Day 2-Friday August 15

Sinplus, Stage 2, 1:30-2:20pm

The two brothers from Ticino Ivan (guitar) and Gabriel Broggini (singer), form Sinplus together with bassist and drummer. Their sound is mostly melodic pop-rock with catchy refrains easy to sing along. The singer jumps high during the rock songs. He also usually whispers the first lyrics of the songs and then builds up to get out his voice in all of its power. To introduce the song “Unbreakable”, Gabriel says that it is the reason they are making music now. In fact it is the song which brought them to the Eurovision contest, it has a pretty addictive rhythm and the crowd sings along to it. They also play “Love Is Free” a reggae song with optimistic lyrics and which makes the audience feel the vibe too. Sinplus have a surprise for the Gampel audience: an exciting cover of “Song 2” by Blur! Most of their songs have that catchy tone which makes them stick in your head. During the set a funny red bunny gets on stage immediately followed by a security guard. Later the bunny comes back again and throws Sinplus’ goodies like CDs and T-shirts at the audience.

 

Bear Hands, Stage 2, 3:30-4:30pm

Bear Hands is a band of four guys, coming all the way from Brooklyn, NYC. Their songs are indie-rock drifting into more psychedelic stuff. At the beginning of their set they mostly play tunes which have an indie-rock sound, with guitar riffs and determined drums beats. Like in the song “Agora” which features witty lyrics and where the singer’s voice is alternated with the choruses “oo oo” and the heightening of the sound. Towards the end of the set, as singer Dylan Rau abandons his guitar to concentrate fully on his voice they acquire a more psychedelic sound. He lies on stage doing a kind of stand while singing, with his voice going up and down. They all play more than one instrument: the singer plays keyboards and guitar, the guitarist also plays a drum. There’s an electro touch at times and a catchy and entertaining mix of sounds. It’s a pity the audience is not that numerous, it’s always hard to play at festivals in the afternoon.

 

Clean Bandit, Stage 1, 4:45-5:45

Clean Bandit is another newcomer band which is playing in Switzerland for the very first time. They play a mixture of funk and electro with the synthesizers dictating the beat. The actual band is formed by a girl and three guys but on stage there are two more girls who sing and give themselves turns, which is cool so there are different voices intertwining each others. The violin and electric double bass give their songs a more natural sound as in their most famous tune “Rather Be” which gets everybody singing and dancing to it!

 

Reel Big Fish, Stage 1, 6:45-7:45pm

This American band brings to Gampel a positive vibe with the singer’s humour and their engaging and unmistakable ska sound. The trombones give the songs a funky touch. The lyrics sound funny and remind a bit of the songs made by German band The Baseballs.

 

Jimmy Eat World, Stage 2, 8-9pm

As they come out on stage singer Jim Adkins says: “Hi, we’re Jimmy Eat World from Arizona!”. With great energy and passion they play their alternative rock tunes. Once you hear the singer’s pretty high voice you never forget it again! Their tunes are great to jump on to with those guitar riffs blending so perfectly with the drums and Jim Adkins’ voice. They go through their different albums from Bleed American to Chase This Light by playing songs like “Feeling Lucky” and “Firefight”. Their show leaves you breathless, you want to jump to their tunes and sing along to them from beginning to end. They bid goodbye with their most well-known tune: “The Middle”, an anthem which is not missing in any good old indie party! But tonight the song is not coming from a DJ set in an underground club but is played live at Open Air Gampel, what a delicious treat!

 

 

Scooter, Stage 1, 11:30pm-1am

Scooter, with their electro sound, transform Open Air Gampel into a massive dancefloor. The typical pre-recorded electronic voice is present throughout their long set. The stage-presence is enhanced by two blond female dancers and 2 male dancers who coordinate themselves following the music.

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert