festival — Page 4

Caprices Festival Day 5 | Portishead, Baxter Dury, Model 500 | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 03/12/2013 (Concert Review)

March 12, 2013 by Jason DeBord 2 Comments

Day 5 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… wow, what a night. I’ve loved Portishead since their first album, but never had an opportunity to see them live until last night. They completely and utterly exceeded all of my expectations – brilliant performance, every aspect of it. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. I also saw Baxter Dury, who opened for them on The Moon stage, and they made me a fan. Late into the night, I also got to see Model 500 featuring Juan Atkins, one of the originators of techno music. Caprices has put together such a stellar line-up of entertainment, and experiencing the entire show, day by day, with it’s wide ranging collection of artists, provides a different atmosphere for music each night, and I would count last night as one of the highlights.

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Caprices Festival Day 4 | Bjork, The Weeknd, Leila | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/11/2013 (Concert Review)

March 11, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

Day 4 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland was somewhat about expectations and culture… my own expectations about performances proved incorrect (good and bad) and I’m beginning to get a better sense of how culture in Switzerland intersects musical tastes and preferences. Björk’s fans filled The Moon stage – which is massive – as much as any other artist here at Caprices thus far, and while she was one of the artists I most looked forward to seeing, I guess I just didn’t quite get her music and her set overall. The Weeknd followed, and while they didn’t retain the Björk fans, in my mind at least The Weekend saved the weekday (with Day 4 falling on a Monday), as I thought they were fantastic. But I guess that’s the thing about music – nothing is quite as subjective and to each person’s own taste… as music.

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Caprices Festival Day 3 | Tori Amos, Roger Hodgson (The Voice of Supertramp), Noa | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/10/2013 (Concert Review)

March 10, 2013 by Jason DeBord

Day 3 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland showcased entirely different styles of music from Day 1 and Day 2, and drew a different crowd as well. This shows just how dynamic the overall line up is for this festival, to the point where in many cases there is nearly no crossover at all. Personally, Tori Amos has been the highlight for me thus far, and may remain so for the balance of the 9-day concert event, as she is one of my all-time favorite music artists. Also of headliner stature, Roger Hodgson – The Legendary Voice of Supertramp – performed as well, and I count his “The Logical Song” as one of my all-time favorites, and it was really a special moment for me to finally see and hear it performed live. Also performing was Noa, who I was not previously familiar with, but for being first on the bill for The Moon at Caprices, she filled out the capacity of the vast indoor special purpose space quite well. Each of the three artists actually seemed to turn out their own fan base, as I noticed the crowd shifted from set to set. All in all it was an awesome night, and that is one of the best performances I’ve seen Tori Amos put on (and I’ve seen her a number of times).

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Caprices Festival Day 2 | Fatboy Slim, Nas, Cody ChesnuTT, Tom Staar, Crash Island | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/9/2013 (Concert Review)

March 9, 2013 by Jason DeBord 4 Comments

Day 2 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… and my first full day of the show (arrived up after dark for Day 1, traveling form California for the event). Last night’s line-up included a mix of styles that flowed nicely set to set on the main stage, The Moon. Opening up was UK indie band Crash Island, one of the finalists of the Orange New Talent Contest. Next on stage served as an unexpected highlight of the night for me with Cody ChestnuTT, who was simply amazing with his music and genuine, soulful delivery. Popular hip hop artist Nas was a huge draw, really bringing the audience to life and jumping around. UK DJ and electronic music artist Tom Staar kept things moving to set up for the legendary Fatboy Slim, who closed out the stage for the night, with his own pioneering brand of relentless electronic/house/trip hop/rave/rock music. Truly a special line-up that thrilled the crowd. It was one of those shows where I found myself taking more than the usual number of reverse shots of the crowd to capture some of the energy and emotion driven by a night of incredible music.

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Caprices Festival Day 1 | -M- (Matthieu Chedid), Vitalic | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/8/2013 (Concert Review)

March 9, 2013 by Jason DeBord 12 Comments

This serves as my official Day 1 coverage of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in the heart of the picturesque Swiss Alps. The obvious highlight to me was seeing -M- (Matthieu Chedid) take to the stage (my first time seeing him), and I could not have possibly been more impressed. As the top headliner on the very first day of the festival, even with amazing talent following, he and his band truly brought out an amazing performance that had the audience jumping along and filling in key choruses and phrases, almost as if they were, in part, under his captivating control. And it is incredible that this was just the beginning to a stellar line-up of music over nine consecutive nights on multiple stages for the 10th anniversary of this unique music festival that features a true assortment of musical styles and genres. [Read more…]

Alice Cooper Added To Caprices Festival Line-Up in Crans-Montana Switzerland

February 22, 2013 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

The Rock Subculture Journal will be covering Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana in the Swiss Alps of Switzerland in March. Just a few weeks away, I’ll be covering all nine nights of the annual music event, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sadly, The Kills will no longer be part of the line-up due to an illness, but the organizers have added rock legend Alice Cooper to the bill. The festival runs March 8th through the 16th, and tickets and more info can be found at the official site at www.capricesfestival.ch. [Read more…]

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2013 Concert Artist Line-Up Announced; Preview of Bay Area “Fauxchella” Possibilities

January 24, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, presented by Goldenvoice, has announced their 2013 line-up of artists and bands performing at the annual music event in Indio, California. Featured artists include New Order, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoenix, The Stone Roses, Blur, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The xx, Phoenix, Modest Mouse, Lou Reed, Metric, Of Monsters and Men, Johnny Marr, Moby, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Vampire Weekend, Jurassic 5, Hot Chip, Postal Service, Social Distortion, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and more. For residents of Northern California, like myself, are just as excited about the announcement, in that though we may not make the trek to Southern California, we have the benefit of what has been dubbed “Fauxchella” by SpinningPlatters.com… with concert venues in the San Francisco Bay Area playing host to many of the bands adding on their own headlining shows on dates just before and after the famous festival event.

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Caprices Festival To Feature Unparalleled Line-Up of Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Singer/Songwriter, and Electronic Artists from March 8th-16th in Switzerland

January 13, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

The 10th anniversary of The Caprices Festival in Switzerland boasts an amazing line-up of artists, which will perform over nine days, from March 8th through the 16th. Included among the 50 artists are The Killers, Tori Amos, Fatboy Slim, Björk, The Kills, Nelly Furtado, Portishead, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cypress Hill, and many others. The festival is a huge attraction for music fans the world over, and it appears to be one of the best organized music events of its kind. Renowned for its special atmosphere set within idyllic Crans-Montana, it is designed for concert goers from across the globe, the official site offers help with travel as well as special packages to take advantage of other attractions, such as skiing. [Read more…]

“Not So Silent Night” by Live 105 (Night 2, #NSSN) at Oracle Arena | Oakland, California | 12/8/2012 (Concert Review)

December 10, 2012 by Jason DeBord 9 Comments

As noted yesterday, Not So Silent Night (NSSN) is Live 105’s “Annual Holiday Rock Show”, with 2012 being the first year it spans two consecutive nights. This second night featured headliner The Killers, along with M83, Passion Pit, Tegan and Sara, GROUPLOVE, and Imagine Dragons. Again, I was very, very impressed at how extremely well managed this multi-artist event was on both nights. Oracle Arena again served as host to six amazing acts in about seven hours time, with very brief breaks in-between. I found the two night show to be such a great event to attend, to have an opportunity to see so many great bands back to back, with a stellar closing set by The Killers.

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