Mark Ronson closes out Montreux Jazz Festival with a bespoke show that echoes the spirit of a truly unique event

Which is not to say, of course, that these shows aren’t fun. Suggest that to the crowd
watching Overmono turn the Jazz Lab into a thumping club on the penultimate night of the
festival’s 16-day(!) run, and you’d be booted out of the room. But even though Welsh
brothers Tom and Ed Russell make the kind of beats that would be better suited to a ravey
basement in Berlin, they’ve upped the production to a level that makes the 2,000-capacity
space feel like an epic spaceship. There’s looping rows of blinding lights and a giant disco
ball looming down from the centre; when they bring out their remix of For Those I Love’s ‘I
Have A Love’, the whole thing feels like a wild night at Block 9 rather than a gig in a very
bougie European holiday destination.

At the other end of the spectrum, and emphasising the festival’s wildly diverse programming,
legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy brings his farewell tour to a climax in the Auditorium
Stravinski. Aged 86 and a veteran of the festival, the love in the room for the eight-time
Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is tangible. He’s a charming and twinkle-
eyed presence, peeling out impeccable fretwork between the slightly eyebrow-raising lyrics
of 1973 song ‘Cheaper to Keep Her’ before inviting stage headliner Joe Bonamassa out for a
blues-off duet. Bonamassa might be the more showy of the two, but Guy is the legend,
showing the roots of the genre in a way that doesn’t need any dressing up to impress.

Then, closing out the festival’s final day as Nile Rogers and Chic party through a greatest
hits set in the main room, Mark Ronson has, as the saying goes, understood the
assignment. For weeks, the multi-hyphenate musician has been teasing this gig on his social
media and, as he enters following stellar support slots from collaborators Yebba and Lucky
Daye, it becomes obvious why he’s so excited. Billed as Ronson ‘& His Favourite Band
Ever’, he’s created a off-one performance for the event featuring the musicians he recorded
Amy Winehouse’s iconic ‘Back to Black’ alongside, with guest vocalists, live DJ and band collabs, and a disco dancefloor ceiling screen that projects images from the stage alongside
bespoke visuals above the crowd below.

Beginning with a portion in which Ronson DJs with the band playing live alongside him - his
2018 Dua Lipa/ Silk City team-up ‘Electricity’ providing an early highlight - he later tells the
crowd that it’s something he’s never done before. “There are many ways to fuck up and I
think I did a few of them,” he laughs. Next, out comes “[his] fucking best friend” and longterm
collaborator Andrew Wyatt to front a selection of tracks from 2010 album ‘Record Collection’.
But really, the night belongs to Yebba, who returns for a scene-stealing turn that shows
Ronson’s knack for discovering and highlighting new talent with an ear that most major label
A&R’s would envy.

The task of performing Winehouse’s vocals on the Montreux stage with her original band is
one that would put the fear in most people, but Yebba takes on ‘You Know I’m No Good’ like
a superstar before then switching it up for a version of Miley’s ‘Nothing Breaks Like A Heart’.
Lucky Daye also returns for a brief vocal turn before - slightly bizarrely - leaving just ahead of
‘Uptown Funk’ instead of taking Bruno Mars’ part. But no matter: by the time they end in
sentimental fashion, playing Amy’s isolated vocals for ‘Valerie’ as her old friends play along
with her, Mark Ronson has already created a special performance more than worthy of a
place alongside the Montreux Jazz Festival greats.

Tags: Mark Ronson, Nile Rodgers, Montreux Jazz Festival, Festivals, Reviews, Live Reviews