Paleo festival revealed the line-up for its 38th edition this morning in Nyon, at the Uni Global headquarters in the centre of town. Daniel Rosselat introduced the press conference by expressing the hope that the sun shining outside would prove a good omen for the weather during the Festival itself, which will take place from the 23rd to the 28th of July on the Asse plain, just above the town of Nyon. “The weather is always an important factor for an enjoyable festival” commented Paleo’s boss, and it’s even truer this year as Paléo will be inaugurating a new open-air stage, “Les Arches”, in place of the the Chapiteau. (mentioned on Living In Nyon here).
A winning recipe
Never change a winning recipe, continued Rosselat, even if the ingredients vary slightly from one year to another. A few (very) big headliners, some smaller emerging talents, and a dash of spice with the artists from the Village du Monde to top it off.
Neil Young had already been announced earlier this year, and he will be joined in the “Legends of Rock” category by mythical Latino-rock guitarist, Carlos Santana. Other heavy-duty stars, such as Nick Cave (who Paleo have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get to sign up for quite a few years now), Blur (who reformed last summer) and the Smashing Pumpkins will be rocking the crowds this summer.
Never get too comfortable
Only a quarter of the bands on the programme this year have played at Paleo before. As Paléo boss Rosselat explained, it would be easier- and more comfortable- to keep inviting the same bands again and again, cashing in on known talents, but Paléo is also about discovering new bands, renewing the line-up year after year. So whereas a few of the names on the line-up will be familiar to Paleo regulars – the Arctic Monkeys, back again a few years after their excellent concert on the main stage, or Sophie Hunger, who will be playing this year in front of an audience of 30’000 after her rather more intimate début a few years back – get ready to discover exciting new bands like Alt-J, winners of this year’s Mercury Award – the top recompense for independent bands in the UK each year (the Arctic Monkeys scooped the award in 2006), Retro Stefson (described as the Icelandic Arcade Fire) or the Skints, the new stars of the English Ska scene, continuing the legacy of 70’s bands like Madness and The Specials.
Discover the Indian Ocean at the Village du Monde
The Village du Monde, a “festival inside the Festival”, will be bringing you sounds, colours and flavours from the eastern seaboard of Africa and the numerous islands that lie just off the continent. Dedicated to bringing music from a different part of the world each year, the Village du Monde is one of the popular highlights of the Festival. “But it isn’t supposed to be an ethno-musicology festival” reminded Jacques Monnier, Paleo’s head programmer. Although there are a few traditional bands coming, like the Tambours du Burundi or Deba (a women’s group from the Island of Mayotte, involving dance and polyphonic chants based on sacred Muslim rituals), the focus is on bands who are experimenting with the folklore, by mixing traditional music with more contemporary sounds like electro, dub-step or jazz. Look out for bands like Shangaan Electro, Nathalie Natiembé or Skip and Die.
The full line-up, with descriptions of all the bands and links to their website can be found here
Here’s a video presenting some of the artists
Tickets on sale next Wednesday
Tickets and passes will be on sale from midday on Wednesday 24th April, on www.paleo.ch , the Migros and the FNAC- but hurry up, each year, the tickets sell out faster and faster! Here’s a list of all the ticket outlets. For the people who don’t manage to get Festival tickets in time, 1500 tickets will be on sale each morning during the Festival on the Paléo website at 9 a.m for the same evening.
