There was something paradoxical about being there, packed in like sardines, waiting for a concert by an artist that no one is really a fan of. But on Sunday at 4pm, the audience was there at Label Suisse in Lausanne to discover the Nemo phenomenon live. Definitely the big hit of the festival this year. “It’s a bit like Switzerland winning the European Music Cup,” a father summed up to his young son, just before the concert.
According to the organizers, 5,000 people were crammed in front of the stage. They were all waiting for “The Code”, the song that won Eurovision four months ago and has exceeded 73 million streams on Spotify. But it was with a hyperactive rap-rock that the Bienne artist entered the dance floor. “How are you Lausaaaaanne?” he shouted, pogoing in all directions. The energy was there. Clearly, the desire too, while the singer had already given a first concert in Sainte-Croix (VD) four hours before.
Surrounded by a guitar-bass-keyboard-drums-DJ quintet, Nemo revisited the course of his career, rich with four EPs. “I wrote some of these songs when I was 16,” he explains. “Playing them here, with everything that happened in between, is just crazy!” Indeed, the setlist was quite jumbled and uneven. The flow of the rap was lively and sure, and the vocal performance frankly impeccable. Special mention to the pop-chill tracks from his debut, which Jason Mraz would not have disowned. But some songs with interminable vocals and an incomprehensible “hardstyle” interlude sometimes killed the magic. Too bad.
The audience was good sports, without going completely wild. There were a lot of curious people, families, relatively few Gen Zers with bleached hair and no non-binary flags. Moreover, on stage, not a word about universal love or a call for tolerance. Nemo applies to himself what he imposes in his rare interviews: no politics, no waves!
And suddenly the first notes of “Code” rang out. A swarm of phones stood up, and talent did the rest. This song is a real hit, powerful, technical, which combines everything Nemo does best: good epic pop-rock, perfect head vocals and a rap flow that almost recalls Eminem’s. A real uppercut. It’s hard to know if Nemo won fans this weekend, but his next tracks, scheduled for October, are worth waiting for.
A “more than positive” assessment
The 11the edition of Label Suisse brought together more than 60,000 festival-goers over three nights. In total, nearly 70 concerts were given. The organizers particularly praised Nemo’s “show of strength” on Sunday and the performance of the Young Gods, who played on Friday night. Another favorite: Valentino Vivace, the rising Ticino artist who set the night alight on Friday with his space-pop-disco. Label Suisse is a free festival, reserved for Swiss talent, which takes place every two years in Lausanne. In 2022, it brought together 75,000 spectators.
