Africa / Afro-Electro / Afrobeats / Afropop / Chanson francophone

Francos | SAT on Fire for Theodora, Soon To Be Megastar

by Alain Brunet

It’s not often that a medium-sized Montreal venue plays host to a star who’s already blossomed in Europe, and this was the case at the SAT on Wednesday night: the inferno in the square for Theodora. A huge buzz for the Franco-Congolese singer, not yet in Montreal, but in France, in Africa and in all the Afro-descendant communities of the world’s capitals. Montreal will be no exception! As big a buzz as Aya Nakamura or Yzeult? It’s okay to bet on that.

This summer in Paris, Theodora is filling a pair of Zéniths (the equivalent of Place Bell in terms of capacity), and it’s only just begun.

And why is that?

The recent success of this 21-year-old singer is based on a family bond comparable to that of Billie Eilish, i.e. sister-brother.

Under the pseudonym Jeez Suave, her elder brother composes most of her songs and beats, and is also her producer and even her manager. And he’s on stage before and during his sister’s performance. An excellent DJ, he heats things up with his often-accelerated Afrobeats, a process of unprecedented and inclusive crossbreeding, right down to Haitian konpa (a nod to Montreal!).

Pumped up after an hour-long DJ set, Theodora’s new fans go wild when she takes to the stage with her dancers. Believe me, this fervor is attributable to global megastars, a status Theodora could reach in the very near future.

Dressed in the same sexy outfits as her colleagues, she seems perfectly at ease in her luscious body, which has nothing of the supermodel about it, and maintains a very solid contact with her audience, who (already!!) know the lyrics and repartee of her hits by heart.

Theodora followed up with a series of incendiary hits: FNG, BIG BOSS LADY, Boss babies , (requested in advance by the audience), I wanna, PAPA, GO, BAD BOY LACKED, Ils me rient tous au nez (en formule minimaliste), Les oiseaux rares, Juliette, Mon casque, 243km/h, MASSOKO NA MABELE, Do u wanna, MON BEBE, ZOU BISOU, PAY! FASHION DESIGNA , KONGOLESE SOUS BBL.

Almost an hour and a half, frantic rhythms in afro-electro mode (mostly afrobeats), interspersed with a few hyperpop or soul-pop songs with less African connotations, more French variety. Tourists of my kind and generation may not understand everything she says and sings (French language, suburban slang, Lingala, etc.), but they take her word for it!

SURPRISE! THEODORA WILL BE ON THE BIG DESJARDINS SCENE AT THE FRANCOS, JUNE 21, 10:30 P.M.

Photo : Frédérique Ménard-Aubin

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Afrobeat / Chanson francophone / Pop / Punk Rock / soul-pop

Francos | Katerine, Absolute Master of “pipi-caca-poil-bite”

by Alain Brunet

The MTelus was almost full on this Tuesday of the Francos, although it was sparse at the back, but then, two MTelus on two consecutive nights is quite a contract for a French artist. Since the 90s, Katerine has been a fixture on the French pop scene, as much for his antics, his sense of provocation, his humor chiselled from the absurd, his recorder solos, as for the finesse of his pen and the critical distance he establishes with our human existences and a world that, all in all, makes far less sense than the one or ones we’d like to lend it.

Clownish from start to finish in almost two hours of laughter, he takes to the stage in imperial dress for The Queen of England, with a classical anthem in the background to match the costume. We then surround him as he changes suits to being naked, or almost, a little more covered than during his world-famous performance at the Paris Olympics. A crown of plants, a beard like God the Father, a thong outlining his fifty-something buttocks. Hilarious, no kidding!

By the third track, the togas of ancient Rome are now the order of the day for the singer and his acolytes, both male and female. Comment tu t’appelles is another soaring flight into the absurd. Êtres humains is then sung a cappella, the drums join in with the soloist’s voice and it culminates in Afrobeat.

Katerine puts on his bob, finds funny rhymes, and the funky groove does the work under his bob. West Indian pop for Total à l’Ouest, a Western delirium if ever there was one.

This is followed by the “zou” moment of the evening, first of all for Des bizoux interactifs, where the audience is asked to contribute, and then for the zou machine-gun blasts from the bridge of the next song, which concludes in punk-rock, a song dedicated to his dog Zouzou, who defecates slackly, among other daily activities. We know that Katerine is a master in the art of pipi-caca-poil, and we’re back for more!

