Between class and audacity, Grace Jones dazzles the Montreux Jazz Festival in Queen Pop – Rts.ch

“So Montreux, did I miss?”. The evening barely fell on the lake stage that Grace Jones arrives, sculptural, on a gigantic red and golden throne. Hatded with a death -shaped mask, the 77 -year -old Jamaican singer begins “nightclubbing”, her bewitching and iconic syncopated vintage 1981 of the costed title Iggy Pop and David Bowie released four years earlier.

The trip only starts. During his concert, Grace Jones and his fabulous musicians and musicians take us into Jamaica thanks to the reggae sounds of “Private Life” and “My Jamaican Guy”, in an electro-Funk atmosphere for “The Key” or more Gospel during “Williams Blood”.

On stage, Grace Jones has fun, changes disguise with each title, dressing a pair of sunglasses, a rasta wig, a glitter hat, a creator skirt. Fantastic and metamorphic burlesque, she puts on the military kepi in “Demolition Man”, brandishes a red scarf like a toréador in “Libertango”, while drinking a few glasses of wine by the way.

The sophisticated staging also gives way to more fragile moments, especially when Grace Jones concludes chapel Some titles. The singer also recalls that she grew up in a strict and very religious environment, in which it was necessary to wear a skirt to go to the church and pray to be saved. Now “i like to be bad”, she retorts to the conquered public.

Yseult, a mid-fig concert half-grape

Earlier in the evening, the beginnings also seemed promising on the lake stage with a new Yseult, version badass. Fringe and nails jacket, coal look, leotard and resille base, Yseult promised black, anger and perspiration.

If his latest album “Mental” is indeed a daring UFO mixing rock, punk and techno, we can only regret the absence of musicians on stage. A bass player and a drummer would have brought a real extra soul on titles like “suicide” or “fuck me”. A simple piano-voice would no doubt have turned upside down when Yseult sings “I hurt so much inside” in “Trance”.

Since its final at the New Star in 2014 and a more or less denied first album, Yseult has come a long way and we can only admire its musical risk taking and its independence as an artist. Her powerful and delicate voice always capsizes at times, especially when she sings “MTV” and “body”.

If we also salute the message “positive body” (all the bodies are beautiful) declaimed by the artist, one feels almost uncomfortable to see Yseult taken from every angle, throughout the concert, by a dubbed photographer. The singer does not hesitate to take selfie several times for her most diligent fans. An almost too narcissistic side that we will put on the account of the quest for oneself.

Sarah Clément