Discover live music as you travel the slopes, at the Rock the Pistes festival in the Portes du Soleil this March
A text message arrives, confirming the location of a gig on the slopes, we check where we’re off to on the map, then blast around the pistes to find the music. Arriving in the nick of time, we unclip our skis and are soon bopping and swaying away to the music in a setting that rivals any stadium venue. This is Rock the Pistes, a five-day festival launched last season in the Portes du soleil ski area
that straddles France and switzerland, and it’s very appealing. For a start, there’s a massive 650km of slopes to explore, since they span 12 local ski areas – four swiss, which include morgins and Champéry, and eight French, les Gets, morzine and Châtel among them – and the bands are playing all over.
We’re based in the traffic-free
village of avoriaz in France, the highest resort in the ski area, and a great
central location from where to get to the 10 different gigs. Bands include French stars such as keziah jones, who draws an impressive crowd (below), along with joyce jonathan, BB Brunes and Guillaume Grand. i haven’t heard of any of them, but hey it’s all free, and discovering new sounds is part of the fun. next
up are popular French rockers jamaica – their album no Problem was produced by Xavier de Rosnay, one half of electronica duo justice, so i’m keen. The text arrives the night before, giving us time to plan our route for the following day. We hit the slopes early, to get some extra runs in, and somehow manage to take a wrong turn. Being up against the clock in order to make the gig adds an edge to the proceedings. But after some “i told you so” debate, we
navigate ourselves back on track and make it to le Crosets to find jamaica, who sing in english, just starting their set of sunny sounds, playing to a
small but enthusiastic crowd. Though temporary, the set up is impressive, with a stage, a little pop- up bar and seats with cushions around tables, where people are picnicking. For the upcoming festival, 24 to 28 of march, the line up includes more French bands to discover, such as louis Bertignac and lYs (who sing in english), and Uk electro/trip hop outfit archive. Who’s playing where and when is mainly revealed in advance of the festival so you can plan your programme. There’s also a fringe festival, with up to 40 up-and-coming bands performing in bars in each Portes du soleil resort during the evenings. For details and to register for text updates, including news of pop-up gigs that’ll only be revealed shortly in advance, visit www.rockthepistes.com.
> A week’s self-catering in Avoriaz with Directski.com (www.directski.com) costs from £336 per person for the week beginning 24 March, including flights and transfers, and based on four sharing an apartment.
being up AgAinst the clock in orDer to MAke the gig ADDs An eDge to the proceeDings