Montreux director How would you have reacted in the case of Rammstein, Mathieu Jaton?

The Montreux Jazz Festival is once again attracting big names to Lake Geneva. Festival director Mathieu Jaton says how he would act in a Rammstein case - and how the stars behave with him.

Mathieu Jaton, last year you expressed concerns in the run-up as to whether the audience would be really hungry for a festival again after two years of pandemic. What was your conclusion?

My expectations were exceeded in every respect. The audience was full of enthusiasm, even though Covid was still an issue last summer.

Is the event business back tobusiness as usualthis year?

As far as Covid is concerned: yes. Fortunately, it's no longer an issue. And I hope it stays that way. But the challenges haven't simply disappeared. They have shifted. Artists are touring non-stop; there are bigger and bigger festivals, prices are rising and rising - not just for fees, but also for transportation, production and so on.

It's not uncommon for a band to cost twice as much today as it did before the pandemic. It's a dramatic financial race. Fortunately, we are in a slightly different situation in Montreux.

Because the Montreux Jazz Festival has a world-class reputation?

We are smaller, we have a long and illustrious tradition. The agents know that we can't compete for the highest fee. But the artists want to come to Montreux of their own accord. That is our good fortune. We are extremely happy with the current program. It's very "Montreux", with great double billings and experiments.

The alt-punk evening with Billy Idol's former band Generation X and members of the Sex Pistols, plus Iggy Pop, stands out. Will this work at the jazz festival?

It will. At least in terms of ticket sales, I can say that. This night is a good example of the Montreux spirit. We could easily have booked the two acts individually. But I love being irrational and having the guys on stage together. Let's be honest - financially it's a bit kamikaze. (laughs) The same goes for the night with Buddy Guy and Joe Bonamassa. Crazy to do it like that. But that's Montreux.

It's noticeable that female main acts are few and far between. What do you have against women?

Nothing at all! (laughs) We even have a lot of women in the Lab program. But I can understand the criticism: The auditorium is indeed male-heavy this year. But it's always a question of who is on tour and who makes a commitment and when. We are keen to offer a balanced program. But sometimes the reality of booking plays tricks on us.

Apart from that, we try to make a difference where we can influence it: with the Montreux Jazz Artist Foundation or in the newcomer program MJF Spotlight. We deliberately promote female acts there. The jazz scene is 85 percent male-dominated. If you want to change that, you have to start with young talent.

Let's talk about the number one concert topic these days: how would you have reacted in the case of Rammstein? Would you have canceled the concert?

I don't know all the details. But it's always a difficult question whether you should cancel or not. We've already had similar cases in Montreux. Last year with Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp. He had just had this public trial against Amber Heard, with all the accusations.

As organizers, we are in a difficult situation. As long as there are no clear legal facts, the presumption of innocence must apply to us. But there are still a lot of questions. As an event organizer, do you want to judge faster than the law? If not, will your audience take offense? It really isn't easy.

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Have you already canceled performances in similar situations?

Not on our part. But we had to cancel a concert because an artist had to go to prison. Another case was Bertrand Cantat, the ex-singer of Noir Désir (Cantat was convicted in 2004 for the murder of actress Marie Trintignant, editor's note). Cantat was in prison for 10 or 15 years. So he served the sentence for his crime.

But his offense was so serious that we couldn't have booked him with a clear conscience. That would have caused too much controversy. Legally speaking, we could have let him perform. But you see: The law alone is not everything. As I said, such cases are very difficult.

Rammstein have triggered a discussion about rock star excesses. Montreux is known for the stars having a good time. What is tolerated here and what is not?

Many big stars like to stay in Montreux for a few days and enjoy it. But in the last ten years, I have never experienced a situation where I would have had to intervene. 20 or 30 years ago, things were different when it came to sex, drugs and rock and roll. But that's more or less over now.

Why is that?

The business model has changed completely. Bands used to tour to promote an album. Musicians had no pressure and lots of free time. Today, they tour to earn a living. They have hardly any time and a lot of pressure. If you party every night, you won't survive today's tour. At least not in the long term.

We want to give the stars a stress-free, enjoyable time in Montreux. 99 percent of the artists are very happy with that. They don't have to go over the top with us.

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