Judging by the size of the crowd eager to see her arrival early in the evening, the presence of South African sensation Tyla was one of the most anticipated events of the weekend. The new princess (let’s wait before proclaiming her queen) of amapiano and R&B certainly did not disappoint with a fiery performance where dancing and sensuality were the order of the day. And to think that she is only 22 years old…
It was on a giant tiger that the young singer made her entrance, to the cries of her admirers. To date, Tyla has only one project in her discography, her self-titled album. Needless to say, it was mostly material from her project released last March that she offered to festival-goers.
On stage, Tyla and her troupe performed a lot of dance moves, as if it wasn’t hot enough on this scorching day. The crowd watched her every move and applauded her every hip movement. “This is my first time here. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” she said between two songs, pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome.
Her rendition of No.1 , an excellent collaboration with Nigeria’s Tems, was vocally brilliant, as was her entire set. Tyla has been riding the wave of Water for several months, a song that propelled her internationally, and it’s this song that she will have reserved for the very end. A fiery finale for a high-quality R&B performance.
“Saucegod, Saucegod, Saucegod!” shouted the many festival-goers as Hamza arrived on stage. For several years, the Belgian rapper has had a wonderful relationship with Montrealers; another chapter in this beautiful story was written Sunday night at Osheaga.
Last year, Hamza earned a special place in our top 100 albums with Sincérement , a superb offering combining trap and R&B. It was with a string of tracks from this project that the Belgian began his set, starting with the excellent Codéine 19 . Although he started with his most recent material, he didn’t hesitate to dip into his classics such as Gasolina and FADE UP . There’s nothing wrong with the selection of tracks, a good mix highlighting the diversity of his discography.
Where the shoe pinches is in what is offered on stage. What is played is mostly pre-recorded soundtracks to which Hamza adds his grain of salt, autotune of course at the rendezvous. Don’t get me wrong, the eternal lover still offers a good show, but without artifice.
Regardless, the style of performance offered by the rapper did nothing to dampen the crowd, who were jumping from start to finish. The 30-year-old artist’s honeyed flow and catchy choruses are in a class of their own, here is another demonstration.
Shortly after rapper Hamza’s last words on the adjacent stage, numerous beams of light gave festival-goers an orange hue, the color of Volcano, Jungle’s most recent project. On the notes of Busy Earnin’, a 2014 hit, the British soul-funk band made their entrance in remarkable fashion.
From the very first moments, the band’s different impulses had the crowd dancing. The music of Tom McFarland, Josh Lloyd-Watson and, most recently, Lydia Kitto, is one of the liveliest and most festive around. It’s no surprise that inflatables and balloons roamed among the fans throughout the performance; the mood was festive, to say the least. Jungle has a way of making us enjoy the moment.
The balance between recording and live creation couldn’t have been better. The three protagonists get involved vocally and contribute with various instruments such as guitar and synthesizer. The arrangements are danceable, and the vocals as bewitching as on record. Two percussionists and a bassist rounded things off brilliantly.
On two occasions, artists appeared on the big screen for the duration of a song. This was the case for Erick the Architect during the disco hit Candle Flame, a song on which the crowd burned a lot of calories, rest assured.
Several times, the band addressed the fans in both English and French. The Brits seemed delighted by the welcome they received from Montrealers, who responded by singing along to their various choruses and clapping their hands. There’s no doubt that Jungle’s appearance was one of the highlights of the weekend’s festivities.
Osheaga, Day 2 | The Smashing Pumpkins, Denzel Curry, Olivia Dean & New West
by Jacob Langlois-Pelletier
Nostalgia, when you hold us
The Smashing Pumpkins’ performance at Osheaga on Saturday couldn’t have come at a better time; just over 48 hours ago, the prolific American group released Aghori Mhori Mei , their 13th album. Contrary to what one might expect, Billy Corgan and his band ignored this release and opted for a selection of their greatest classics, much to the delight of the fans crowded in front of the two biggest stages of the festival.
Dressed in a black cassock, Corgan enveloped Parc Jean-Drapeau with his melancholic rock and his nasal voice that we know so well. Alongside him are his long-time colleagues James Iha on guitar and Jimmy Chamberlin on drums as well as Kiki Wong, a guitarist recruited a few months ago.
On stage, the Smashing Pumpkins exude the same determination and desire as they did 30 years ago. Too bad this state of mind does not translate into their recent releases.
With just a few minutes to go, dusk begins and the first notes of the famous “1979,” taken from the excellent Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, are heard. This is when the crowd got loudest and the result was sublime. The euphoria provoked is yet another proof of the power of nostalgia. The Chicago band’s greatest hits will definitely never die, and neither will their influence on alternative rock.
Photo credit: Tim Snow
Denzel Curry, flawless, but not brilliant
If there’s one rapper who never stops reinventing himself with each release, it’s definitely American Denzel Curry. In mid-July, the Floridian released King Of The Mischievous South Vol. 2 , a mixtape overflowing with collaborations following a first volume released a dozen years ago. In this opus, he explores the dirty south, a subgenre from the Southern United States.
At 29 years old and with several high-quality projects under his belt, it is now fair to say that Denzel is one of the most important pawns in current rap. Brimming with energy on stage, the MC raps each of the rhymes of his songs with precision and finesse. The festival-goers received exactly what they get on his albums.
