Lianne La Havas at Zermatt Unplugged

Originally the British singer Jessie J should have performed on Saturday night on the Zermatt Unplugged tent stage as one of  the main acts. But she has once again canceled one of her Swiss appearances, or well, postponed it to next year. She is currently engaged in an important Chinese show. Whether the performance at Blue Balls really will happen ? It is doubted by now. But that’s not the point now.

Replacement for Jessie J

Lianne La Havas jumped in for Jessie J at short notice. Actually, the Zermatt Unplugged organizers would have wanted to see Lianne on their stage this year anyway. She had already played a concert in Zurich before. Lianne did not agree though, because she was in the middle of recordings for her new 3rd album. Because of Jessie J’s cancellation she was then persuaded. Honestly, I had never heard of Lianne La Havas and did not know what to expect.

Lianne La Havas grew up in a truly international environment: The beautiful musician is half Jamaican and half Greek and grew up in London. From a very young age she studied music, learned to play the piano and play the guitar. She was not only on the road with Paloma Faith as a background singer, she was also allowed to accompany Bon Iver on the North American tour and was an opening act of Coldplay. In addition to contributions as a guest singer on two Prince albums, she has now released two own albums. Her debut album Is Your Love Big Enough? achieved top places. She was highly praised and awarded as a newcomer.

Like on Tuesday at Kodaline (read here), Lianne stood on stage between candlelight and a beautiful setting. All alone she presented her songs only on a guitar. While she impressed with an incredible voice, she seemed also nervous. She played wrong notes more often. The one or other forgotten line did not go unnoticed. Especially since she did not try to cover up these mistakes.

Something was missing

I do not know if it really was because of her nervousness and blooper, or the audience just was not in the mood for such a quiet concert. However, many concert goers soon left the tent in groups between the songs. And yes, after a few songs and a lot of hesitance, I also decided to stop watching the concert and head off to Mighty Oaks ahead of time.

Although she has an incredible voice and is likable, the concert did not really appeal to me. Maybe a smaller location would have been more suitable? But listening to her albums afterwards, I clearly missed something at this acoustic concert. A fully equipped concert with all the trimmings I would probably like it better.

You can find information about Lianne La Havas at www.liannelahavas.com 
Info about the Zermatt Unplugged you get here: www.zermatt-unplugged.ch

 

GALLERY