I’ve never been to the Baloise Session before and I was positively surprised when I entered the venue. It is a super classy location and the people dress their part. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. So if you haven’t been to this amazing festival you’ve definitely missed something.
Clean Bandit opened the evening which surprised me quite a bit since they are huge at the moment. Luckily I was able to see them this summer at the Summertime Ball in London. Back then they had two singers who were changing for each song. Today, instead of the second singer Grace herself sang a few times which surprised me even more since she seemed very shy in London. You might not know this but Clean Bandit is just an instrumental group formed by the brothers Luke on drums and Jack on keys and Grace on cello. They get supported during their live performances by Sam on bass, Stephanie on violin and as previously mentioned Yasmin on vocals.
They started with a funny intro where we were transported into a rainforest. The electro dance vibe was there and after 3 songs the audience couldn’t be kept on their seats anymore so the dance floor in front of the stage was opened. Of course the majority stayed at the beautifully candle-lit tables and enjoyed the concert seated. However I felt that there was a great atmosphere and everyone was happy. The 4th song was already “Symphony” a huge hit and brilliant live – especially sung with a great voice such as Yasmin has.
Clean Bandit mixed slow songs where the singer could show her talent with dance songs where they got everyone jumping and dancing. The band got also a Reggae song called “Come Over” and I haven’t mentioned it on my blog yet but I love this genre. So this song was a lovely surprise and one of my highlights of the night. “Rockabye” followed which features Sean Paul and Anne Marie (who is coming to the Energy Star Night as well as to Kaufleuten on April, 18th) and had to be included in the set. Unfortunately today without the original singers of the song. This makes me realise how lucky I was in June!
With “Should have known better” Yasmin got everyone singing. “Disconnect” came after which is originally sang by Marina from Marina and the Diamonds. Her voice suits this songs incredibly well. The last song before the encore was “Real Love” another dancy song and one of their biggest hits. The first encore song was “Tears” originally sang by Louisa Johnson who is more or less unknown in Switzerland but in the UK she’s a rising star. And finally the song everyone knew was “Rather Be”. I was dancing and singing and this song is just brilliant. I’ve heard it at a small fair in a village in London sang by a choir and I adored what they did with it.
After an hour the lovely British musicians left the stage to make way to their fellow countryman or should I say woman. Goldfrapp took the stage after a short break and what a start it was. It was all dark and you could only see her features. I assumed this would change after a while and the light would shine on her but I made a wrong assumption. For the whole hour she stayed in the dark. Lots of lights in different colours were shining behind her and it looked quite impressive. During the set Alison didn’t talk to the audience much and because she was so distant I didn’t really connect with her.
A few people had the same issue and left the Baloise Session early. However I’d say the majority loved it. The dance floor was opened again and many people were dancing not only there but also next to their tables. Funny enough out of the blue I recognised a song which I quite like called “Train”. It was played on the radio a lot as well as the encore but let’s not go there yet.
Someone described her sound to me as a mix of mellow tunes and electro beats which is so accurate that I had to mention it here. She went through her set quite quickly and professionally. Goldfrapp’s “dance” moves are quite special and in hindsight it reminds me a bit of the German electro band 2Raumwohnung who I got to see and review for the music magazine ARTNOIR. The set finished just before 11 with “Strict Machine”. Another song I knew and enjoyed seeing it live.
During the break we got to see a previous concert of the Baloise Session with Parov Stelar. Obviously I was quite intrigued and started to pay attention more closely. I quite enjoyed their performance and their lead singer seemed super nice and talented. Suddenly “All Night” came on and I bet you know that song! Lucky for us they are coming back on March, 9th 2018. Get your tickets here.
Lastly I can only recommend this brilliant venue and I should have come here sooner! Fortunately I get to come here another 3 times this year to cover the Islandic Night Kaleo/Asgeir, Kool and the Gang/Dabu Fantastic and finally the German night with Tim Bendzko/Max Giesinger. There’s a lot more to come so keep following Kekoas Korner and stay up to date with my social media accounts: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Did you enjoy Clean Bandit and Goldfrapp? Share your opinion in the comments below.