Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

by Rédaction PAN M 360

As the golden hour washed over Île Sainte-Hélène, a surging crowd of partygoers gathered at Piknic Électronik’s main stage for a Pep Rally takeover — and DJ Fuckoff did not disappoint.

The New Zealand-born, Berlin-based artist (real name Zoe “Stella” Flyger) brought her signature genre-blending style, fusing ghettotech, breakbeat, Latin house and electro into an unapologetically high-energy set for this special edition of Montreal’s open-air Sunday dance ritual, hosted by Pep Rally – Toronto’s boundary pushing BIPOC & femme-centered rave collective.

Her eclectic mixing, cheeky stage presence and provocative vocals cut through the warm July air as bodies moved in sync with the bass-heavy tunes. Known for her raucous, oftentimes provocative lyrics, Fuckoff took the mic to perform her breakout track Boy U Nasty, as the crowd roared along to every line of the chorus.

As the afternoon light warmed up the crowd, she kicked it up a notch with a savant mix of Detroit-influenced techno and some recently released tracks from her 2^nd major solo project Fucktopia : Character Chronicles. Hello?, the dark electro-pop meets psytrance banger turned the festival ambiance into a no-holds barred rave moment, as the warm afternoon sun filled the sky with hues of pink.

The synergy between live vocals, pulsating 808’s and chaotic breakbeats created an atmosphere that was both playful, fast-paced & innovative, a perfect match for Piknic’s sundrenched dancefloor and energetic crowd.

By the time her set closed, as day turned into night, DJ Fuckoff had done more than warmed up the crowd, she ignited it.

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Saharan Blues

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

by Frédéric Cardin

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

Africa / West African traditional music

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

by Sandra Gasana

I’ve rarely seen the Loto Québec stage so full. Usually, at the start of the 7pm concert, it’s crowded but rarely packed. Here, even before the Guinean diva appeared, festival-goers had arrived early, hoping to get a closer look at their idol. The woman dubbed the new star of Guinean soul was accompanied by the same musicians as her husband Soul Bang’s the day before, at Balattou.

With them, she opts to open with a reggae-style song, and immediately the assembly starts singing the lyrics in unison. Dressed in a red sequined outfit with canvas sleeves, the griot descendant of the legend Mory Kanté has nothing to prove: talent runs through her veins. With a new album released in June, Mousso Chapitre 1, which means woman in Bambara, she plays African maracas throughout the show, on which she brings her microphone closer when necessary.

On the more rhythmic tracks, she reveals her talent as a dancer, and on the calmer ones, her voice transcends us. “This song is for moms. But I don’t want to do it in a sad way, but I want to do it in the joy of living,” she warns us before the eponymous song Mousso. At times, her voice reminds me of Oumou Sangaré’s, especially when she goes high.

It’s not always good to compare, but in this case, the traditional touch is more present than in the register of her husband, who played the day before. She inserts some modern elements into her music, but she does so while retaining the traditional Guinean essence.

The song Bhouloundjouri was a particular hit with the audience, who knew every word and kept asking for more, even after the song was over. An expression I often hear at concerts in West Africa is: “Il faut bisser”, meaning you have to play the song again. I heard this expression in the crowd on Saturday night.

She played several tracks from his most recent album, such as Mon Roi, but also several of his singles, such as Ké Douma Suma. As mentioned during my interview with the couple, there was talk of Soul Bang’s making an appearance at his wife’s concert, as she had done the day before at Balattou. He did just that, appearing in traditional-modern garb, matching hat and sunglasses.

Barely on stage, he took control and Manamba faded into the background for a few songs, before taking her place again in an exchange with the audience as only griottes know how. It was as if she were preaching, with a few powerful melodies to accompany. “I am the heiress of Soumaoro Kanté, my ancestors were blacksmiths, griots. The balafon comes from Guinea, and it’s the Kouyatés who play it,” she teaches us.

A woman nearby seemed to nod in agreement with what the artist was saying, and then Soul Bang’s added its soulful touch.

There were only 4 minutes left, which could have been enough for one last Manamba song before closing, but Soul Bang’s preferred to play his song Djere Lele, which he had played the day before at Balattou. He was thus able to feel the emotions his wife had experienced for almost an hour that evening.

