A huge crowd lined up in winter temperatures to see THE konpa star of the moment, Joé Dwèt Filé, at the Olympia. The cameras were all focused on the stage, even before he made his appearance. Black hat, sunglasses, muscles in full view, and a bright red microphone, that’s how he appeared, accompanied by his five musicians.
“Montreal, how are you tonight?” he repeats several times during the concert. In fact, he’s already set a date for December 12, 2025 at the Bell Centre, no less. Although the audience was predominantly young and female, there was a mix of generations in the room, with a predominance of the Haitian community. “Are there any single women in the room?” he asks. “A lot of women are suffering right now, and this song is for them,” he announces before songs from his albums Goumin Terminé, Calypso: Winter Edition and Daddy9. Several times during the concert, the crowd, who knew the lyrics by heart, sang along. He and his musicians alternated between Tayc-style afrobeat and konpa, much to the delight of fans of this style of music. He added his famous signature “zigizigizizag ” to punctuate his songs, preparing the arrival of synthetic keyboards.
“Are there any married people in the room?” he asks before singing Oui. In short, love stories are at the heart of this crooner’s songs. Some tracks were shorter, allowing a more fluid flow between them.
JDF often interacted with the crowd, notably when he brought two young women up on stage to sing Confiance with him. “Careful, you’re going to represent Montreal tonight,” he told them, just to put the pressure on them, but they rose to the challenge anyway, with one of them breaking down in tears after the exercise. A moment they’ll long cherish.
He ended with a run-through of all his hits, including Kitem Ale, Abimé, Merci à mon ex and Jolie madame, on which he featured Ronisia. For some of his songs, all you had to do was hear the first note and the audience would start screaming. This was the case for Pozysion, another of his hits. He even took the time to hold a little contest with four members of the audience who had to recognize the songs as quickly as possible.
He ends the evening with a crowd-pleasing walk across the Olympia floor, cell phones following him at every step, accompanied by his bodyguard, before ending the evening with the two biggest tracks of his career Fem Voyé and of course 4 Kampé, which has reached 15 million listens on Spotify and as many views on YouTube since its release a few weeks ago. The only snag of the evening was the time it took to get out of Olympia because of the long queue to collect coats. After a 90-minute show, it took us almost an hour to get out of the venue. An organization that could have been better managed, in my opinion.
Photo Credit: Shadia Uwanje
