MUSIC PREMIERES
“We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline,” growls Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan, erupting after what could arguably be the most iconic riff ever gets a bigger reaction than any guitar part could – not least because it marks a homecoming of sorts.
The rock legends hail from London, but ‘Smoke On The Water’ was born here. Written about the fire and destruction of the Montreux Casino at a Frank Zappa show in 1971, it’s as much a record of the history of rock as it is one of rock’s most historically important tracks.
You feel it tonight as the local mayor and dignitaries gather with the sold-out crowd to rock out and watch dry ice from smoke bombs crawl across the lake behind a background of mountains at the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival. The Guinness Book Of World Records crowned Deep Purple as “the globe’s loudest band” in their ‘70s heyday, and you’d be forgiven for thinking they were trying to reclaim their title tonight. Bones rattle and teeth shake as the band shred into the night, providing a worldie of a set for this “unbelievable, formidable, magnificent, superb” audience.
It takes a lot to follow Alice Cooper, who brings snakes, zombies, camp comedy and a whole lot of West End theatrics to his joyously OTT shock-rock spectacular. Even as he writhes in a straitjacket before being beheaded by guillotine and having his fake bonce paraded around by Marie Antoinette, he still performs with every single deep wrinkle on his wizened face.
That’s not to say that this is a nostalgia-fest by any means. This Swiss music mecca has been attracting the biggest names in rock, pop, and jazz since 1968 for shows that would be talked about for the rest of time, but you don’t make history by looking to the past; you do it by living in the moment.
Besides a frankly ludicrous two-and-a-half week programme that also boasts the likes of Kraftwerk, Massive Attack, Air, Smashing Pumpkins, Janelle Monáe, Raye and Michael Kiwanuka, the line-up of bona fide legends and rising stars is accompanied by a brilliant billing of jazz in the long-since-rebuilt Casino (we spent a beautiful evening there with French-Cameroonian soul wunderkind Yamè – check him out at all costs – and we’d gladly fly ourselves back to see D4VD, Laufey and André 3000) as well as free events, DJ sets and jam sessions along the lake (80 per cent of the stages here are free to the public).
One of our party met a young pianist from the UK while watching the England vs Switzerland Euros game at a nearby Irish bar. On a solo pilgrimage during his gap year, he was inspired by tales of his heroes performing at the free jam sessions at The Memphis. The next evening, that kid was up on that same stage, going hell-for-leather with other musicians. Afterwards, he’d breathlessly share his disbelief at playing the very same piano as his hero, Jacob Collier, who’d turned up for an impromptu performance the year before. That’s the beauty of Montreux – that love of music, sense of occasion, and expectation of a ‘moment’ hangs thick in the year.
We saw that manifest when we were invited to the chalet of the late festival founder Claude Nobs: a house absolutely chocka with trinkets, instruments, memorabilia and gifts from the countless legends he’d befriended. Highlights included a cheeky crotch-shot postcard from Freddie Mercury (who famously had a house and studio nearby) and a striking self-portrait from David Bowie. The latter pops up alongside Prince and Leonard Cohen when we’re shown footage from the vast archives of Montreux Jazz’s countless historic sets.
From his 2002 performance, Bowie tells us how he sat in these very seats for a similar showing of legendary sets gone by – only upping his and the band’s nerves and determination for their gig. It certainly seems that ‘Montreux expects’. During her show, Jessie Ware tells the crowd how she doesn’t usually take requests, but she will for this. We also catch PJ Harvey on the stunning lakeside Scène du Lac arena, where there’s such a wave of compulsion from the stage as this artist, who’s already achieved so much, plays to say: ‘This matters’. It’s a knock-out, especially from the gnarly ‘50 Ft Queenie’ onwards into the grunged-up rock closing of the show.
Even fresh from their immaculate closing set at Glastonbury 2024, The National still look to up their A game further. “It’s a terrifying dream come true to play with PJ Harvey,” offers frontman Matt Berninger, dedicating ‘I Need My Girl’ to her. “I was terrified in this dream… she didn’t give a fuck!” Ahead of the weekend’s Trump assassination, Berninger warns of impending doom (“America is in the middle of the toilet,” he offers, as well as calling on Biden to “wake up” for the good of the left).
From the explosive highs of ‘Abel’ and ‘Mr November’ to the gorgeously tender closing of ‘About Today’ and the acoustic ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ with vocal duties handed over to the audience, The National tapped into whatever that wormhole is that seems to travel through places like this, Glastonbury, The Grand Ole Opry, The Cavern Club, etc.
This writer has seen The National more than most and this performance was up there because they couldn’t have been more in this moment. Tears were shed, magic was made, and that’s why we’re here. That’s why we headed out to Montreux and will definitely return – come with us.
MUSIC PREMIERES
Four years on from the ‘Actual Life’ series lifting him into the mainstream spotlight, Fred Again.. continues to feel unavoidable. The London producer and DJ born Fred Gibson has moved at a relentless pace, bouncing between sold out stadium dates in New York and surprise appearances at Sheffield’s 1,000 capacity Forge, while also making history as the first electronic artist to top the bill at Reading and Leeds in 2024.
Where the ‘Actual Life’ releases and his fourth album, 2024’s ‘Ten Days’, leaned into warmth and joy pulled from ordinary moments, Gibson has also sharpened his instinct for high impact club weapons rooted in garage, dubstep and jungle. That side of his output lives on ‘USB’, an “infinite album” first imagined in 2022 as a home for tracks that exist outside any fixed universe, including defining moments like ‘Rumble’ and ‘Jungle’.
‘USB002’, the second vinyl only chapter of the ‘USB’ project, brings together 16 recent tracks, many of which surfaced gradually on streaming services over a ten week stretch. The music was shaped live, in step with ten unannounced DJ appearances across the world from Dublin to Mexico City. Even with a Glastonbury style registration system in place, The Times reported that 100,000 people tried to secure tickets for the opening night in Glasgow.
Appropriately, ‘USB002’ feels alive and constantly in motion, helped along by contributions from close collaborators such as Floating Points and Sammy Virji. The rigid, techno driven pressure of ‘Ambery’ echoes elements of Floating Points’ 2019 album ‘Crush’, while Gibson’s take on ‘The Floor’ builds like the slow climb of a rollercoaster before dropping back to earth without warning.
The guest list stretches beyond the usual dance circles, with two Australian guitar bands popping up in unexpected ways. ‘You’re A Star’ reworks Amyl and The Sniffers’ ‘Big Dreams’ into a breakbeat driven rush, while ‘Hardstyle 2’ pulls the experimental post punk edge of Shady Nasty into an Underworld adjacent space alongside Kettama. Gibson’s real trick is his ability to connect with anyone. These tracks are not reinterpretations but full takeovers.
The visual world wrapped around the ‘USB002’ rollout reinforces the instinct behind the music. Phones were prohibited at shows staged in vast warehouse spaces under sweeping light rigs, while Gibson’s team shared striking black and white footage and created artwork for each single on site. Bottling that sense of urgency, the project is rooted in the thrill of the present moment, something Gibson seems able to summon simply by turning up.
If the ‘Actual Life’ series and ‘Ten Days’ captured passing snapshots of experience, ‘USB’ is defined by constant movement, a space where boundaries are removed entirely. Sitting somewhere between an album and a playlist, ‘USB002’ underlines why Fred Again.. feels so dominant right now, and suggests that his current run may only be the beginning of something much bigger.