A whole lot of ringtones get tangled up, and Au téléphone becomes a funk sung in a Bourvilian tone. For La banane, another gem of absurdist humor, a fan disguised as a yellow fruit is invited on stage, and everyone laughs.

We’re now ready for Marine LePen‘s rocky pursuit, written long before the icon of the French far-right acquired that status.

Katerine follows with Blond on a stoner rock background, then Liberté (my ass), Excuse-moi… until the explosion of Louxor, j’adore, his absolute hit where the sound is obviously cut, edited, recut and so on. The singer then dons a hallucinatory costume, a sort of giant squash painted pink.

At the encores, he returns in a white bathrobe, crowned, it’s Patati patata! where he enjoins his audience to chant ras l’bol repeatedly. DNA in pop-soul-jazz form and a crooner ballad for Des étoiles, followed by Amour (de maman), Parivélib (about cycling through Paris at night) and Patouseul in the near-final, a disco pop that couldn’t be more Parisian.

He concludes with Moment parfait, alone with his keyboard player, to underline the very real quality of this communion with his French-speaking American audience. Katerine and his team return to greet the audience with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in the background, a fitting anthem indeed.

Photo: Victor Diaz Lamich

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Chanson francophone / Pop

Francos | D’eux, Three Decades Later

by Alain Brunet

The commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the D’eux album, considered by some to be Jean-Jacques Goldman’s masterpiece in the service of Céline Dion, was certainly sympathetic for anyone who attended the event, and galvanizing for the vast majority of die-hard fans, but will not go down in history.

The resources employed were commensurate with a show scheduled for two performances (the next is scheduled for July 13 at the Festival d’été de Québec), and certainly too limited to produce a signature show worthy of a modern-day pop extravaganza.

Excerpts from recordings of interviews from the era could compensate a little for the absence of the main players on this album, considered historic in the Franco pop corpus, but the immersive technologies we’re entitled to in pop culture today are nothing like what we were treated to at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on Sunday. Beautiful lighting, tilted stage, center aisle, excellent musical direction by keyboardist Alex Mc Mahon, excellent execution by the musicians, effective staging by Benoît Rioux and that’s quite a lot.

Naturally, Céline fans cheered the voices invited to this non-sectarian, non-ageist celebration: Martine St-Clair, Ariane Roy, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Safia Nolin, Rita Baga (Jean-François Guèvremont), Brigitte Boisjoli and Marie Denise Pelletier take part in D’eux, 30 ans déjà: célébrons Céline, soon to be reprised at the Festival d’été de Québec.

Among the songs in the repertoire, On ne change pas was opened by the young trio of Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Ariane Roy and Safia Nolin. J’irai où tu iras in trio by Martine St-Clair, Marie Denise Pelletier and Louis-Jean Cormier, playing the role of Jean-Jacques Goldman.

Regarde-moi and Prière païenne were sung by Brigitte “100,000 volts” Boisjoli and dedicated to her father La mémoire d’Abraham. S’il suffisait d’aimer and Vole were covered by Safia Nolin, J’irai où tu iras and Destin were sung by Ariane Roy, Je sais pas and Le ballet by Martine St-Clair, Dans un autre monde by Rita Baga Tout l’or des hommes and Pour que tu m’aimes encore, the absolute hit of this opus, by Lou-Adriane Cassidy. The evening ended in a chorus-karaoke with Luc Plamondon’s L’amour existe encore, which, as we all know, does not appear on the album trentenaire.

In the winter of 1995, I was in New York to report on Céline Dion’s American conquest, spending several days with Céline and René, who gave me an exclusive listen to D’eux in their limousine. I remember it like it was yesterday!

That first listen led me to conclude without a doubt that this was the singer’s best album to date, in any language, and… never bettered since. As far as I’m concerned, Céline has never done better, in French or in English, which says a lot about her lack of artistic direction throughout her career, despite her colossal successes. Three decades on, this recording remains her supreme signature as a performer, a must-have for French pop, and a more-than-correct album in the international pop songbook. Nevertheless, we understand and respect the admiration of Quebec fans, for whom the singer is a powerful source of pride… and maybe we’ll talk again on the album’s fiftieth anniversary.

Photo : Frédérique Ménard

acadie / Americana / Indie Pop / Indie Rock

Francos | P’tit Belliveau, Acadia, Unfiltered at The.. Festival Square

by Marilyn Bouchard

This Sunday, June 15, P’tit Belliveau was back at the Francos, surrounded by his musicians and friends, as well as funny projections and pyrotechnics.

