Dirty Loops Fall Flat For The Montreux Crowd

Dirty Loops Montreux Jazz FestivalI went to the Montreux Jazz Club to get in good position for John Scofield, and saw a Swedish group, Dirty Loops. The lead singer and sometime keyboard player is handsome, energetic and charismatic, offering head fakes reminiscent of Michael Jackson. On the whole, though clearly a group of accomplished young musicians, Dirty Loops’ music left me as cold as pickled herring.

With some originals and any number of covers, the band sounded like 100 dance bands we have heard around the world. Why anyone would take Adele’s “Rolling in The Deep” and sing it triple time is beyond me—it sounded like a fast forward.

Some in the crowd seemed to enjoy the performance, but when I asked a professional his opinion, he gave the group a thumbs-down and said, “Programming error.” He was right: Dirty Loops would have been a runaway success at the Rock Cave discotheque a hundred yards away.

– Suzanne Cadgène

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3 Comments on Dirty Loops Fall Flat For The Montreux Crowd

  1. They gave a crappy review to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble when they first appeared at Montreaux in 1982. Let me know when you’ve uploaded your version of the bass part from “Hit Me” to youtube so I can review it. So much for your assessment.

    • Yes, violin. Sorry, guys, as they say in baseball, “I calls ’em as I sees ’em.” (PS my grandmother’s from Lausanne 🙂 ))