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Africa / Afro Latin / Electronic / latino

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

by Sandra Gasana

Nothing to do with the famous cabaret Le Chat Noir in Paris, the artist was christened “El Gato Negro” during his stay in Latin America, as he was described as “a nocturnal animal, an alley cat, slightly brigandish on the edges”. This name has never left him, even some twenty years later.

He begins with vocals, then starts dancing, before adding a huge flute with a black tip. He then returns to his console to throw us a fusion of African, Latin American and electro rhythms, all nicely arranged.

My favorite is clearly Mundo Cae, a duet with Assane Mboup, a Senegalese artist he praises. Taken from the album Tigre qui pleure, released in 2024, we notice his penchant for felines. What’s more, he masters the art of staging, embodying a character during his performances, combining theater, dance and song.

In impeccable Spanish, he addressed the audience in that language, which many seemed to understand. In between songs, he paid tribute to the Colombians in the audience.

“You look strange, Montreal, and I like that!” he asserts before playing a song that advocates difference.

A highlight of the evening was during Bombon de canela, from the 2019 album Ouvre la porte, on which he includes the famous line “Como si fuera esta noche la ultima vez” in Besame Mucho. He gives us a feint at the end of the song, remaining motionless for almost 2 minutes, before returning with the danceable rhythm.

In Marie-Claire, the woman who “shoots bad husbands”, we savor a blend of ancient Latin rhythms, but brought up to date with electro and other ambient sounds added by the artist. In a way, this is El Gato Negro’s universe: Afro-Latin rhythms, revisited by electronics, but with the addition of sounds such as the balafon, the kora or the tama.

Special mention was made of Cosmovision, the label behind the invitation. This label demonstrated the breadth of its network, helping us to discover a number of nuggets during this edition of Nuits d’Afrique.

Photo Credit: André Rival

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Gnawa

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

by Frédéric Cardin

The Montrealer Saïd Mesnaoui may not have been born in the city and may now divide his time between it, Paris and Morocco, but after living there for a dozen years and having built up a network of unfailing friends, it is always a bit like coming home each time he comes to give a concert. It is partly thanks to Montreal that the artist developed and built his post-gnawa trad style, which the name of his group Transe Gnawa Fusion effectively betrays.

Mixed with reggae, funk, rock, jazz, and who knows what else, his gnawa, a classical and sacred musical genre of great spiritual power, itself born from a fusion of Islam, possession rites (exorcism), and practices from descendants of slaves in the sub-Saharan region of Morocco. A genre with precise codes and reserved uses, therefore. But the expressive power of this music quickly convinced people, including foreigners, to pay attention to it and even to practice it outside of strictly religious circles. There are, in Montreal, artists who play pure gnawa music. But Saïd Mesnaoui, once he had put down his suitcases in Montreal in 1986, wanted to modernize the approach, and the result was what we have been hearing since with Transe Gnawa Fusion.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW WITH SAÏD MESNAOUI (in French)

Last Friday, at the Fairmount Theatre, the spicy and vigorous stew concocted by Mesnaoui once again fulfilled its promises, lifting the spectators from their seats, who danced and swayed their hips to the various underlying rhythms used by the experienced artist to propel his vision of the gnawa tradition. Some great classics, which can be heard on existing albums, many of which come from the most recent opus, Al Maddloum (The Oppressed), but some songs that betray a new program to come in a possible recording.

We had fun, we really absorbed all the vibrant energy from the musicians on stage, and we left satisfied.

Aziz Badi – Percussions

Pascal Bujold – Guitar

Jean-Christophe Carette – Piano

André Désilets – Wind instruments (brass + wood)

Gabriel Lajoie – Bass

Saïd MESNAOUI – Vocals

Sylvain Plante – Drums

Rachide Salamatte – Percussions

Kora / West African traditional music

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

by Frédéric Cardin

The concert by Sousou and Maher Cissoko, a Senegalese-Swedish guitar/kora/vocal duo, had a benevolent and entirely appropriate vibe. For the third time in their career, the man and woman, a couple in real life, took the stage at the Balattou club last Thursday. We knew what to expect, as their albums give a good idea of the sound and atmosphere, which are well respected live. A few new songs were offered, those that are most likely to be found on a future album (we don’t know when yet). Sousou had actually promised us this in the interview she gave me before the concert.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH SOUSOU CISSOKO

The two artists are life and music partners, and you can tell. The looks are sincere, imbued with love and tenderness, but not ostentatiously so, as if to hammer the point or play a part. No, it’s just something that one detects and feels. This energy is carried by and within the music, always with equal energy, like a companion to the stroll through the time and space of the African griots’ world. A few pieces stir the air of the Balattou a bit more, but it remains essentially music that caresses, that does not seek to outdo urgency and excitement. Music that feels incredibly good in a time of frankly exhausting ambient stress.

A music that, by its very nature, but also thanks to its authentic and inspiring pair of performers, border-crossers and bearers of humanism, fills us with hope and optimism.

latino / Salsa

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

by Michel Labrecque

What can I say? On this cool July evening, the stages of the Festival Nuits d’Afrique were on fire. First, for the concert by Manamba Kanté, daughter of griot Mory Kanté, one of the precursors of the modernization of African music. The multicultural, but very African-Montreal crowd was in a trance.

Would this state of mind be maintained for the next concert, with Las Karamba, a sextet of Latin American immigrants to Barcelona, who have made salsa and Afro-Cuban rhythms their own? Yes, they would!

Las Karamba are two Venezuelan sisters, two Cubans, an Argentinean and a Catalan, who met in the Catalan metropolis. Two albums later, the women are producing original, feminist, committed and festive salsa. It’s hard to resist the magnetic charisma of singer Ahyvin Bruno and her colleagues.

They make a salsa with no brass, apart from a transverse flute, where the voices take up a lot of space. At times, we find ourselves in a rap or slam salsa, with spoken texts. The two percussionists keep the rhythm tight, but complex. We don’t hear any great improvisations, but the presence of the six women and their enthusiasm make up for it.

The ultimate barometer of this kind of concert: there was a lot of dancing and a lot of smiling. Those who understand Spanish were also able to meditate on what remains of patriarchy today, while waddling along. The world is paradoxical, my friends.

In the middle of their performance, the girls sang a resistance song a capella. Salsa sometimes embodies a masculine, macho world. Las Karamba provided us with a feminist antidote. Following in the footsteps of Cuban-American Celia Cruz, who inspired them.

There was a very good crowd for this last evening of Nuits d’Afrique.

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Choral Music / Classical / période romantique

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

by Alexis Desrosiers-Michaud

On Friday and Saturday at the Lanaudière Festival, a diptych of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorios Paulus and Elias was performed. For the occasion, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Akamus) and the Audi Jugendchorakademie visited us, all under the direction of Martin Steidler. According to artistic director Renaud Loranger, “this is the first time in Canada that the two oratorios have been presented in this way, and also sung in German; the usual language is English. We were there on Friday.

In front of a sparse audience and an almost empty lawn, this magnificent concert took place. Over the course of the two-hour evening, everything fell into place. The orchestra, enlarged for the occasion, played on period instruments (with a snake!), leaving plenty of room for the choir. The choristers’ pronunciation is precise and impeccable. They skilfully varied the palette of colors, being sometimes incisive (“Lapidez-le”), sometimes gentle, notably in the various chorales. One of the evening’s highlights was the appearance of Jesus at the end of Act 1. Performed by the women’s voices, it was an extremely luminous passage, without being angelic or honeyed.

Among the soloists, it was viola Ulrilke Malotta who was the best, despite singing only two short interventions. Her voice is deep and resonant. The soprano Marie-Sophie Pollak has a beautiful voice, but never stands out during the evening. Replacement tenor Magnus Dietrich does well, but remains too stoic, despite the fact that he was the soloist who best embodied and “played” his roles of Stephen and Barnabas. Finally, bass Krešimir Stražanac had a few problems during the evening. Sometimes too rounded, his emotions and words were lost. He would have gained by sticking to the score and not trying to give more.

Finally, a word about the overall presentation of the concert. There was room for improvement in the choice of images projected on the giant screens. All too often, there were images of instrumentalists not in the foreground, and this does the spectator high up in the valley no favors at all. And that’s in addition to correcting mistakes in the surtitles.

