Day 6 – Sunday July 27
Silver Firs, Club Tent, 4:15pm-5:15pm
This band from Bern has great tunes, their strength lies in the intertwining of the female and male voices as well as in the range of sounds produced by using various instruments like maracas. These sounds, combined with the warm beats of the drums shows their African influences and make you fly far away from reality.
James Vincent McMorrow, Le Détour, 6:30pm-7:30pm
The Irish singer has a piercing falsetto voice (in a good way) which reminds you of that of Bon Iver but even higher in tone, hard to believe, I know, but it’s the truth! On top of this there are the melodies reminding you of nature as the starting notes which sound like rain pouring on trees. James Vincent McMorrow seems also at his ease with the public, which he entertains doing some jokes. His exceptional voice resounds in your ears even when the concert is left behind, a must hear!
Détroit, Les Arches, 7:30pm-8:45pm
Bertrand Cantat, previous frontman of Noir Désir, finds himself leading yet another band. The sound is a melodic rock with thoughtful French lyrics. They also play a few songs by Noir Désir, which the Paléo audience appreciates a lot, singing along and clapping to them.
The National, Grande Scène, 8:45pm-10pm
Putting The National on the main stage may have been an hazardous move, they are not really a mainstream band, which of course doesn’t mean they are not great. The American alternative rock band is led by the melancholic baritone voice of Matt Berninger. They present their last album Trouble Will Find Me but they also play older songs like the disturbingly beautiful “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. The singer has a weird behaviour on stage, he frequently knocks on the microphone bending himself. When they play the song “My Mind Is Not All Right” the singer seems to take it inside himself and play it out loud to everybody, screaming towards the end of the song, a rather intense performance. He also comes off the stage twice and takes a stroll into the audience while singing, he comes back with a full wine bottle, a present from a fan and throws his empty bottle in the air.
Woodkid, Les Arches, 10pm-11:15pm
Despite Les Arches was way to crowded I managed to catch a glimpse of Woodkid’s performance. Wow, I was literally blown away by his fantastic voice, which surprisingly does not match at all with his hip hop looks. And of course by the majestic sounds of his orchestra which made me think straight away about the soundtrack of a victorious war movie or something close to it, truly beautiful something I would never have expected from an artist with that name and looks. This is the proof that it is much better to go beyond simple appearances.
As every year on the closing day of Paléo it is time for the amazing fireworks. As the first “boom” is heard everybody turns their back to the Grande Scène to admire the fireworks which are accompanied by a special soundtrack featuring some of the artists who played at Paléo: “Lonely Boy” by The Black Keys, “Papaoutai” et “Alors on danse” by Stromae and so forth. A special moment to connect visual and musical beauty, which we are lucky to have witnessed.
Placebo, Grande Scène, 11:30pm-1am
As soon as the fireworks are over, Placebo are ready to take the stage with a boom. Led by their charismatic singer Brian Molko with that special nasal voice, Placebo close the Grande Scène of Paléo in great style. Brian Molko, speaking a perfect French introduces the songs and talks to the crowd. They take the audience on a trip through their best successes among which “Song To Say Goodbye”, as well as presenting their last album Loud Like Love. Their music never seems to get old, they can entertain well the crowd with their riffs and melodic pop rock. They make the crowd dance, scream and everybody’s soul vibrates to the rock rhythms.
Don’t miss the 40th edition of Paléo Festival Nyon next year, from the 21st to the 26th of July 2015, it’s going to be full of surprises!
Simona @TakeMe2aConcert
The Liberation 