On the final Saturday of Winterthur Musikfestwochen the weather couldn’t be better. I headed to Steinberggasse, grabbed a drink and waited to see what the evening had in store.
While I’d never heard of Elias before finding his name on the festival lineup, a video of his phenomenal performance at the 2016 Grammis really got my hopes up. Needless to say, his set exceeded all expectations. Reminiscent of both James Blake and BANKS, the Swedish musician brought soul and character to his touchingly descriptive lyrics. Beginning with the track ‘Cloud’ Elias wasted no time in showcasing his vocal ability as he soared through the choruses with stability and power. There was little left to be desired from the performance — with the effortless transitions, satisfying interactions between the singer and his band and seemingly coordinated outfits — no detail was overlooked. The only thing lacking was the crowd. It’s pretty standard that opening acts at Swiss festivals are met with a rather sleepy audience and unfortunately, this was no exception. Luckily, Elias didn’t seem too phased by this as he delivered his latest singles ‘Down And Out’ and ‘Makin Me Happy’ with vivacity. Following the performance he made his way down to the barricade to have a chat with the audience. While many people didn’t know much about Elias before, his performance and attitude ensured that he won’t soon be forgotten.
In all honesty, I was mainly at the festival to see Daughter, so I was pretty stoked when I managed to get a spot near the stage with minimal effort — see, there is an upside to the Swiss being relaxed festival-goers. Daughter’s set began with the track ‘How’ from their latest album, Not to Disappear. Lead singer Elena’s gentle vocals paired with the driving instrumental caught the crowd’s attention — which the band managed to keep for the remainder of the set. Following many humbled thanks, Elena kept saying how beautiful the atmosphere was — and it truly was. With the stage situated in the middle of Winterthur’s old town it certainly wasn’t your average festival location. After another roar of applause, guitarist Igor Haefeli made a little speech in Swiss German — after all, while they’re a British band Igor is Swiss born. He told everyone how special the show was for him because his family is from Winterthur. As the night continued on, old town residents gathered at their opened windows to listen along. Slower tracks such as ‘Smother’ prompted silence and reflection while more the upbeat song ‘Human’ and the rebellious ‘No Care’ energized the crowd. All in all, Daughter’s performance was engaging, captivating and emotionally driven.
The crowd grew as people awaited the arrival of Tom Odell. While he was the main headliner of the night things quickly went south a few songs into his set. To the dismay of the audience the singer reluctantly announced that he was losing his voice and wouldn’t be able to proceed. He offered up an alternative, stating that he couldn’t sing but he could play piano all night. Of course, this wasn’t what most people had hoped for but they’d take what they could get. Tom and his band left the stage for a few minutes as they tried to sort out what to do next. When they returned the guest moderator announced that there’d be a bit of karaoke. This resulted in what is probably the most impressive attempt at teamwork I’ve seen. The instrumentalists and support vocalist took over and sang Tom’s songs along with the audience. Everyone seemed to be having a genuinely good time and to be fair the impromptu set wasn’t half bad. Although Tom looked momentarily relieved, after another few songs and some further hesitation they offered up another awkward apology and left. The rather confused audience stayed at Steinberggasse, waiting to see if the night would be saved. Understandably they all “booed“ as the moderator nonchalantly regarded it all as a “shame” and sent everyone on their way and thus, the night ended earlier than planned.
Winterthur Musikfestwochen began handling damage control soon after, wishing Tom Odell a speedy recovery and offering all ticket-holders access to another show. Of course, this gesture didn’t satisfy everyone as some took to the Facebook page to complain about overcrowding and others angrily flung around accusations that Tom Odell only pushed through a handful of songs in the name of financial gain. Regardless of this, the organization did their best to make things right for their visitors and the effort was much appreciated by the majority of people. Despite a rather chaotic ending, the night was still really memorable and the atmosphere made up for all the rest.