Photo Credit : Gabriel Fournier

Soul/R&B / West African Traditional

Nuits d’Afrique | Soul Bang’s, The King of Improvisation

by Sandra Gasana

Whether in English, French, or Bambara, Soul Bang’s manages to improvise, drawing inspiration from the context of the moment. He does this several times during his concert at Balattou, sometimes responding to comments from the audience, which is mainly made up of young people but also includes some older folks.

I have rarely seen Balattou so full. Even at the start of the concert, seats were already scarce, but throughout the evening, festival-goers continued to flock in until this legendary venue was packed. Unable to bring his band with him, he surrounded himself with local musicians who had learned the songs beforehand, including a young and talented keyboardist, a drummer, a bassist, a guitarist, and a percussionist.

Dressed in traditional attire, including stylish harem pants, white sneakers, and a hat to match, he takes the stage like a star, judging by the audience’s cheers. Rather than soul, he decides to kick things off with dancehall, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. Indeed, he alternates between dancehall and soul, interspersing a few traditional Guinean rhythms, with great control over his voice.

He interacts with his audience, getting them to sing along to his biggest hits. “Today is a special day, it’s my first time in Canada, my first time at Balattou, a venue steeped in history, but also, my album Victoire, Chapitre 1 is out today,” he says, the first song of which is dedicated to his late mother.

At times, it felt like we could hear the kora through the guitar, especially during the solos, and at other times the bass sounded like a guitar. I later learned that the guitarist was Senegalese. The song Djere Lele, released in 2023, seemed to be particularly popular with my neighbor on the right. In fact, he was the one who told me the name of the song. The whole room sang along, and we enjoyed other similar moments throughout the evening. This Guinean superstar has several hits to his credit.
Even though the new album Victoire was released on Friday, July 19, some people already knew the lyrics that same evening. That says a lot about the star’s status.

His duality, sometimes soul and sometimes dancehall/ragga, allows him to navigate between these two worlds, but the place given to the traditional could be better exploited. He chose the second half of the evening to invite his wife and singer Manamba Kanté on stage for a few songs. She will perform on the main stage on July 20, but gave the audience a preview of her husband, who was equally delighted to see her. Her deep voice, worthy of the griot she is, descended from a family of griots on both sides, enchanted us and complemented her husband’s voice.

Another highlight was the kompa section of the concert. As with Blaiz Fayah, the crowd greatly appreciated this nod to a style of music that has been steadily gaining popularity since the Joé Dwet Filé effect.

Would a collaboration between Soul Bang’s and a Haitian artist be a good move in your opinion? Something to consider.

Photo Credit: André Rival

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Africa / Mandingo Blues / Soul/R&B

Nuits d’Afrique | Tyrane Mondeny: The Rising Star Has Reached Her Destination

by Sandra Gasana

I said that Tyrane Mondeny was a rising star following my interview with her a few days before her arrival in Montreal. But after last night’s show on the Scène Loto Québec in the Femmes du monde des Nuits d’Afrique series, Lionne Tyrane showed us that she is now playing in the big league.

Always with an African touch in her outfits, she arrived on stage after her musicians, and from the very first track she was already on fire, presenting us with her Mandingo soul, mixed with gospel and R&B, with rhythms from her home in Côte d’Ivoire. Keyboard, bass, guitar, drums – these were the instruments that accompanied the artist who loves to showcase her musicians. On several occasions, she moved closer to them to let them shine in their turn. I recognized the one everyone’s been snatching up on guitar, the Senegalese giant Assane Seck, who accompanies several artists in Montreal.

We recognize some Arab sounds in one of the opening tracks, a small allusion to her adopted country, Morocco, but also American soul, which she masters particularly well, with impeccable English.

“I’ve travelled 12,000 km to be here tonight,” she says, before launching into a song paying tribute to women and denouncing the violence they suffer.

A new feature of this concert is that she plays guitar, an instrument she adds to her many strings, in addition to the percussion she plays on stage and a traditional Ivorian instrument consisting of a metal rod.

She also pays a moving tribute to her parents in heaven, in the track Prayer, which the audience felt even without understanding the lyrics. After this gentle passage, she’s back to being the lioness we know, and continues her rampage, with dance steps worthy of a professional (she has a background as a dancer) while interacting with her guitarist.

“Are there any Ivorians in the audience?” she asked the growing crowd, but we didn’t have many answers.

