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Caprices Festival 2013 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland: 9-Day Music Artist Live Concert Event Review & Recap

March 22, 2013 by Jason DeBord 1 Comment

Since this was a pretty special experience and International music event, I thought I would share some thoughts and photos in summary here, mostly in an effort to genuinely promote and recommend this event to those who might not have heard of it or ever considering attending themselves. The 9-day event took place in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, a coming together of twin ski/resort towns to put on Caprices Festival, hosting dozens of musical artists spanning many different genres and styles. I actually only ran into a couple of Americans during the nine days of concerts (both had come out from New York for Tori Amos), so I think spreading some more information about the event on a U.S.-based site might bring out more people from the United States for future incarnations of this annual event, which celebrated it’s 10th anniversary this year, which also happened to mark some big changes and growth in size and line-up. [Read more…]

Caprices Festival Day 9 | Cypress Hill, Method Man & Redman, Mix Master Mike, Logic, Rootwords | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/16/2013 (Concert Review)

March 19, 2013 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

Day 9 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… it was the final one for the incredible series of a wide-ranging line-up of artist from a variety of music genres that drew thousands upon thousands to the resort area in the Swiss Alps. The themes for the final night, which drew one of the largest and most energetic crowds, was rap music and, well, a marijuana culture. I would have to rate the night near the top as far as high performance and crowd enthusiasm go, regardless of how one might feel about either of those things, as the artists collectively put out more energy than probably any other night’s show – they were each really amazing in their own ways, and gave fans what they wanted as well as probably cultivated some new ones for themselves. Really impressive stuff.

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Caprices Festival Day 8 | Mika, Nelly Furtado, Célien Schneider, Nadine Carina | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/15/2013 (Concert Review)

March 16, 2013 by Jason DeBord 3 Comments

Day 8 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… as the event approached its final two days Friday night, those in attendance seemed to have a desire to keep the party going, as Mika drew the largest crowd to date, not only filling the vast airline hanger-like space of The Moon, but overfilling the standing room only space in front of the stage. The popular British singer-songwriter drew such a crowd people were spilling out, standing watching from the hallway space in-between The Moon and The Tube, and was far and away the largest crowd pulled in thus far for the 9-day festival. The more pop-oriented line-up also included rising star Nadine Carina, local pop/folk singer Célien Schneider, and the ever versatile and classy Nelly Furtado, who put in one of my favorite shows of the past week.

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Caprices Festival Day 7 | Alice Cooper, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC), The Heavy, Demi mondAine | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/14/2013 (Concert Review)

March 15, 2013 by Jason DeBord 4 Comments

Day 7 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland… Definitely one of the strongest nights for performances, if not the strongest overall, with a really unique and stellar line-up including The Heavy, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Alice Cooper. The theme tonight was rock and roll (though in a variety of different packages), and it was really like a triple headliner. I also had the unique opportunity to meet with and interview two of the four bands that took to the stage at The Moon at Caprices.

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Caprices Festival Day 6 | The Spinto Band, 2ManyDJs, SebastiAn, March | Crans-Montana, Switzerland | 3/13/2013 (Concert Review)

March 13, 2013 by Jason DeBord Leave a Comment

Day 6 of Caprices Festival in Crans-Montana, Switzerland was unfortunately one of disappointment for all involved, as headliner The Killers were not able to make to to play their set due to weather conditions. I was really looking forward to seeing them again after their epic show in their hometown of Las Vegas that closed out 2012. The rest of the line up for the evening was present, and this included many, many acts, of which I viewed four in whole or part, including the headliner by default The Spinto Band, 2ManyDJs, SebastiAn, and March. It was a high energy night for both rock and DJ/electronic music.

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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 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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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…]

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…]