Montreux is his backyard! Having been here 21 times since 1974, “Van The Man” has witnessed the key milestones of the Festival’s history like few other artists. Indeed, he has become one of the Festival’s legends. Writer of punchy British blues-rock anthems from the Sixties (“Gloria” with Them, etc.), composer of a series of majestic folk-soul-jazz albums (Astral Weeks, Moondance, etc.), for half a century the Irishman has been building a repertoire that strikes a balance between sensuality, bitterness and mysticism. A regal singer with a magnetic presence marked by a healthy temperament, the “Belfast Cowboy” knows better than ever, at 76, how to stop the clocks of time.

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