Lola Marsh to open Pohoda 2019 program on the main stage
A musical love at first sound: that’s how we could describe the relationship between Pohoda, its visitors and the band from Israel, Lola Marsh. As an unknown band, they played our main stage during their Slovak premiere in 2014. The chemistry worked right away. A tour, several solo concerts as well as other gigs at Pohoda followed. A year ago, they played their biggest show in the Refinery Gallery with a special addition to their setlist: an unforgettable cover version of “Čerešne” that 1,500 deeply moved people sang along with Yael. Since their premiere, Lola Marsh played Slovakia every single year and, this time, it won’t be otherwise. On Thursday evening, they will open the program on Pohoda 2019’s main stage.
14. February 2019
A life-changing encounter
Yael Shoshana Cohen didn’t even know Gil Landau when she accidentally showed up at his birthday party. Their musical connection was magnetic right from the start, though. Yael watched Gil as he took the guitar and started to play at the opposite side of the room. She slowly approached him and added a few tunes to the song he played (“Jolene”) with her delicate voice: at that moment, band Lola Marsh came into existence.
Showcase success story #1
When we, as a festival, emphasize the importance of showcase festivals to bands, we often take Lola Marsh as an example. Michal Kaščák discovered this band at a showcase festival in Israel: “Lola Marsh are an example of what good music is capable of achieving: rules about band’s “readiness” do not work if your songs are exceptional. The way they reacted when I invited them to play Pohoda after their show at the showcase in Tel Aviv took me by surprise: they wanted to wait until they would be “ready”, with an album released and a team of professionals put together. I disagreed as I could not think of how a band could be readier than this: all thanks to the power of their songs. Since we discovered Lola Marsh at the beginning, we could watch an incredible transformation of an unknown new band into someone who is played by media known all around the world and represented by big agencies. The key factor here is not the strategies and plans developed by music professionals but the music itself”.
Pohoda + Lola Marsh = ❤
At that time, they were unknown even in their homeland, but at Pohoda 2014, they got a slot on the main stage. They seized the opportunity and Lola Marsh became one of Pohoda visitors’ most favorite music bands. The proof is their follow-up fall tour across clubs in Slovakia. Free tickets to their show within Pohoda Day_FM were gone in 200 seconds. Tickets to their show at A4 sold out three months prior to the event. Their show in Tabačka sold out in advance as well and 1,500 attendees came to see their last-year sold-out show at the Refinery Gallery. The liking is mutual, obviously. When interviewed by the French Rocknfool, Gil and Yael were asked which show they liked the most and they replied in unison: “The one at Pohoda Festival”. Michal describes their music and performance as follows: “Lola Marsh is often labeled as indie folk or dream pop. I don’t think this is true because there are so many layers to their music underneath that I can even imagine their production as a soundtrack to a gloomy Quentin Tarantino film. With the way they play, you can’t confuse them with someone else. Their music has an incredible creativity as well as passion, ardor and playfulness to it. I’m glad that thanks to the close relationship with Slovakia, I can almost consider them a local band…”
Brilliant debut and international success
On June 9, 2017, they released their debut Remember Roses, whose success got reflected immediately in various streaming services charts and, overall, increasing interest in this amazing band. Film (Criminal) as well as TV series (Better Call Saul) producers started using their songs and their tracks also appeared in several commercials (eBay, Crédit Agricole). The success of Lola Marsh is not based just on Yael and Gil’s chemistry. The duo collaborates with experienced musicians such as Mati Gilad (bass guitar), Rami Osservaser (guitar, piano) and Dekel Dvir (drums). Thanks to their amazing live shows, they have gradually become one of the most wanted Middle Eastern bands in Europe and the United States. Praises media such as Le Monde, NPR, Paste Magazine, NYLON or the Observer sing about them prove it. Pohoda visitors don’t really need to be convinced of this anymore, but they will sure be happy to hear new songs from this band. Photos from November posted on social networks capturing the band in a recording studio and an internal confirmation that we are in for something look promising. We are already looking forward to the next amazing show by Lola Marsh, which will open the program on the main stage at Pohoda 2019.