Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

As you will learn in the interview linked below, Boubé has been living in Montreal for just over a year, but has already won the heart of the city. His desert blues, that of the Tuaregs, a nomadic people from whom he comes (more specifically from Niger) is rooted in the great tradition of Moctar and Bambino, artistic sources from which he has drawn, is authentic, dynamic, catchy and exciting. On the Balattou stage, Sunday night, in front of a large audience packed tightly into the small space, which gives the Montreal club all its personality and appeal, Boubé ran through his already rich repertoire of hits and earworms that we like to hear as often as possible.

Excerpts from his first and only album to date, the aptly named Voyager, (READ MY REVIEW HERE), the tracks followed one another in a crescendo of intensity, spread over two well-crafted sets, leading to a finale overflowing with energy and sublimated by totally invested musicians: Sylvain Plante (ecstatic drums!), Carlo Birri (quiet but irrepressible force on bass), Ibrahim Seydi (with flights of percussion), Vincent Duhaime Perreault (excellent guitarist whose fiery duets with Boubé have something of the great rock shows of lore), and of course Boubé himself on guitar and vocals. We had already perceived the talent and potential at the 2024 Syli d’Or, where he received the silver award. But since then, the progress has been quite rapid, and I feel that the opening of the doors to the international market is not far off. Vincent Duhaime Perreault, the band’s guitarist and also Boubé’s manager, promises us important projects to come, without naming them yet. We are very, very excited, because, starting from Montreal, which he says he loves very much and where he has found a family and a warm home, Boubé has everything he needs to become the next international star of Desert blues.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW CONDUCTED WITH BOUBÉ BY MY COLLEAGUE KEITHY ANTOINE