Summer is here in Switzerland and with the warm weather comes a whole host of music festivals and concerts across the whole country. In addition to the big named festivals: Paléo, Frauenfeld etc, there are also lots of small festivals that are held in intimate venues or in small villages high up in the mountains. These are well worth looking out for, not only can the entry price to these concerts be very good value for money (and you can turn up without having to have bought your ticket six months in advance), but you never know who you might find or hear at these small venues. There can be good opportunities to discover artists and bands close up and at the start of their music career!

Catherine recently attended a small music concert called “Rock Nax” in a village of the same name. The village itelf is at 1,300 metres in the Valaisan Alps and for most of the year it’s a pretty but quiet little place, however in June the amps were turned up high and it was rocking to the sound of reggae with Valaisan artist Sayam (Guillaume Rey), rock with Vaudois artists Climax and finally The Rambling Wheels from Neuchâtel.

Although all three bands have been around for a while, it was good to see them in a small, rural setting and in this case playing under the eaves of local barn.

Photos above – Sayam

Meanwhile the bands, artists and tracks that have caught David’s eye are: FlexFab  an electro trip hop artist from Neuchatel with his track “Manoir”,  “Rice and Bones” by Zurich band Disco Doom (see video below) “My Friend”  by Schwarz and finally, La Cigarette du Condamné by Fabian Tharin.