Straight out of the lively musical community of Clare, Nova Scotia, he distinguished himself at the Francouvertes in 2019, and again in 2020 with Greatest Hits No.1, his first album to be selected on the Polaris Prize long list. Since then, in 2022, he has released Un homme et son piano and made several celebrated appearances in the metropolis.

The evening was full of surprises, including the arrival of FouKi for Comfy, Klô Pelgag for Mélamine, Rau_Ze’s unleashed performance for L’habitude, and the independence parenthesis of rappers Kinjioo with Fleur de Lys.

There were also a few covers, including one by Acadian band Grand Dérangement, as well as System of a Down’s Chop Suey and Nickelback’s This is how you remind me, which brought smiles to the faces of the audience and lightened the mood.

With disarming candor and unfiltered authenticity, he presented several songs from his repertoire, including L’eau entre mes doigts, J’feel comme un alien, Ej m’en Fus and Les bateaux dans la baie, which received a particularly warm welcome.

Finally, the memorable duet between Jacques Blinn on violin and Guyaume Boulianne on mandolin (who are also members of the excellent group Cy), while his sister, singer Sylvie Boulianne, accompanied them among the backing singers, was one of the evening’s highlights. The other was the final song, J’aimerais d’avoir un John Deere, which had all the lighters on Sainte-Catherine Street lighting up to say goodbye.

We were treated to a generous encore of three songs: a lively version of L’arbre est dans ses feuilles by Guyaume, with Belliveau on drums, Income Tax, and a solo version of L’Église de Saint-Bernard that was completely sick.

A surprising and exhilarating evening! There was something for everyone, with Acadian culture in the spotlight!

Pop

Francos | White All Over for Fredz, TikTok Hits for Carbonne

by Marilyn Bouchard

After a short interlude between opening act and second act on the second night of the Francos, June 14, Fredz appeared before an overexcited MTelus audience. On a smoke-filled stage streaked with projected lightning, we could see him emerge at the top of a staircase where everything was white: the piano, the microphone, the staircase and the quarter-moon. With this effect, the teenagers went wild as he launched into his first song, surrounded by 3 musicians – pianist/keyboardist, guitarist and drummer.

Energetic and solid, the Québécois singer-songwriter delivered one catchy melody after another, with a series of knowing glances. Accessible, he took the time to share that he was touched by the signs and exchanged a few witty jabs with his audience, mainly made up of 12-18 year-olds and their parents.

We were treated to a fine selection of his best-known songs, including Houston, Je veux, 3 accords, Ce soir j’suis dans ma tête, La vérité and, of course, his hit Le stade; as well as some beautiful lighting moments during his performance.

French rapper and singer Carbonne kicked off the program. Made popular on TikTok thanks to his songs Bla Bla and Imagine, the pumped-up artist offered a rhythmic 45-minute performance in which he wielded his words, undulated his hips and presented a succession of pieces that delighted the audience. Among them, MTP ,0 questions, Ocarina and Bene effectively warmed up the atmosphere, and we were treated to some heartfelt dance moments.

All in all, a successful, atmospheric evening in tune with the times.

Classical

Festival Classica | Valérie Milot : the harp, to infinity and beyond

by Frédéric Cardin

I didn’t know what to expect from harpist Valérie Milot’s Nebulae concert when I turned up at Saint-Lambert church last night. In the end, I came away delighted.

More than just a concert, almost a conference on music and science, harpist Valérie Milot demonstrated talents not usually associated with her: that of a purveyor of astronomical knowledge and a seasoned lecturer with a touch of humour.

Set against a simple but effective backdrop (various globes illustrating the Sun, Earth and Moon, illuminated boards showing photos of scientists such as Carl Sagan, Galileo and Hubert Reeves, images of cosmological objects and historical paintings illustrating episodes from ancient myths), Milot alternated between 4 or 5 minute animations and interpretations of pieces for harp in a calm but constantly interesting and catchy rhythm.

The artist is clearly as passionate about science and history as she is about music, and she conveys this love through links based on general culture as well as her own tales of wonder at the beauty of the cosmos and of art.

