Day 3, Friday August 26th

Pedro Lehmann, Tent Stage, 3:30pm-4pm

Despite the concert is delayed of half an hour, a 30-minutes long gig is enough to convince me that the band is well worth the wait. Pedro Lehmann is a Swiss duo formed by guitarist and singer Yannick Gächter and drummer Sven Wüst, both very talented.

The similarity with Foals can be heard in the guitar riffs the band plays. Whereas the deep voice of the singer reminds that of Matt Berninger of The National. Pedro Lehmann manages to create great sounds with mysterious riffs and beats that the audience follows along the way until the end, constantly asking for more.

Rival Kings, Main Stage, 4pm-5pm

Rival Kings is a band from Lucerne, the six guys play a pop music peppered with electronic sounds. Due to the heat (33°C) the synthesizers didn’t really work properly so the band did a sort of jam session which turned out to be pretty good!

Keyboards, guitars, drums and all of that create a great background to the pop lyrics. The band releases a second album War on the 23rd of September.

Miike Snow, Main Stage, 6pm-7pm

Miike Snow brings to Zurich Openair a fresh and colourful indie pop. The four Swedish guys play multiple instruments like keyboards, synth, drums and guitars.

The audience is a bit shy at the beginning but then gets into it. The singer’s high-pitched voice finds its way among the electronic sounds and the guitar riffs. A refreshing and colourful sound which makes the public dance to the happy notes the band plays.

Jake Bugg, Tent Stage, 9pm-10pm

Jake Bugg starts his gig with the “old” anthem “Two Fingers” with the audience singing along and putting two fingers in the air during the refrain. He then presents some of his new songs, taken from his last album On My One which was released on the 17 of June 2016, as well as songs from his second album Shangri La (2013).

Jake Bugg has grown up, on stage he seems more comfortable than a few years ago. Interacting more with the audience and just being less shy.

His songs bring you back in time with their mix of country and rock. His voice seems to belong to the past as well. He closes the gig with his hit “Lightning Bolt” with the audience singing along.

Editors, Main Stage, 10pm-11:15pm

Editors takes the stage playing first of all “Papillon”, a song which is very electronic with lots of synth and such. Throughout the concert, the band makes the public dance and sing along to the greatest hits like “Munich”. From piano to guitars, passing through more rock tunes at times, the band can switch easily and pepper the songs with various instruments and styles.

Live Editors are great but the audience seems a bit too quiet, at least at the beginning.

Bloc Party, Tent Stage, 11:15pm-00:30am

When the charismatic Kele Okereke takes the stage you can be sure you won’t be bored. The singer of Bloc Party has a lot of energy which he spreads around. He and his band take us through a trip into the most disparate songs.

Bloc Party’s indie-rock is one with a lot of power and unmistakable guitar riffs creating spiral sounds like in the song “Helicopter”. The band passes through some rap singing but the guitars are soon back on top as well as the powerful drums’ beats.

The new songs, taken from the album Hymns (2016), sound great live and are the proof that the band didn’t loose the charisma of the old days! Bloc Party end in beauty with a touching older song called “Modern Love”.

A day 3 in the name of musical discoveries and indie-rock spirit.

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert