This year marks the 57th anniversary of the Montreux Jazz Festival, and I went along to not only enjoy the music and see some music legends but also to spy what gear these legends used on stage!
History of the Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival first opened in 1967 and was held at the Monteux Casino for three days. The lineup during this era consisted of artists such as Charles Lloyd, Miles Davies, Keith Jarrett, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Weather Report – just to name a few!
But in the 1970s, the festival started to branch out to more popular music genres like blues and rock, featuring artists like Van Morrison, BB King, Carlos Santana, Marvin Gay, and James Brown. Today, the festival lasts for over two weeks, attracting a total of 250,000 people, and takes over the whole town, with stages scattered along the shoreline of Lake Geneva.
The 2023 lineup consisted of Lil Nas X, Lionel Richie, Tom Odell, Sam Smith, GAYLE, Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, Seal, and more. And even though the lineup features a wide range of genres, jazz is still at the core of this festival.
The Montreux Jazz Festival is steeped in history not only because of the iconic artists who have performed there but also because it’s the inspiration behind many iconic songs. The song “Smoke on the Water” directly references the Monturex Jazz Festival in its lyrics:
“They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
He was pulling kids out the ground now”
In 1971, Frank Zappa was performing at the Montreux Casino, the home of the Montreux Jazz Festival. During the set, someone set off a flare and it began to burn down. “Funky Claude” is a reference to Claude Nobs who was the founder and organiser of the festival.
While this was happening, Deep Purple were recording their album in Montreux. As the casino started to burn down, Lake Geneva became covered in smoke, and that’s why the song is called “Smoke on the Water”!
Shure microphones at the Montreux Jazz Festival
If there’s a music brand that has as much iconic history as the Montreux Jazz Festival, it’s most definitely Shure Microphones. With almost 100 years of making microphones and being in the hands of iconic performers across history, Shure play a big role in the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Shure are a technical partner of the festival, meaning they support the festival with whatever equipment they need, such as microphones, in-ear monitors, and wireless systems.
They can be clearly seen across all the stages, with drum kits mic’d up with some of the most premium Shure mics you can think of.
One stage was known as the “Memphis” – a moody, dark, and classy jazz club. The drum kit here was stacked with Shure mics:
- Overheads: a pair of KSM44s
- Kick drum: Beta 52
- Toms: Beta 98
- Snare: SM57
- Additional percussion: a pair of KSM141
It’s safe to say that the sound in the room was pretty amazing, but what really stood out to me was the completely natural sound of the room. It was so clear and natural, almost like nothing was mic’d up, and it was just a joy to listen to. If you want to learn more about the Shure Beta mics for drums, check out our video below!
As they’re a technical partner of the festival, Shure need to make sure that there’s always a specialist on hand to resolve any issues. There are a lot of wireless microphones and radio frequencies flying about at a festival like this, but luckily Shure Wireless Systems are the most reliable out there.
The festival used the Shure Pro Systems which are known as “Axient Digital”. Axient is used for all of the huge artists you can think of: Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Black Pink, BTS, Ed Sheeran – the list goes on! Unfortunately, this system isn’t available to buy for you or me, but all Shure Wireless systems take from the DNA that makes up Axient Digital.
The newest release from Shure, the GLXD+, has this Axient Digital DNA built into it. To be honest, it’s one of the most reliable systems you can buy at the moment with its dual-band technology. I noticed one artist at Monteux using a GLXD+ system.
All these wireless systems flying around at the festival means that things might get complicated as frequencies may cross over, causing interference from other stages. However, that’s not the case with Shure – they have a dedicated person at the festival to make sure all runs smoothly and all frequencies are perfectly coordinated.
We actually had the opportunity to chat about the MJF-Shure relationship with Michael, who has been working at the festival for 25 years. He spoke to us about the festival, what it’s like working there, and how difficult it can be to look after wireless frequencies at a festival like Montreux. You can watch or listen to the whole podcast here:
Other gear!
After learning a lot about wireless frequencies at festivals like this and Michaels’s amazing experience over the years, we were able to get a small backstage tour. On this backstage tour, we took a trip to the magical “BACKLINE” area. This is where all of the drums, amps, keyboards, and guitars were kept.
The Montreux Jazz Festival want to make sure that all of its performers have everything they could possibly need. In this room, there were:
- Ampeg SVTs
- Fender P-basses
- Fender Jazz Bass
- Fender Bassman
- Fender Twin Reverbs
- Fender Stratocasters
- Gibson ES335
- Gibson Les Pauls
- Full DW drum kits
- Ludwig drum kits
- A vast choice of Meinl and Paiste cymbals
Honestly, the list goes on. The room was full to the brim with giant yellow flight cases which read, “The Swiss Cheese and Chocolate Backline LTD”. I could have spent all day in there looking at all the gear.
Something I learned while I was at the festival is that they film and record every performance, meaning there’s an archive of incredible footage which goes back years.
You can see some of these iconic performances on the Montreux Jazz Festival YouTube channel. There are recordings of performances from legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Gary Moore, George Benson, Carlos Santana, Run DMC and more, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
Final thoughts
I loved the fact that as well as music legends, I also saw artists I’d never heard of before – they were amazing musicians that instantly gained a fan. The level of musicianship at the festival was through the roof.
It’s safe to say that even though it’s called Montreux Jazz Festival, it’s not just a jazz festival, it’s a festival for music loves, musicians, and people who what to experience and feel the history of music, which this place has an abundance of. I can’t recommend it enough.
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