For around 75 minutes, Valérie’s eyes, ears and above all her heart become shared places in a communion that is both intimate and ultra sincere. Nebulae (with the subtitle: A philosophical reflection on existence through an exploration of astronomical phenomena), presented with the support of the Festival Classica, had its premiere last Friday night. A tour will be launched this fall. I urge you not to miss it if it comes near you. I admit that I’m just as enamoured as she is of the subjects raised, and have the same natural wonder at the beauty of the Universe and the historical and mythical events that are abundantly evoked, so I am biased, but I’m convinced that even the most inattentive layman will be charmed by this enjoyable presentation.

It’s good for the soul, the heart and above all the brain. We need it so much these days.

Excerpt from Nebulae (with the authorisation of Valérie Milot) :

Hip Hop / Jazz / Keb Rap

Francos | OGB, Rap, Jazz, Groove, Electro, Franco

by Alain Brunet

Original Gros Bonnet (OGB to his friends) released a triptych last autumn: Le vide, la peur, l’éclair, les ondes, recordings at the confluence of contemporary acoustic and electric jazz and various digital styles, starting with hip-hop.

The whole thing can be crudely summed up as hip-hop-jazz, which might attract more new fans at the Jazz Festival than at the Francos, where audiences are more sensitive to song forms than complex harmonies and rhythms. But that doesn’t take anything away from OGB, whose appeal was tangible this past Saturday at the Scène Desjardins. François “Franky Fade” Marceau was the MC, an eloquent poet surrounded by Arnaud Castonguay, tenor sax and flute, Vincent Favreau, keyboards, Louis René, drums, Vincent B. Boulianne, bass. Boulianne, bass – all top-notch jazz musicians, obviously well educated. I personally have a soft spot for the drummer, who is, frankly, very good.

The culture of these musicians is certainly eclectic, but it is primarily based on modern jazz and the groove jazz that hip-hop has been drinking since the boom-bap years of the 90s, with a few lulls and a revival with the Kendrick era that began more or less a decade ago.

To grasp the subtleties of the new OGB cycle, the listening conditions of an outdoor stage at the Francos are probably not the best (volume a little too low, audience only partially inclined to savor the solos, collective performances and poetry of François. But it was a great intro for fans of franglophone rap-jazz, who will be able to enjoy even more relevant performances from this excellent Montreal band.

Before the next meeting in the flesh, I heartily recommend listening to the complete material of OGB’s recent triptych on Bandcamp.

chanson keb franco / Indie Pop / Indie Rock

Francos | Saturday Night, Queen Lou Reigned

by Arielle Desgroseillers-Taillon

On Saturday evening, as you wandered through the Place des Festivals, one color stood out: red. Sweaters, jackets, shoes… The Francos audience responded in large numbers to Lou-Adriane Cassidy’s dress code, welcoming her in her favourite color.

From the very first notes of “Dis-moi dis-moi dis-moi,” the opening track on her third album Journal d’un loup-garou, the Quebec-born singer makes her presence felt. Behind her gentle yet remarkably powerful voice lies a raw, electrifying energy that makes you want to jump, scream and let off steam.

Saturday’s show was a reprise of the one presented in February at the Beanfield Theatre for the launch of Journal d’un loup-garou. Surrounded by her seven musicians, Lou-Adriane performed the entirety of this album, released in January, under a huge moon suspended over the stage. Added to this repertoire were some of her most popular tracks, as well as two songs from Triste Animal, a surprise album unveiled in May: Jamais tout à fait and Adieu.

But if we had to single out one moment from the evening, everyone would agree that it was Ariane’s performance. After singing Prières quotidiennes agenouillé, Lou-Adriane invited “her cosmic sister” Ariane Roy to join her on stage for a touching duet. Arm in arm, tears in the eyes, laughter in the heart, it was impossible to remain indifferent to this moment of pride, love and sisterhood.

The emotions continued until the very end, with “Ça va ça va,” the artist’s most popular song. Overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment, she even briefly forgot the lyrics. “You’re making me lose my temper, everybody!” she laughed.

In the crowd, several Quebec flags fluttered, carried high as a sign of belonging to Quebec culture, Le Roy la Rose et le Lou(p)’s hobbyhorse during the famous trio’s tour. To close the show, Lou brandished a fleurdelisé borrowed from an audience member with his name inscribed on it, before declaring with conviction “The best is yet to come!”

Dressed in a sparkling pink ensemble, Lou-Adriane shone far beyond her glitter. Her charisma, generosity and talent once again won the hearts of Quebec audiences. On Saturday night, Queen Lou reigned over the Place des Festivals.

