Looking to combine your ski holiday with a unique music festival? Head to Davos in Switzerland near the end of March. That’s when The Davos Cover Festival takes place, which has world’s best tribute bands performing on different stages in and around town: from fancy conference halls and small rock joints to shows high up in the snow-covered mountains. Don’t forget to pack a coat.
Always wanted to go to a festival where Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, The Beatles, Tina Turner, Rammstein and ABBA were all performing on the same stage? Well you can’t. More than half of the list above is either long dead or senile, so tough luck. I came pretty close to experiencing it this winter though, when I was invited to Switzerland to photograph the anniversary edition of the Davos Cover Festival. For ten years, they’ve been inviting the world’s best tribute bands to play here in an absolute unique setting. A good tribute band is not what you think it is. The crappy cover band musically murdering the Green Day catalogue in the backroom of some dodgy bar, is not a tribute band. You’ll have to up the quality just a tad to earn the title. The Bruce Springsteen performing in Davos was born in Italy instead of New Jersey – you’ll probably have to call him The Godfather instead of The Boss – but he played all the classics with both the flair and skill of the man himself. Stahlzeit – this year’s unofficial headliner – may not actually be Rammstein, but they felt, sounded and looked like them nonetheless. Moreover, they brought a whole truck full of fireworks and flamethrowers with them the original band would not have scuffed at either. The point I’m trying to make here, is that after a couple of songs a good tribute band makes you forget you’re not actually listening to the real artist. Here in Davos, it happened to me at least a few times.
The Davos Cover Festival: music on the ski slopes in Switzerland
Davos is not just any town. Located at an altitude of over 1.500m, it’s officially the highest city in Europe. Most people will know the name because the World Economic Forum takes place here every year. Unfortunately, there’s not that much to do during the conference for anyone who doesn’t have the financial or political means to influence the global economy. Luckily Davos is more fun outside of that conference hall anyway. As a ski destination for example. Combined, the Davos-Klosters ski area is one of the larger ones in Switzerland, with over 250km of slopes on offer. I still managed to get a glimpse of what the WEF would look like though, because the festival’s opening concert was held in the same venue. The Beatbox was the chosen to open the festivities, and they did so with a two and a half hour chronological journey through the Beatles catalogue, aided by digital effects and tons of costume changes. I of course never saw The Beatles play life – did see Paul though: very nice – but I’ll never get closer to the actual experience than this concert. Great performance, not a wrong note to be heard. Got me excited for the rest of the weekend.
Après-ski rocking in the mountains
During the festival, dozens of concerts are played at various locations in and around town. The two main stages are outside. The largest one can be found next to Bolgen Plaza. This is an après-ski restaurant near the end of the slopes on a snowy field close to the town centre. To get to the most unique stage, you’ll need to ride three different ski lifts. This took close to an hour from my hotel, but it’s well worth the effort. The Parsenhütte is a large log cabin with a terrace and a lunch restaurant, located high in between the mountain peaks in the middle of the slopes. The first concerts here were held under a bright winter sun: tribute versions of The Bee Gees and Red Hot Chili Peppers (the guy playing Anthony Kiedis bravely sang the whole concert bare-chested). The second day an actual snow storm broke out during the show. Great for my pictures, not so great for the poor dude who had to squeeze a three-minute Bon Jovi solo out of his frozen fingers. The mountain shows make for a unique experience for both the audience and the bands. The crowd was surprisingly large, and consisted of a mix of casual skiers and people who’d gone up the mountain just for the music.
Concerts in all shapes and sizes
Besides the two outdoor stages, there were many other concerts to enjoy elsewhere. Some were smaller acoustic shows in the more intimate setting of a hotel (Adèle and The Cranberries), while other held a fancy dinner show in the new AlpenGold Hotel ballroom (ABBA and Rod Stewart). The most exciting of these shows were held in the few actual concert venues Davos has on offer. The Montanasaal can accommodate a few hundred people, and was home to some wild gigs. The much smaller Bolgenschanze had the best atmosphere in my eyes. This was just a bar for the local youth, were everyone was pressed so close to the band you could almost help them play. Sweat was dripping from the ceiling, and the whole thing reminded me of my own days in a cover band (when I was the one murdering Green Day songs in dodgy bars). If you’re looking for some extra fun on your next ski holiday, you now know where to go. I’ll probably be back as well to take the pics, so bring your best smiles.
Hotels in Davos and extra information
For all info on Coverfestival Davos, click here.
For more info on Davos-Klosters as a destination, click here.
Davos has a lot of decent hotels, but the ones where the shows took place this year were the Mountain Plaza Hotel and the new AlpenGold Hotel. I myself slept in Club Hotel Davos. This is a separate venue operating under the Mountain Plaza that only offers rooms (so no breakfast and often no staff in the lobby). The rooms themselves were fine.
Because I had to stay in Zurich for an extra night due to a strike in Brussels, I would like to quickly mention the Alpine Garden Capsule Hotel in Zurich Airport. This was the only convenient place to sleep (very early flight the next morning) and it was my first time in a capsule hotel. I actually slept pretty well. The capsules can be completely closed off and locked down with a code, and have Wi-Fi and electric sockets to charge your stuff. The common areas are nicely decorated and cosy, and you can buy all kinds of drinks and snacks throughout the night. The departure hall is a two-minute walk away.
I bought my train tickets from Zurich to Davos directly at the vending machines in the station, but if you’re planning a longer stay in Switzerland and want to use several of their very reliable trains to get around, it might be best to buy a Swiss Travel Pass. You can use it on all public transport and enter most museums and attractions for free.
Looking for other holidays in Switzerland? Check out my articles on Interlaken and Ticino.
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