Experimental but not elitist, elaborate but not outlandish, daring but still popular: The bearded multi-talent Woodkid doesn't care about genres and enchanted the sold-out Auditorium Stravinski in Montreux. The surprise guest was an elf.
"I'm particularly looking forward to this: the evening with Woodkid and his friends will be something very special," announced director Mathieu Jaton before the start of the festival, who had already performed with an orchestra in Montreux in 2013 and designed the festival poster in 2014.
Woodkid, alias Yoann Lemoine (33), is a universal artist, designer and director - he has directed videos by Lana del Rey and Taylor Swift. His soundtrack for Robert de Niro's new film "Ellis" was released last week.
Music from a parallel universe
Expectations were high - and when the curtain rises, they rise even higher: the stage is a beige hemisphere made of transparent, hexagonal honeycombs. Inside is the fifty-piece orchestra of the Sinfonietta Lausanne, all dressed in white overalls. Nostalgic violin sounds, futuristic electro drums - a timeless musical shaker. Music from a parallel universe without era or genre.
The "wooden child" Woodkid cannot be pigeonholed, yet it always fits: whether romantic, symphonically dreamy, energetically pulsating, hard and angular - the crowd gets carried away, dances and jumps with their hands up, hoping the floor of the auditorium will hold.
Elle Fanning as an enchanting elf
The orchestra from Lausanne and a children's choir are joined by Woodkid's friends. These are the singer and musician Ryan Lott, Ed Droste singer of the US indie band Grizzly Bear, guitarist Rafiq Bathia and cello player Cyrille Lacrouts - and an elfish young blonde woman who is performing on stage as a singer for the first time.
Elle Fanning is only 18 and the younger sister of actress Dakota Fanning. Woodkid filmed a commercial with her a few years ago for the perfume label Lolita Lempicka. She sings a shy but enchanting duet with Woodkid, later again in the encore. Even after the hits "Iron" and "Run Boy Run", the audience refused to let Woodkid go - and simply continued to sing for minutes on end, spontaneously conducted by the moved Woodkid, whose hipster-bearded face beamed like a dedicated primary school teacher who was delighted with his pupils.
Anyone who was there was enchanted by the warm hipster and his friends - and can continue to puzzle over it: Was that pop, alternative, indie, electro or modern classical - or simply beautiful? And special, because this evening, tailor-made for Montreux, will never happen again.
WOODKID - TICKETS
