Day 6, Saturday July 25


This year the Saturday at Paléo is one of the most awaited because it hosts three big legends of the 80s: Joan Baez, Patti Smith and Robert Plant. Not bad right?

Yellow Teeth, Club Tent, 6pm-7pm

Having a press acrreditation, I had the chance to see an acoustic set of Yellow Teeth at Le Cosmo, a cute bar reserved for media professional in the backstage of the festival. Here singer Tiziano Zandonella is all alone with his acoustic guitar. The songs he plays touch me and his voice gives me goose bumps so I decide to go and see the show of himself with his full band later on.

Tiziano has an incredible voice which takes you back in time. The music recalls the blues and country-folk of the 60-70s. Three guitars, one bass and a small set of drums. Blues entangled with acoustic riffs, the quiet drums in the background and that powerful voice which seems to belong to an older man and not a 20 year old guy, a bit like Paolo Nutini. A shy friendly smile and managing to create a great connection with the audience through his music which touches you deeply and through the speeches in between songs. You know when lyrics, voice and instruments can take out the deepest emotions you have inside yourself and (nearly) make you cry? Well that’s pretty much the effect of Yellow Teeth music, like when he plays the touching song “Brother” for his brother who is actually in the audience. “You, Me and the Moon”, which he also played in the acoustic set, is the last one before the encore. He plays a few songs with his bands and then they leave him alone and he sigs some more songs. He ends this stunning set with the song “Night Bird”.

Joan Baez, Grande Scène, 7pm-8:15pm

American folk icon Joan Baez delights the public with many songs from her long repertoire. She speaks in French in between the songs to make the audience even prouder. She plays quite a fiew typical folk songs taken for example from the UK and such. She plays a beautiful cover of “House Of The Rising Sun” revisited under a folk key.

Patti Smith and her band performing “Horses”, Les Arches, 8:15pm-9:30

An undergound rock queen of the 80s, Patti Smith still has the same charisma she had when she recorded Horses 40 years ago. She’s a rock poet, with her powerful voice and lyrics she gets straight to the point and into your soul. She has an incredible energy! She and her band perform her first record Horses, which turns 40 this year just like Paléo! When she speaks about this she says she and her band would never have imagined to celebrate their record’s 40th birthday with Paléo! For a song they play Patti Smith reads out a text and in the backround, the sound of a guitar comes in, so that it actually becomes a song. “This was side A of the record now we have to turn it and put it on side B, …” Patty Smith mimicks the employmen of a vinyl turntable.

She and her band play a song which was written in memory of Jim Morrison of The Doors. They also play “Breaking Up” a song in memory of Jimy Hendrix and all the people who left us in these last 40 years. During the song she names a few: Johnny Ramone, Joe Strummer, Lou Reed and she ends with mother, father and brother. A touching moment as she extends the dedication of this sing to the people the audience lost as well. Patti Smith is also an activist, she fights for freedom and tells the public that with their hands they can change the world! She plays “talking about my generation” and people have the power two songs to which the audience sings and screams along to. At one point Joan Baez joins Patti Smith on stage and sings the backvocals, they hug each other. An extremely special moment which shows the frienship and appreciation of these icons one for the other. Overall a great show which makes a brilliant album relive!

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, Grande Scène, 9:30pm-11pm

Robert Plant, former member of Led Zeppelin with his band revisits in a key under African influence the songs of his iconic band. They play songs from the United Kingdom, from the United States adding to them African rhythms at times through African instruments like a special violin. Joan Baez seems to be everywhere as she joins Robert Plant for a short folk dancing when he and his band play a folk song. He plays one of Led Zeppelin’s most beautiful and well known songs: “Whole Lotta Love”, to which the audience sings along.

Charlie Winston, Grande Scène, 0:15am-1:45am

Earlier today I assisted with other media to a round table with none other than Mr. Charlie Winston! A true English gentleman and down to earth he agreed to answer our questions, stay tuned because the article is gonna be published soon!

At night, and pretty late for what I was usually used to see him, he makes the Grande Scène his own. His new album Curiocity came out this year, more electro than the others it makes his live gigs also more electro and less quiet than usual. The second song he plays is “Lately” one of the singles taken from his last album. Charlie Winston is great with the public, he dances pretty well hardly ever separating himself from his faithful cap. He is accompanied by 4 musicians.
He ends the show with “Kick The Bucket” of course because “we all kick the bucket in the end, the end, the end”.

This was the fourth time I saw Charlie Winston live. Although his show was great and he can handle big stages I still think he belongs to smaller and more intimate venues. I felt as if there was something missing, like his more touching and slower songs in that he privileged the latest songs which have more of an electro influence.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zacv3_paleo-festival-nyon-2015-best-of-de-samedi_music

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert