A review of Tuesday night's Paléo by by Jonas Parson.
Back on the Paléo grounds!
After missing out on Paléo last year (trekking in Ladakh does seem like a good excuse for missing the festival), it was with much emotion that I set foot on the Asse plain to discover the 37th edition of the music festival. This year, I'll be experiencing Paléo from two different point of views; as a normal festival goer but also as a performing street artist, with Nyon's local circus school, l'Elastique Citrique.
I'll be writing more about that later on in the week. Let loose from an afternoon of bringing smile to people's faces and wreaking a little mischief, I set off to rediscover the grounds. The evening was warm, and people were happily strolling about, sitting down for something to eat, or (im)patiently waiting for the next concert to start on the main stage.
Photos above and below - by Jonas Parson
Last year's mud seems to be on everyone’s mind (Daniel Rossellat, Président of Paléo even meddled with some sort of pagan ritual to ensure it wouldn't rain, making lots of wellington boots to the colours of Paléo (you can get a pair at the Paléo shop), explaining that it's when you get ready for bad weather that it doesn't come (Murphy's law anybody?) ), making this year's weather all the more appreciated.
After listening to a few songs, I left Franz Ferdinand (see review of this in previous post here) and a big crowd who looked like they were really enjoying the Scottish band's efforts to rock the Paléo, and set off to try and satisfy my stomach's desperate calls for food.
Food at the Paléo is never a problem, as the festival is packed with stalls offering dishes from all around the world to a famished crowd in search of something to entertain their taste buds in between two concerts. It was time to reunite with an old favourite, the Paprika, a stall serving delicious Indian food -word must have got around, judging from the long queues to get served, but the wait is well worth it. To all of you fish and chip fans out there, note the stall serving... wait for it- Australian fish and chips, situated in the passage between the Oriental and Latin quarters.
As the Village du Monde has been taken over by the Middle East this year, I'll be trying out a few specialities served there throughout the week-last night it was Palestine's only beer, a light blond , perfect for quenching your thirst.
But Paléo isn't all about the food, so I headed off to the Chapiteau to listen to a bit of M83, a French electro band that are quite big in the States. The Chapiteau was packed out, people spilling out of it on either sides, listening to the music and watching the screens to catch a glimpse of the show.
The concert started with quite some punch, setting the tone for the next hour or so of slightly ethereal but energetic music. The crowd was really up to it, and the further in you got, the more people were dancing to the music and reacting to the band.
It was then time to the high-light of the evening, the never-tiring Manu Chao. He's been to Paléo before, and his concerts have always been moments of pure happiness, magicking the crowd into a wild frenzy, sharing a precious moment with the crowd. This time was no exception, and the 51 year old came jumping on to stage, setting fire to the crowd and didn't tire down for the whole show.
The crowd danced to favorites like “Clandestino”, “Je ne t'aime plus”, King of the bongo” or songs from the Mano Negra (Manu Chaos old band) era like “King Kong Five”. He played nearly continuously, barely leaving time for people to breathe between two songs, sometimes even switching directly from one song to the next. Right up front, the dancing was fierce, as people bounced of each other in a confusion of music, sweat and dust, all in a very goodhearted way.
The end of the concert left us aching from the dancing, with an exhausted grin on our faces, and a nice ending to the evening.
Photo below - Jonas Parson. Living in Nyon concert reviewer.