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Chanson francophone / chanson keb franco

Francos | Claude Dubois, Voice Intact, Presence Appeased

by Claude André

In anticipation of Quebec’s Fête nationale, Claude Dubois offered a moment of grace in the heart of Montreal. An introspective and generous concert, led by one of the finest voices in the French-speaking world.

Claude Dubois walks in slowly, gray hair, back slightly arched, dressed in a loose black sweater, black jacket, jeans and cowboy boots. No longer the bouncy boxer of the Sortie Dubois au Forum era. But from Le Labrador onwards, this voice blessed by the Gods, this timbre, this sonority, that of an old soul, comes into its own. Dubois embodies something greater than himself. The show is generous, fluid and well-balanced. Some songs respond to each other, like Infidèle followed by Femmes de rêve. Dubois remains concentrated behind his microphone, from which he sometimes steps back two or three feet, as if to better project this naked power.

He is accompanied by The Twenty-Nines, the duo Julie Lamontagne (keyboard, piano, with a jazzed-up solo to standing ovations) and Tony Albino (drums), joined by Richard Deschênes (bass) and Hendrixian Kaven Girouard (guitars). The ensemble moves between jazz, rock, pop, French chanson and even reggae.

Among the highlights is Pauvre Rutebeuf, a 13th-century poem set to music by Ferré. The French language is immortal,” says Dubois. Later, Au bout des doigts, preceded by an aside on yesterday’s drugs, less dangerous he says, a nod to the age of fentanyl and urban zombies.

And then the classics. He plays them one by one. Depuis que je suis né. Si Dieu existe, Le blues du businessman… Ovations. Momentum. Communion.

He could have gone on for another half-hour.

In short, we saw again a calm and fragile Claude Dubois, sovereign and happy. Just the way we like him.

Photo : Victor Diaz Lamish

chanson keb franco / Métal

Francos | Mononc’ Serge & Anonymus, The Gallery-Hunting Outlet

by Florence Cantin

Club Soda was sold out on Saturday night, packed with nostalgic bon vivants ready to die for Canada.

Mononc’ Serge kicked off the Canadian evening with the thrash metal of La ligue du vieux pouèl, dragging his solute behind him. Alongside Anonymus, he’s been around long enough that he’s no longer a member of the young metalheads’ club – even though he insists that aging as a metal veteran is fundamentally tacky. Even before he begins his usual affectionate mockery of the audience, Mononc’ sets the tone: self-mockery reigns supreme here.

The audience, a little shy at first, as if in an observation phase, was soon shaken by Anonymus. An invitation to a circle pit from bassist Oscar Souto broke the ice. The call did not go unheard. A wave of support quickly spread through the room. The circle formed, and the crowd, still static, was suddenly animated by a galvanizing federal energy.

Some of the spectators unwillingly embodied the parody held up to them as a mirror – it was as if the Club Soda kegs had all been siphoned off before the encore. The beer age wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable without the traditional “moron fishing”, where Mononc’ points to a fan who’s as thirsty as he is overheated – often already tipsy, sometimes downright unstable. The youngster was then brought on stage for some wobbly choreography, before wedging in his beer to the cheers of the crowd.

Hommage aux hommages was one of the highlights of the evening. With its double-bottomed text, the play mocks the very contemporary mania for multiplying tributes, salutes, tributes and posthumous celebrations to excess. The theme is deliciously ironic, carried by the memorable line: “On a mis a quelqu’un au monde / On devrait peut-être lui rendre hommage. More than twenty years after L’Académie du massacre, initially seen as improbable, this marriage between Mononc’ Serge and Anonymus remains impressively solid on stage. A symbiosis that never runs out of steam.

Indigenous peoples / Maghrebi

A Solar Evening at Club Soda

by Michel Labrecque

For 2025, multidisciplinary artist Soleil Launière chose to bring forward the solstice ceremony to June 11, and celebrate it in the company of musicians she loves. Let’s just say that the evening was a success.

It began with traditional native drums, then gave way to keyboards and electric guitars. Soleil Launière took to the stage with the kind of traditional panache that has become her trademark. And it all kicked off with tracks from her 2023 album Taueu, an increasingly refined blend of tradition and the musical present.

Then began the well-crafted parade of female songwriters from different backgrounds: Berber Moroccan Nukad, Klo Pelgag, Cree Arachnid, Wendat Eadsé, Jorane and her cello, Dominique Fils-Aimée and the duo VioleTT Pi, the only male presence in this very feminine-feminist show. And that’s just as well.

