This year the climate and the weather didn’t really make us feel like it’s summer. Nevertheless Caribana Festival offered us some shiny bands and some happy music to fill the evenings of this first week of June 2016. As usual, there’s not time to get bored since each evening as soon as the concert on the Grande Scène is over the one on the Scène du Lac starts! Without forgetting the DJs for the party goers!

Day 1 – Wednesday June 1st

7.30pm-7:45pm, Grande Scène

Yellow Teeth

A discovery I made last year at Paléo, Yellow Teeth is Tiziano Zandonella accompanied by his band: a girl on drums, a girl on the guitar, one guitarist and a bassist. They are all very talented and in Yellow Teeth’ music there is an heterogeneous mix of country, folk and blues.

It’s not easy to define which one of these is prominent but one thing is sure: this music makes you travel across time taking you into the past and across places catapulting you into American saloons and the immense land. At times melancholic at times happier, the lyrics are lead by Tiziano’s beautiful deep voice.

8.30pm-9:45pm, Grande Scène

Amy Macdonald

Amy Macdonald became famous a few years ago with the tune “This is the life”. She has gone far in the meantime and she keeps on rocking the stages all around the world.

At Caribana she tries a new song for the very first time: “Dream On”, lively and folky! A nice new track which makes you want to dance! “My label hasn’t heard it yet it shows that you are important” she and her band are happy to be back in Switzerland. That as she says in her Glaswegian accent “is my second home”. She makes the audience sing along to the “Down down down” in the refrain of the song “Slow it down”. She’s lovely with the public and she’s accompanied by five great musicians.

9.45pm-10.30pm, Scène du lac

Breaking Benjamin

This American band plays a melodic hard rock. The singer has a great voice except when he screams his lungs off on the microphone. Instrumentally speaking Breaking Benjamin is very good, featuring powerful riffs and slides on the guitar! The singer also has a hell of a charisma and shows that also hard rockers have a heart by making all the band sign the album of a fan in front.

10.30pm – 11.45pm, Grande Scène

Garbage

Scottish singer Shirley Manson is an icon of transgression but also lead the way to other female artists emancipation. She definitely plays the sexy one on stage, continually checking her hair! “Stupid girl” is among the songs the band plays. She bends on her knees while singing, showing her ass to the camera.

The rock the band plays is definitely loud and rebellious and makes the audience shake to its sound. Another great lively song they play is the fast-evolving “Why Do You Love Me?”. During the gig Shirley Manson also calls out to Amy Macdonald, another successful Scottish artist, and says it was nice to meet her backstage.

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert