Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) organiser Mathieu Jaton has previewed this year’s reimagined 58th edition in an interview with IQ.

The Swiss event, which typically draws 250,000 people over 16 days, kicks off today with performances from Jon Batiste and Henry Moodie and runs until 20 July. More than 30 shows will be livestreamed for free on the festival’s YouTube channel.

MJF has undergone a number of temporary changes for 2024 due to construction work on the Montreux Music and Convention Centre Congress Centre (2m2c), home to the 4,000-capacity Stravinski Auditorium, its main venue.

As a result, this year’s festival features a new layout with a new 5,000-cap main stage erected on top of Lake Geneva, and a return to the historic Casino, which will have a capacity of 1,300 and a half-seated, half-standing configuration. The Casino burnt down in the ’70s and inspired Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.

“It’s a totally different festival this year,” Jaton tells IQ. “We decided to reinvent everything and create something exceptional for this 2024 edition. The main difference is the festival is much larger in terms of distance, because it was concentrated around the Congress Centre before, so the spirit will be a little bit different.

“It will have the same overall capacity, although the stage on the lake is much bigger than Stravinski, with space for [an additional 1,000 people]. We will be out of the hall for two years, but it will be ready for ’26 for the 60th anniversary of Montreux.”

“Our signature right now is to have very powerful double bills”

Each night will offer a carefully curated double bill including Editors & Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey & The National, Jessie Ware & Paolo Nutini, Róisín Murphy & Kraftwerk, Air & Massive Attack, Rag’N’Bone Man & Sting, Raye & Janelle Monáe and Soft Cell & Duran Duran.

“Our signature right now is to have very powerful double bills,” explains Jaton. “It’s not like an opening act and main act, it’s really a complementary double bill, so that’s exactly where we’re going. When we had the confirmation of Janelle, the goal was to make something not only good, but something exceptional that makes Montreux unique.

“With the big open air festivals, you have 10 to 15 bands playing the same night, and you buy tickets because you know you will see something fun. In Montreux, every single person is buying a ticket for a specific night, so it should be unique and exceptional. Putting two acts on with very big production, like Air and Massive Attack, for example, is not easy, but it’s amazing to have both together on the lineup on the same night.

“We are very proud of that stage this year, because it looks totally different from all the other festivals, and that’s what we’re trying to do. The audience loves the storytelling and know they will have an experience that is different from anywhere else.”

Deep Purple will also return as part of this year’s lineup alongside Alice Cooper for what will be the band’s 10th performance at Montreux.

“Of course, their story is very deep with us, and they want to show a little movie at the beginning of their performance to celebrate,” says Jaton, who recently the MJF brand’s international expansion. “Smoke on the Water is really the hymn of Montreux so I could not have dreamed of anything better than having Deep Purple playing the stage on the lake. Even though the rest of the lineup is crazy, one of the first sold out shows was Deep Purple so I’m very happy.”

“Jack White said, ‘Montreux is not like Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo: the music is first, the party is secondary.’ That is a beautiful definition”

The Swiss institution was the subject of a documentary mini-series, They All Came Out To Montreux, which premiered last year and detailed the history of the event and its celebrated founder Claude Nobs, who died in January 2013 following a skiing accident.

“Claude was not a businessman, he was really a music lover,” says Jaton. “So he was not doing a festival to make money, but because he loved music. He loved the musicians and wanted to have them close to them. They interviewed Jack White [for the documentary] and he said that when his children asked him what Montreux is about, he told them, ‘It’s not like Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo: the music is first, the party is secondary.’ And that is a beautiful definition.

“We are not a for-profit company. I don’t have shareholders, so I don’t have pressure for there to be a return on investment at the end of the festival. The only thing I have to do is take the festival into the future – and we’re always thinking of the artistic projects first, before thinking of the budget.”

MJF also includes a free programme, which represents more than 80% of its total offering and will feature more than 500 activities on 15 stages, largely dedicated to emerging artists. Highlight include Kenya Grace, Good Neighbours, Sid Sriram, Marcel Dettman, Jazzbois, Venna, Dargz, Elmiene and Black Coffee.

The prospect of MJF’s landmark 60th edition in two years’ time is also rapidly coming closer into view.

“We’ve started thinking about it,” reveals Jaton. “It’s quite difficult to book an artist for 2026 right now, but we have some ideas and discussions about doing something very special with artists who have become friends of Montreux – the old but mostly the new guys that played Montreux when they were up and coming – because our Spotlight project and Artists Foundation are very important to our programme. So we’re going to work on that, and hopefully some of the big guys will come to the 60th anniversary.”

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Australian promoter Apex Entertainment is teasing a new touring festival featuring rock and post-punk icons.

Pandemonium Rocks is scheduled to land in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast this April and is slated to feature the long-awaited Australia returns of many legendary acts.

The promoter has hinted at performances from the likes of Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Blondie, Gang Of Four, Dead Kennedys, The Psychedelic Furs, Placebo and Wheatus, via several teaser posts on social media.

 

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If all the acts teased do indeed make it to Australia, Pandemonium Rocks will mark Deep Purple’s first performance Down Under in eleven years, Blondie’s first gigs in the country since 2017, Gang Of Four’s first Ozzie shows in five years, Wheatus’ first shows in the territory in twelve years, and Placebo’s first concerts there in seven years.

According to local reports, the lineup for Pandemonium Rocks will be officially confirmed on 17 January.

The festival’s promoter, Apex Entertainment, is led by Andrew McManus who has promoted tours for the likes of Whitney Houston, Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss and Mötley Crüe.

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Glenn Hughes – he of ex-Deep Purple/Black Sabbath fame – has cancelled his entire upcoming tour of the UK and Europe after management for co-headliners Living Colour “knowingly booked them” into a conflicting support slot on a rival tour, his reps have have said.

According to the Hughes camp, “new management for Living Colour knowingly booked them onto the Alter Bridge tour although they were already confirmed for the Glenn Hughes co-headline tour, which had been on sale since April. Alter Bridge and Glenn Hughes have been long-time friends, and neither Alter Bridge, their management and agents or even Living Colour’s agent, TKO, were aware that this was taking place.”

According to their website, Living Colour are managed by Texas-based Bevis Griffin of Deux Voix Ltd, who has yet to respond to a request for comment from IQ.

“I thought we would be able to make something special happen … Unfortunately, an undermining manager ruined what would have been an amazing tour”

“I am saddened and disappointed that I will not be able to perform for my UK and European fans as I had originally intended,” explains Hughes, whose tour – in support of new album Resonate – was due to kick off at the Assembly (1,000-cap.) in Leamington Spa, UK, on 8 November. “When I partnered with Living Colour to do this tour, I thought we would be able to make something special happen at these shows.

“Unfortunately, an undermining manager got involved and in turn ruined what would have been an amazing tour. I can’t wait to get back to the UK and Europe to bring the new songs of Resonate to my fans overseas.”

All ticketholders will be offered refunds at the point of purchase.

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The likes of Muse, PJ Harvey, Neil Young, Quincy Jones and Sigur Rós will help mark the historic 50th anniversary of the Montreux Jazz Festival this summer, as its organisers today announced a stellar programme for the 17-night event.

The 30 June–16 July event will feature a star-studded line-up as Montreux celebrates its golden year, and the promoters have pulled all the stops out to make sure that Deep Purple close proceedings on 16 July, no doubt with their ode to the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino, ‘Smoke on the Water’.

Among the other artists booked for the 50th anniversary edition are Jean-Michel Jarre, Mogwai, Lana Del Rey, Air, ZZ Top, Patti Smith and her band, Slayer, Van Morrison, Simply Red, Jamie Cullum, Santana and many more.

It is Neil Young’s (pictured) second confirmed festival appearance of the year, after Roskilde.

Frank Zappa’s son will open for Deep Purple, who recorded ‘Smoke on the Water’ while watching the Montreux Casino burn as Frank Zappa was playing. It’s a nice way to put the bill together”

Revealing the line-up this morning, Montreux Jazz Festival director Mathieu Jaton noted: “It’s rare for a music festival to turn 50.” He added: “We’re bringing together people close to the DNA and savoir-faire of a festival known for its special creations, this time with a Quincy Jones evening and a Brazilian-African night, but also the young generation like Woodkid, inviting his own guest artists.”

Explaining the ethos of using the billing to create stories, by putting two artists on the same stage in the same night, Jaton added: “The most obvious is closing night with Deep Purple who recorded ‘Smoke on the Water’ while watching the Montreux Casino burn as Frank Zappa was playing. This will be Zappa’s son playing and opening for Deep Purple. It’s a nice way to put the bill together.”

The full programme is available on the festival’s website.