All this was generally of a fairly high calibre. But the best moments came when the artists dialogued with Soleil Launière. I’m thinking in particular of Nukad, whose Maghrebian tradition blends perfectly with that of the Aboriginals, Jorane, very inspired and tapping furiously on her cello to play First Nations percussionist. And what can we say about Dominique Fils-Aimé, who, after a vocal solo that sent shivers down Club Soda’s spine, harmonized with Soleil Launière and the voices of accompanists Chloé Lacasse and Geneviève Toupin. It was pure vocal bliss.

It’s worth noting: the work of the accompanying band cemented this eclectic concert in a wonderful way. In addition to guitarist Simon Walls, there was the group Chances: Vincent Carré on drums, Chloé Lacasse on vocals and keyboard and Geneviève Toupin, aka Willows, on vocals, keyboards and guitars. What voices these women have!

There was another anonymous star: a one-year-old baby, who clapped his hands constantly and squealed with delight at the end of the first few songs.

It was a wonderful evening! As proof, my friend Gilles, a Belgian-born political scientist now living in India, who accompanied us yesterday and didn’t know any of the artists, came away completely enchanted by the event.

What more to say….Other than: Vive le métissage and the new wave of Indigenous music!

Americana / Jazz Rock / Kebamericana / Prog Rock / Stoner Rock

Francos | Fred Fortin Sets The Stage

by Alain Brunet

Released in 2004, Planter le décor is one of Fred Fortin’s key albums. On Friday night at Club Soda, its creator confided to his fans that he had resisted pressure to perform the material on stage. He finally agreed when his better half said, “You do it. What woman wants, Fred wants, and here we are, a room filled to the brim two nights in a row at the Francos de MTL, before a crowd essentially in their thirties and forties, who came to relive their youth for a couple of hours.

When nostalgia calls? Very rarely as far as I’m concerned, but it seemed justified this time. Justified because Fred had brought together the original line-up for the album: Jocelyn Tellier and Olivier Langevin on guitars, Dan Thouin on keyboards, Alain Bergé on drums, the singer on bass and guitars, certainly a top-notch crew in the French-speaking keb landscape.

It was a show worthy of these musicians and their Saint-Prime employer, a highly sophisticated blend of popular culture and stylistic research, a successful marriage between virtuosity, weight and well-placed roughness, between colloquial and finer language.

Two decades of maturity have done the trick: the saturation of low and mid-range frequencies, the harmonic and rhythmic subtleties complementing rock, country and blues chords, the high virtuosity of these performers, all these elements bring us back to the setting set two decades earlier.

As in the album, he began with Mélane, the tale of a man adrift under a sky of vultures, addressing his companion whom he imagines as a lifeline for his troubled existence.

He followed this up with Conconne, the rocky murder of a silly singer, tossed into the bottom of a canyon by an enraged male. The tempo picks up with Lucia, a heavy stoner rock mixed with prog and country, served up with three guits in your face, followed by Pop Citron, pure clopin-clopin’ country, describing a not exactly beautiful loser, a soap novel show-off whose face sells like pudding.

Then it’s time to please our colleagues with Ti-chien, a polyrhythmic instrumental with jazz and prog overtones, featuring the quintet’s jazzmen – Tellier, Thouin and Bergé.

As long as we’re being canine, here’s the story of the bored dog Robeur, who scurries off to row 6 before being spotted by his master, another slow-tempo stoner rock with wonderful bridges.

Here we are in Chateaubriand, the filet mignon fantasized by the desert crossing against a backdrop of Americana folk chopped tartar by increasingly beefy beats of which Alain Bergé has the secret.

And re-country at a trot, evoking a Dérape ending with a good cup of coffee to ward off evil spirits.

A little later, the story of another slip turns out to be less hop-la-vie, immersing the narrator’s face in a pool of Scotch, the sad brush of a guy without a companion. The narrator has to take a cab home, the plaintive harmonica melts into the arch-saturated prog-rock, and we’re moved by the dialogue between guitars and bass, supported by impressionistic keyboards and a beat that couldn’t be more virile.

Once the entire album had been played, Fred Fortin’s quintet went on to play another dozen of their classics, much to the delight of their front-line fans, rounding things off with three encores, two acoustic ones and a final one for the road with a full band, La Loi du chocolat.

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