2012.01.20 K's Choice at the Grand Casino Basel

Belgium’s K’s Choice played a pared-down set at the Grand Casino in Basel to a highly appreciative audience on January 20th. Normally a six-piece, for this acoustic tour the band consisted of singer Sarah Bettens, her brother Gert Bettens on guitar and Reinout Swinnen on piano.

The stage lights were spare but effective, illuminating the three musicians as needed and putting the focus squarely on the music. And what music! The concert was awash in gorgeous three-part harmonies, acoustic guitars and piano. Gert Bettens proved a multi-tasker on ukulele and harmonica while simultaneously providing a foot-stompin' rhythm on the country-tinged I Wanna Get Lost, one of two new songs showcased during the concert. The band also unveiled a track that will be used for a polar expedition documentary, the music effortlessly evoking the desolate icy landscapes.

Songs from their last album Echo Mountain prevailed, with Come Live The Life a particular highlight. They didn’t shy away from their past, either, revisiting a sprinkling of tracks from sophomore album Paradise In Me as well as the poignant My Heart from their debut The Great Subconscious Club.

Sarah Bettens’ multilayered, husky voice astonished in this acoustic setting, with outstanding support from Gert Bettens and Reinout Swinnen. The standout moments were without a doubt the three of them singing in flawless harmony, a complete hush falling over the room. Superb.

2011.11.06 The Rapture at Stall 6

New York dance-punk outfit The Rapture are feeling gregarious. As they bid farewell to the crowd before finishing their Zurich show, singer Luke Jenner asks: "You wanna come to Italy with us? We have room for at least three more on our tourbus." A few enthusiastic fans raise their hands and whoop. Looks like the band have just expanded their entourage.

The Rapture’s breakout album Echoes was met with critical acclaim in 2003 and hailed as part of the post-punk wave coming out of the USA in the early noughties. Their sophomore effort Pieces Of The People We Love three years later was underappreciated, and there followed a period of changes within and outside the band that halted their creative output. Now they’re back with new album In The Grace Of Your Love, an altogether more melodious slice of funk-punk than their previous offerings.

Starting with the eponymous new title track, The Rapture’s live set is shot through with electronic bleeps, droning bass and the same funky grooves that marked James Murphy’s band LCD Soundsystem. The similarity isn’t surprising, given that The Rapture released two of their albums on James Murphy’s DFA label.

And therein lies the crux of the matter: those funk-punk rhythms, they can become very monotonous, very fast. Never Die Again, Get Myself Into It and The Devil repeat the same groove and chorus throughout their four-minutes-plus duration, punctuated by the honk of a saxophone and the clang of a cow-bell. Their best-known track House Of Jealous Lovers delivers more of the same, underscored by Jenner’s high-pitched yelp.

It’s not until Whoo! Alright-Yeah... Uh Huh half-way through the set that the momentum picks up. As soon as their songs incorporate a hint of a melody and some syncopation, the music becomes far more interesting. Their best moments are on the piano-driven How Deep Is Your Love and on Sail Away with its layers of synthesizers and glissando vocals. That these are both from the new album is testament to their development from shouty punk to a more differentiated sound that bodes well for their future releases.

******************************************************************************

Incidentally, the intimate Stall 6 venue in Zurich is a lovely converted stable replete with wooden beams and a spinning disco ball. You can go there for a drink or to listen to music - check out their programme here.

2011.11.06 Jane Birkin at the Beyeler Foundation

Jane Birkin was an original 60s wild child with long limbs and long brown hair. Her sensual moans in the song Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus with Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg sparked rage and electricity, being banned by the Vatican and reaching No 1 in the UK charts.

This is how Jane Birkin entered the limelight, but it is not how she will leave. Her show at the Beyeler portrayed her youthful side, but also revealed the sophisticated and serious nature. She is 62 now, after all. 

