bodies and hearts. Arriving in the middle of the concert after seeing Portishead did kind of keep you from enjoying it as much as people who’d been there since the beginning. But the band sure did create a mix of quality folk goodness.

Back to the Grand Scène for a great concert from English electro legends The Chemical Brothers, whose light show and set up were as exciting as the music. The crowd at the front was fun and cheerful, and everything was in place for a good concert. Earplugs made the experience a lot better though, letting you hear the actual music behind the overwhelming bass and preventing your ears from bleeding! All in all it was a great night, especially for music and the lack of rain, and tonight PJ Harvey and The Strokes are sure to bring the crowd a great time, and I definitely recommend Tarrus Riley and Duane Stephenson for reggae enthusiasts.