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[title]There are few riffs more recognisable than the four-note sequence of ‘Smoke On The Water’. It’s been 53 years since a fire destroyed Montreux Casino during a Frank Zappa concert; a scene which members of Deep Purple watched from afar and would later immortalise in what is now one of the most iconic rock tracks going.
Fast forward to 2024 and the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival, where the band played the same riff to close their headline slot on the brand new lakeside stage. Locals peered from their balconies and merch-wearing fans stamped their feet in unison. It rounded up an evening which saw Don Airey scuttle up and down the keyboard in psychedelic-tinged improv and Alice Cooper bring out a red tail boa during a terrifying theatrical shock-rock set. In other words: just another night at Montreux, a festival which, these days, is just as well known for its varied, enviable programming as much as its rich musical history.
And – just like tonight – history is always in the making. Walking round the site on the shores of Lake Geneva, you can see it, hear it, feel it. Up the road from the lake stage, the rebuilt casino displays notes from Roger Glover’s iconic riff as decoration on its balustrade. There’s the glinting gold statue of Freddie Mercury, who used to live in the town, looking out to shore. You’ll find a piano from Queen’s studio in the late festival founder Claude Nobs’ mountain top chalet.
Then, there’s the legacy of David Bowie, who was a festival regular and lived in neighbouring Blonay, as well as the likes of Miles Davis, who played on nine separate occasions. Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin and Elton John are among the other legends who have graced Montreux’s stages. If you play here, you’re following some very big footsteps – which is why, to this day, the festival maintains its reputation as one of the most prestigious global stages for serious musicians, a place where internationally-renowned artists have shown their skills alongside future superstars.
Away from the festival, the town of Montreux itself is as charming as they come. Walk up the road to the old town, where you’ll find cafés serving up Swiss cheese fondue to fantastical views, buskers on cobbled corners and boutiques selling crafts and curated second-hand clothes. We were lucky enough to take a cooling dip in Lake Geneva in nearby town Vevey, a quick train journey away – you can also hop on the train to Rivaz, where Lavaux Vinorama offers guided tours of their dramatic, swooping vineyards with on site-wine tasting. That’s to say, there’s plenty around to turn a ticket into a proper holiday.
If you’re not a jazz fan, don’t let the name put you off. The festival was conceived in 1967 while Nobs was working as director of Montreux’s tourism office, and though it started off as a purely jazz festival, by the seventies it had opened up to include blues, soul, and rock artists. These days, you’re just as likely to see rock royalty like Deep Purple as you are contemporary Afropopstar Tyla or nineties hip-hop legend André 3000. Seeing all of the era-defining names on one line-up will make you blink twice – where else can you see Kraftwerk, Raye, The Smashing Pumpkins, Janelle Monáe, Barry Can’t Swim, Duran Duran, Sting and Jungle over the course of two and a bit weeks?
‘Quite a lot of British festivals seem to be in a similar rut – yeah, you’ve got Glastonbury, which is out on its own – but a lot of events can feel quite homogenised,’ says drummer Ed Lay from Birmingham-born indie rockers Editors, ahead of their animated 45-minute slot before The Smashing Pumpkins closed out the night. ‘To be out of that little bubble and do something like this is what bands really enjoy.’
The band last played the festival 11 years ago. ‘It felt quite proper – I think this will feel more like a big festival gig,’ says Lay about the Scène du Lac. The stage is new for this year: replacing the convention centre while it is closed for refurbishment, which usually houses two headline shows each evening. The capacity has also been upped by 1000, bringing the total to 250,000 spectators, and the set-up will remain the same for next year.
Up the road, you’ll find the casino stage, which hosts two additional ticketed evening shows in a half-seated, half-standing set-up (Mahalia and Yussef Dayes are playing at the same time as Deep Purple and Alice Cooper). There’s certainly a level of Swiss polish to it all: if you’re looking for grittiness, this is perhaps not for you, but there’s charm in other ways. The site is immaculately clean and crowds sit on the floor, calm and spread out, while waiting for acts to arrive on the stage. There’s no pushing, shoving or mosh-pitting here – and even the Alice Cooper fans, some clad in white face paint and black wigs, are tame.
Away from the ticketed stages, the rest of the festival – a huge 80 percent of it – is free. You’ll be just as likely to bump into curious locals and uni students from elsewhere in Europe as headliners booked for the ticketed shows, walking around to explore the trusted programming. Street food stands snake their way up the lakeside path, where you will also find bars, buskers and pop-up stages.
A must-visit is the three-storeyed Lake House, which plays entertainment from 5pm until 5am, ushering in a previously unseen after-hours edge. Downstairs, you’ll find an old school, table-and-chairs set up where those brave enough cut their teeth in the legendary jam sessions; upstairs, you’ll find a library, screening room and the top floor dance floor and balcony, where DJ collectives play until the early hours and young folk come to party. On Saturday night, SND Collective, hailing from Switzerland and Canada, mix sped-up hip hop with neo-funk, dancehall and afrobeats; downstairs, Spanish bass sensation Vincen García seduced the crowd into a groove with his funked-up fingerboard improv (think: Vulfpeck meets Thundercat).
The festival is, above all, a celebration. ‘It has that international air about it,’ says Editors keyboardist Elliot Williams. ‘It feels like a convention rather than concerts – a meeting of creative minds, really. It feels like an honour to play here. You see the Montreux Festival logo everywhere – it’s iconic.’ You can feel a deep sense of expectation here, from both the crowds and the artists; an understanding that Montreux is as important to making the next generation of musicians as it is to cementing the legends as we know them. As ever, it has its ear to the ground.
The 59th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival is scheduled for 4 to 19 July 2025. Time Out travelled as guests of Montreux Jazz Festival.
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