The venue suited her perfectly. Outside the close proximity of many Basel museums, the Beyeler is beautifully built. Strong architectural lines are softened by the surrounding landscape, its premises well suited for relaxing and allowing one’s self to be inspired by the rotating exhibitions. The show was downstairs in a smallish room, seating no more than 250 people. An intimate gathering, in a special place. A woman with a Hermes handbag named after her deserves no less. 

There was no diva air about her. Dressed in a loose sweater cardigan and trousers, with cropped hair that is messed about in the relaxed, morning-after hair kind of way. Before the songbird utters a word, the amiable audience was won over. Her whispery, floating voice dips and glides, mostly in French, whimsical as a little girl with a grown, natural confidence. 

Backed by a 4 piece ensemble, it was more of an orchestra than a band: grand piano, trumpet, drummer and a violinist whom Birkin introduced as her “good luck”. The symphonic sound fit her serious ballads and air of complexity. When she switched the pace her eternal child came out to play, sparking smiles all over the audience as everybody felt the fun. She put on a show, at one point kneeling down dramatically on the stage and at another walking through the seated rows of people. And it was eaten up, a longstem rose and a mysteriously wrapped gift were handed up to her on stage from the audience. Enchanting and a gracious performer, she came back for a beautiful encore, thanking everybody profusely. 

It is obvious why she was a muse in the past, and it seems she will go on for many more. Closed with a standing ovation, it is clear Jane Birkin will remain in the hearts of many in the Basel region.

2011.10.11 James Blunt at the St. Jakobshalle Basel

Who knew that James Blunt crowdsurfs? Who knew that he can whip an audience into a cheering frenzy?

Those are just two of the things you learn at a James Blunt concert – and there’s more. One, he’s a first-rate live vocalist. Two, his backing band is superb. And three, he is very much aware of his image as a soft-rock crooner with a predominantly female fan base – at one point he dedicates his next song to "all the boyfriends and husbands who were dragged here by their partners". He combines this self-deprecation with a gauche sincerity that is as attractive to some as it is irritating to others. It has always been easy to mock Blunt for being totally uncool, but he can clearly deliver a show that is straightforward and engaging.

Blunt is touring his third album Some Kind Of Trouble, released almost a year ago. More upbeat and rocking than his two previous efforts, he plays eight tracks from the new album among a 19-song set, and the difference in instrumentation and tempo shows. Concert-opener So Far Gone sets the pace, followed by a sonic trip back to the 80s with Dangerous. Lovely renditions of the popular Wisemen and Carry You Home have the audience singing along in harmony.

I’ll Take Everything is a surprising highlight with its main chord progression pounded out on the piano, Blunt in fine vocal fettle, and the band providing a beefy wall of sound.

There are a few missteps: If Time Is All I Have is overly maudlin, while Turn Me On and Superstar are rock tunes that don’t feel like they’re a natural fit for the singer.

Blunt’s break-out hit You’re Beautiful has been so played to death that it’s difficult to appreciate it afresh, and indeed, six years after its release, it doesn’t hold up. Goodbye My Lover is similarly ubiquitous, but its melody is far more captivating – you’d have to have a heart of stone not to be affected by the song, and the audience gives it an ecstatic reception.

I’ll Be Your Man is the singer’s moment to crowdsurf, a move that wins over even the most reluctant of concert-goers. The jubilant Stay The Night and 1973 close the show – by this time, the 4300 spectators are all on their feet, dancing and cheering.

The final thing you learn at a James Blunt concert? It’s ok to be uncool.

2011.07.14-17 Highlights of the Gurten Festival 2011

Staring at cows at 2 a.m., dancing in the moonlight, and wearing a cowboy hat in Switzerland – it all made sense at the time. A music festival is nothing if not a world unto itself, and Gurten fits the bill perfectly: situated on top of Bern’s local mountain and surrounded by forest, the festival is only accessible by the Gurtenbahn funicular or on foot, cutting it off from the daily grind.

And so we dived right in, starting with Scottish indie rockers Glasvegas on Friday. Plaintive gems like It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry and Geraldine aside, they lacked that certain spark and connection with the audience. This could have something to do with the fact that singer James Allan routinely likes to insult the crowd – not the most endearing of traits.

