Chamonix Activity Review: 16th July 2013

I've been on stage with Prince! I doubt there's going to be another occasion in my life when I can say that, so I'm going to say it twice. I've been on stage with Prince!

OK... so it was only for a millisecond but it actually happened. The momentous occasion took place last night at the Montreux Jazz Festival, a massive event that runs for a fortnight every year in July. The picturesque little town of Montreux sits on the banks of Lake Geneva, just a 1 ½ hour drive from Chamonix. For 2 weeks the promenade is lined with stalls, bars and restaurants while bands play free concerts in the park and the "Jazz Boat" sails up and down the bay. As well as all the free entertainment there is always an incredible line-up of all types of artists, mostly in small intimate venues. So far this year we've had Ben Howard, ZZ Top, Rodriguez, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Leonard Cohen, Greenday, The Lumineers, Prince (oh, did I mention that I've been on stage with him?), and plenty of other big names with Sting, Kraftwerk, George Benson and more yet to come. Many of the bigger acts will have sold out by now but it is definitely still worth going along to soak up the vibes, swim in the lake, enjoy the free concerts, watch the sun set on the water and generally have a good time. If you don't have a car you can get there by train (direction Vallorcine, change at Martigny) in under 2 ½ hours, camp over then come back the next day.

We might not have Glastonbury here in the Alps but we do have so many smaller more affordable festivals that still attract a lot of great headliners. The night before I saw Prince (who I've been on stage with, by the way) I saw Jamiroquai, Jamie Cullum, The Hives, and Vampire Weekend for just 49€ at Musilac in Aix-Les-Bains, about 1 ½ - 2 hours drive from Chamonix. If that sounds like good value then the free concert in Cluses the weekend previous featuring Stereophonics was an absolute bargain!

Don't worry though, you've not missed out; Montreux is on until 20th July and then there are plenty more festivals taking place throughout the summer including Paleo in Nyon, La Roche Bluegrass Festival in La Roche sur Foron, Open Air Gampel just over the Swiss border, to name a few - some are even free!

Chamonix's very own music festival, Cosmojazz, runs from 27th July to 4th August with concerts taking place all over town, in the streets, in bars and restaurants, even in the mountains! Musicians and singers come from all over the world to take part, so it's a great chance to see some unique performances in some very unusual locations. Most concerts are free of charge, you might have to buy a lift pass to access some of them, or you can hike up with a picnic and a cushion for the ultimate in al fresco entertainment. You can find details of all the scheduled performances here, and there are usually plenty of unscheduled only-confirmed-at-the-last-minute performances as well.

In the meantime there is plenty of live music taking place in all the usual spots - I'm off to Le Jekyll tonight to see Erik and Ulf. Erik is keyboard player and vocals with Bronkenstein Connection as well as a number of other jazz/blues projects and Ulf is guitarist and lead singer with everyone's favourite apres-ski band No Limits, so it should be a good night out.