Lala &ce at Montreux Jazz: a taste of not enough

French rapper Lala &ce performed in Montreux on July 13, among four other rappers. An eventful evening, during which Lala &ce was not the highlight of the show. In fact, it's not even sure she wanted to be.

The audience at Lala &ce's concert was undoubtedly left wanting more, as fifteen minutes before the announced end, the rapper left the stage, without saying a word other than good evening to everyone. Fortunately for the audience, the evening continued with rappers Ziak and Oboy, and had already begun with La Fève and Guy2Bezbar. Not a surprising line-up, but a very full one, given that this was the only evening with five artists in a row.

But back to the concert. On stage, the rapper exudes a very personal energy, but sometimes seems to be elsewhere, despite her big smile. Her voice is covered with an auto-tuned effect. Even when she's talking to the audience: it's with a metallic robot voice that she announces that she'll be presenting an exclusive from her next project on this evening. At the end of the song, Lala asks the audience if they enjoyed it, but doesn't seem to care what they think. Is this a way of detaching herself from the public's opinion, or simply a facade? Whatever the case, despite her great physical presence, the rapper doesn't seem to be entirely with us.

Shyness in the audience, confidence on stage

The atmosphere is rather quiet in the audience: the energy builds gradually until the penultimate song, during which the spectators warm up, but remain shy. Obviously, with fifteen minutes to spare, it's hard to get the mood going... Despite this, it's clear that the crowd is delighted with the concert. And although the average age is relatively young, there are a few older faces. A case in point is this Englishwoman in her fifties, who had come to Montreux with her daughter for a few days and was present that evening:

«I didn't know this rapper and I don't really listen to this style of music, but I'm amazed by her performance!». 

Lala &ce knows what she's doing and shows great self-confidence: she even takes the liberty of stopping a song she's already started... to drink some water. She dominates the stage with her movements and her slow yet energetic pace. But she doesn't seem to want to raise the mood in the audience, and offers a few almost routine words of encouragement. That's about all we'll remember of her appearance on the Lab stage. An equivocal concert, in short.

Write to the author: erica.berazategui@leregardlibre.com

Header image: French rapper Lala &ce at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 13, 2022 © Marc Ducrest

You've just read an open-access article. Debates, analysis, cultural news: subscribe to support us and get access to all our content!