She covered a classic of her own, which seemed to be appreciated by the audience for its spiritual aspect, before paying tribute to the children, in a song rich in emotion. She managed to get the crowd singing along, responding to her every instruction. It’s clear that Tyrane is in control and feeling increasingly comfortable on stage.

She quickly invites a dancer on stage, whom I didn’t know, and with whom she does a few traditional dance steps.

“If I’m here tonight, it’s thanks to two people who are here tonight: Veeby and Fredy Massamba”, alluding to the instigators of the Festival afropolitain nomade, in which she has participated on several occasions.

She finished with some of her classics, including her hit Hakuna Matata, in a joyous and cheerful mood, in front of an audience who were discovering her for some, who may have seen her at Balattou last November, or at Afromusée in June 2024 for others.

The rising star has arrived at his destination, and the Nuits d’Afrique audience was there to see it. We wish him even bigger stages, an even bigger audience and endless success.

Photo Credit: M. Belmellat

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Brazilian

Nuits d’Afrique | Mateus Vidal & Axé Experience, “Uma Festa” in The Rain

by Michel Labrecque

Part of Montreal’s Brazilian community was eagerly awaiting Mateus Vidal, ex-singer and percussionist of the legendary Salvador da Bahia band Olodum, on the free outdoor Nuits d’Afrique stage at the Espace tranquille. Except that the intense thunderstorms of this torrid late afternoon delayed the show and put the crowd to the test.

Mateus Vidal now lives in Montreal with his family. He has set up a new band called Axé Expérience, which mixes axé music with samba-reggae. Both genres were popularized in the 80s, blending samba, African percussion and Jamaican beats. These rhythms have been dubbed “Afro-Brazilian”, hence their rightful presence at Nuits d’Afrique.

Mateus Vidal was undaunted by the elements. With his section of three percussionists, accompanied by a bassist, a keyboardist, a guitarist and a saxophonist-flautist, he took to the stage, singing and jumping. After ten minutes, the sun came out, only to disappear under the rain after another 10 minutes.

It was a magical moment, despite the inclement weather: as Mateus Vidal moved from one side of the stage to the other, dozens of umbrellas did the same choreography. Others continued to dance under large umbrellas, or in the open air despite the rain.

The sparse audience was overwhelmingly Brazilian, of all generations. Smiles abounded, despite the circumstances. Still, I’d like to question the Festival’s decision to program an Afro-Brazilian celebrity at 5pm, for one hour. But festival programming is always unpredictable.

Mateus Vidal aimed for a broad musical spectrum, covering hits such as Gilberto Gil’s Bahia, in samba-reggae mode, and pieces by Olodum, among others.

Then the jinx set in again: the sound system broke down. No problem: the band continued with percussion only, bringing back the sun and creating another magical moment.

Magic and the unexpected! Sometimes it works. We can only hope that the new Montrealer and his new band will be able to take advantage of a better window of opportunity, so that people here, Brazilians or not, can get to know him better and dance to his music.

Photo Credit: André Rival

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Africa / conte / Hip Hop / percussions

Nuits d’Afrique | Les mamans du Congo x Rrobin: A Successful Bet!

by Sandra Gasana

With a dance-based introduction, we first hear recorded ambient noises, mixed with sounds played by the DJ and his percussion. It’s only then that Gladys Samba, the band’s leader, appears on stage, blowing into a saucepan whose dust we can see.

The two dancers, on either side of the artist, are talented: they sing, they play characters, they dance, while Gladys alternates between hip-hop, singing, storytelling, and shares engaged messages, mainly honoring women or denouncing violence against women.

“Matondo means thank you in my language,” she tells us between songs.
Movements from everyday life have found a way of integrating with the music offered by this band. The dancers, for example, are seen pounding millet to the same rhythm played by the DJ and percussionist.

Gladys is also an actress, judging by the little scene played out with the two dancers. So we moved from dance to theater, storytelling, singing and percussion. A whole range of arts came together in this hour-long performance, under a blazing sun.

We were treated to several traditional lullabies but revisited, “not to make you sleep, but to make you smile”, she announced, while getting the crowd involved in the song dedicated to her sister Tombo.

The second part of the concert focused on the return to the village and the vital role of mothers, with a climactic finale featuring drumming by all the artists, followed by a gentle closing, swapping the drum for maracas.

Photo Credit: André Rival

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