A far zanier proposition were The Rambling Wheels, a quartet of musicians from Neuchâtel wearing matching pink shirts who delivered an energetic live set complete with bonkers solos, drum sticks flying everywhere. Huge fun. 77 Bombay Street were similarly cheerful; the band’s folk-rock spread instant feel-good vibes and their infectious hit Up In the Sky resulted in an outburst of arm-waving.

Friday headliners Kasabian have disappointed us in the past, but this time round we were delightfully bowled over by their electronica-meets-rock bombast. Basel’s The Bianca Story were up next with meticulous art rock – a sound that works brilliantly on their recordings, but comes across as slightly uninvolving in a live open air setting, despite the two singers’ excellent vocals. And finally, electro gods Underworld delivered the post-midnight magic, demonstrating that they could still whip an audience into a frenzy, complete with dance moves not seen since the 90s. The highlight of their set – and possibly of the festival – was the peerless Born Slippy, a classic electronic stomper that turned us into gibbering masses of giddiness.

Since we weren’t brave enough to camp, we had to head back down into town and commendably decided to walk the way. Mistake. Ah, the pain of walking steeply downhill for half an age after you’ve been on your feet for fourteen hours. However – and this is where the cows come in – we did enjoy the sight of bewildered herds of cattle lying in the fields, roused from their sleep by departing festival-goers.

Saturday kicked off with Jamie Cullum leaping around the stage and getting the early-afternoon crowd hopping. Swiss singer-songwriter Pamela Mendez played a low-key set on the Waldbühne, a stage at the bottom of the steepest slope you’ve ever seen, and her expressive voice carried all the way up the hill as she sang about everyday life and the mysteries of the Swiss mentality. Next up, a change of pace with Kaiser Chiefs, whose I Predict A Riot set the tone for a rousing punk rock show, with the mass sing-along during Ruby a fitting highpoint. Singer Ricky Wilson’s favourite pastime is climbing the nearest scaffolding during a gig – so off he went, to the delight of the audience and the dismay of security, who scrambled to keep up with him as he ran through the crowd.

Pendulum’s drum’n’metal extravaganza after midnight had the fans going bananas, beginning with the berserk Salt In The Wounds, right through the reggae-drenched Set Me On Fire to the more conventional Watercolour. MC Ben Mount bounced all over the stage like a mad dervish as he conducted the audience to jump at his command. The last slot went to Bubble Beatz, drummers Kay Rauber und Christian Gschwend surrounded by their trash machine made out of plastic barrels, pots, pans, steel pipes – in fact, anything you can find in a junk yard. They played electro-infused beats with such enthusiasm that they induced a complete power blackout at one point. Kudos!

Sunday introduced a proper festival atmosphere with lashings of rain and gusts of mountain mist, so we strapped on our wellies and braved the elements. Gustav & Les Black Poets came, saw and conquered: all thoughts of the dismal noon weather were dispelled by their lively onslaught of rock-brass-folk-pop melodies, sung in German, French and English by a merry band of nine.

Calle 13 steamed up the main tent with Puerto Rican rap and rhythm, while outside, Ohio’s The National made their unhurried way through a mellow rock set. Singer Matt Berninger is a welcome change from the usual crop of high-pitched vocalists: bearded and nattily dressed, he takes the occasional sip from his customary glass of red wine as he sings in his deep baritone about being carried through the skies in a swarm of bees (Bloodbuzz Ohio) and walking with spiders (Terrible Love). Resourceful members of the audience had managed to track down an Ohio state flag and were waving it about in the rain, prompting Berninger to walk out into the crowd and bestow his bottle of wine on them. Now that’s class.

The Gurten Festival of 2011 boasted a splendid line-up, mostly sunny weather, hilariously overpriced drinks, amazingly sanitary loos, mad headgear, and a wonderfully amicable atmosphere. I think we may be back.