Wednesday’s line-up featured a certain number of women under the spotlight, from Angèle, the 21-year-old rising star from Brussels to the Russian queen of techno Nina Kraviz (no relation to Lenny Kravitz who will be playing on Friday!). The most convincing of the three shows on the main stage was definitely delivered single-handedly by Jain, whilst Ana Moura captivated the crowd with her beautiful voice under the Dôme.
Angèle has yet to release an album- it is due this autumn- but has already gathered a huge following on Instagram, and the three singles she has released have all become instant classics, thanks to her light and humorous brand of pop chanson. Her first song, La Loi de Murphy is a quirky take on every-day mishaps and contributed to her rise to fame. It would be easy to assume that as young as she is and without that much experience on stage, her concert wouldn’t be the best. Angèle proved to a packed-out Club Tent that this was not the case, dancing and delivering her songs with ease.
Fun fact: Angèle is Belgian rapper Romeo Elvis’ sister, and her first musical appearance was on one of his songs (a beautiful track that you can enjoy here). It turns out that Romeo Elvis is playing under the Arches on Friday! He has been at the forefront of the new Belgian rap scene that has taken the French-speaking rap world by storm, and his concert will surely be amazing.
The last time Jain came to Paléo, a couple of years ago, she played in an absolutely jam-packed Detour, and this time around she was given a more fitting stage. Playing alone in front of over 30 000 people on the main stage, she delivered an impressive show, playing songs from her first album, including the amazing tribute to Miriam Makeba, and a selection of new songs from her second album due to be released this August. Using a console and a loop station to build her songs, clad in a bright blue jumpsuit, she kept the crowd jumping from the first beat to the last. Even when she experienced a few technical problems, she didn’t miss a beat and entertained the crowd with a shouting contest while her technical team fixed her controllers. Girl power!
Nina Kraviz is a Russian DJ who has garnered quite a reputation in the techno scene, usually playing in the hypest nightclubs around the world. So her set at Paléo was definitely something to get excited about. Sadly, she didn’t really convince, playing a rather strange and unstructured set. Not the best end to the night!
