Seal at the Montreux Jazz Festival

I ended up making it to all three weekends of the Montreux Jazz Festival this year and really liked what it had to offer. On Saturday the 14th, I joined a group of my Shema friends for some of the free shows — and by chance ran into some of FI’s extended intern family there as well. The crowd was ridiculous that night, but we enjoyed the music and how can you not have a great night with a view like this:


This past weekend was a little cooler and more overcast so the crowds weren’t as heavy which was nice. Plus, I finally fullfilled a life goal — being one of the first people in line at a show and therefore being at the foot of the stage. I owe my friend Darryl the credit for that—it’s his normal concert ritual and hopefully I’ll have a few more changes to do that while I’m here.

But first, I have a confession to make — this won’t win me any hipster cred, but I am a Seal fan. I don‘t really know how far this goes back, but I really liked Batman Forever and of course “Kiss From A Rose” is a pretty amazing song. I also know my dad had his second self-titled album (the one with that track) before I did and it was one of the few that I really liked hearing on the stereo (sorry, dad; Zamphir just didn‘t do it for me). I‘ve always thought “Crazy” is pretty phenomenal, and I actually did some sort of poetry assignment in Mrs. Moone’s class junior year of high school about him (we had to write an obit or eulogy or something and a lot of his song titles, i.e. “People Asking Why,” Don’t Cry,” “Future Love Paradise,” worked remarkably well). So, yeah, I like Seal, and when I heard he was playing at Montreux I was pretty stoked because he doesn’t really do extensive or regular touring in the States.

Fortunately, Darryl likes concerts maybe more than I do and is willing to see just about anyone if they’re pretty reputable. So we headed out in the early afternoon and made it to Montreux around 2pm which allowed time for wandering.
Here’s a statue of B.B. King in one of the lakeside parks:


Also, since I had my camera with me this time, I can finally post a photo of the Freddy Mercury statue so you know I wasn’t joking:


We also spotted these guys; the first was obviously a street performer of sort, while the second appeared to be a real person—perhaps a reporter of some sort who just normally dresses that way…



So after a couple beers and some festival food, it was time to get in line around 5pm. We were let in around 7:30 and raced up the stairs… to stand in another line at a set of doors. After a little while, they opened those up and we scrambled towards the front of the concert hall. We were actually second row (they opened a side door a couple moments earlier than ours), but still right in the mix. I was pretty excited, though less so after seeing the monitor listing the start time for Seal as midnight.
Fortunately the other acts were both great.

We had no idea who the opener was, but apparently Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer is a friend of Prince and pretty well-known (My Dutch friend Lammert knew immediately who I was talking about even though I didn’t recall her name). Anyway, she kicked things off with a bang and a set that included a lot of members of Prince’s band, including Rosie Gaines. As you can imagine, it was pretty cool.

The second act (also billed with Seal, because, well, he was just as much of a draw) was reggae pioneer Jimmy Cliff. The guy is 59 years old and still puts on one heck of a show. His backing band was mostly young adults (around my age) which I thought was quite cool. His voice is still crystal clear and I can’t remember spontaneously smiling so many times in recent memory. A fun, fun set.

But finally, after a long wait, it was time for the main event. Seal took the stage to “The Beginning” from his first album and worked his way through a great setlist of singles (“Crazy,” “Bring It On,” his cover of “Fly Like an Eagle”) and deep album tracks (including three from his underrated Human Beings album and several from his first incluing “Future Love Paradise” and “Whirlpool”). While cameras technically weren’t allowed, they don’t screen very well so I was able to get a few shots—though eventually security did come through and bust a few people clueless enough not to see them coming.
Here are some of my shots (which may give an idea of how close we were, though Darryl’s are even better).


Now, I’m very happy for Seal and Heidi Klum, but you would think that she would give some fashion advice before he left the house wearing a cut-off tee; maybe it’s the new wolf shirt…




Seal was a great and gracious performer and his band was also very talented. I am really looking forward to the new album this fall and I recommend checking him out if he’s ever in your area.

As for the Jazz Festival, I can’t wait to return and I hope the line-up works in my favor again next year.