Throughout his performance, Curry multiplied the interactions with the crowd and displayed a fascinating ease.
The curtain-dropping set of his most popular tracks Ultimate and CLOUT COBAIN | CLOUT CO13A1N was met with a very loud reception from the crowd, which had been quite discreet since the beginning. It must be said that placing the rapper after the punk group Rancid and before the Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day was perhaps not the best idea…
Regardless, the proposal from the member of the famous Freshman class of 2016 was honest and well-balanced. However, his offering lacked that little something to not fall into oblivion.
Crédit photo: Tim Snow
Olivia Dean, a breath of fresh air in the middle of a heat wave
While exploring the lineup for the 2024 edition, Olivia Dean’s name really piqued my curiosity. As I looked through her slim, young discography, I discovered a soul singer inspired by the great ladies of this musical genre. The British singer cites Carole King, Amy Winehouse, The Supremes and Lauryn Hill as inspirations for her music.
Accompanied by a small orchestra, the 25-year-old artist is dressed in a very colorful dress and takes her place at the front of the stage. “If this is the first time you’ve seen me perform, I have one rule. You have to have a good time!” she says between her first two songs. It was largely material from Messy, her only album of her career, that the London native introduced to the crowd. She also took the opportunity to perform her most recent release entitled Time , a song in which she explores more rock avenues than usual, which suits her like a glove.
Olivia Dean exudes an aura that is not of our time. Jazz, R&B, soul, pop; everything is mobilized. Visibly captivated, the festival-goers scrutinized her actions and then responded vocally. The 45 minutes of performance passed in the blink of an eye and we would have liked it to never end.
Photo credit: Benoit Rousseau
New West, Toronto’s New Sensation
With the huge success of their title Those Eyes , the Canadian collective New West no longer needs an introduction. This year, the Torontonians had the task of opening the ball at 2 p.m.
Taking advantage of an impressive crowd for an early afternoon due to the imminent arrival of the star Chappell Roan, the band formed by Kala Wita, Noel West, Lee Vella and Ben Key will offer an inspired and colorful performance.
Winner of a Juno for “New Group of the Year” in 2024, New West offers a diverse sound that includes jazz, R&B and indie, among other things. On the festival’s main stage, Kala Wita gave it their all, moving from left to right, singing lying on the floor and offering moments on the piano. This performance allowed us to discover more about the personalities of the different members of the group.
Vocally, Wita is right and envelops us with tracks like “Stevie Nicks” or “Guessing Game.” The sample is thin, but the future seems promising for New West.
“The last time I was here, I said I was going to come back to Montreal and speak French. But I still don’t speak it. But I ordered my supper in French!” Brazilian singer Bïa Ferreira proudly shares in English, as she begins her second concert in Montreal. And just as she did the first time, she divided her concert into two parts, one dealing with love and the other with activism.
“If you leave here different from when you arrived, then I’ll have done my job,” she adds. And it’s off to a prayer-like start, as whistling, voice and guitar mingle to deliver a beautiful sonic cocktail. Indeed, she may be alone on stage with her guitar, but at times it feels like there are five of them.
She also serves us Xote, a Brazilian musical rhythm often danced in pairs. “When I wrote this song, I was very much in love. But I was the only one in love,” she reveals. With her powerful voice and distinctive timbre, she masters her relationship with the microphone, knowing when to step away from it and when to approach it. With my friend Juliana, who’s just as much of a music lover as I am, we thought her music was a mix of blues, jazz, soul and gospel, all with a Brazilian flavour. Her signature is the whistle, which recurs in several songs and which she masters very well, as well as the many other noises she makes with her mouth, in addition to beatboxing. In fact, on one of her tracks, she adds a bit of Lionel Richie’s Easy Like a Sunday morning, which is a surprise but an instant crowd-pleaser.
“The last time I was here was in February and it was very cold. So I thought I’d come back in the summer. And here I am!” to applause from the audience.
On the track Saudade, you sometimes get the impression of hearing cajón and sometimes piano, whereas she does it all with her guitar. She then finishes with a bossa nova rhythm, which adds depth to the track. “It’s hard to translate Saudade. It’s not ‘I miss you’! It’s something else, it’s a feeling that makes you sick!”
Bïa Ferreira is also an excellent storyteller. She takes the time to explain all the songs, but even during certain tracks, she tells us stories, sometimes with a very rapid but always theatrical vocal delivery. This is notably the case on Molho Madeira, which will feature on Ellen Oléria’s forthcoming album, mixing passages where she talks and raps, waltzing between gentleness and aggression, banging on her guitar which serves as percussion.
“Every church has a choir. So to end this first part, I’ll need your help on the raggamuffin-tinged Levante a bandeira do amor (Raise the flag of love).
The second part, more committed and political, kicks off with an a capella rendition of Seu Jorge’s Zé do Caroço, a classic of Brazilian music.
After a tribute to Leci Brandão, the queen of samba, she kicks off the second half with a rhythmic reggae track, with a bit of beatboxing, which sets the tone for what’s to come. She first pays tribute to women around the world in Não precisa ser Amélia, in which she screams at times, showing off her vocal cords in full action. The high point of the evening, in my opinion, came with the song Diga não (or Say no!), in which she denounced silence in the face of the genocide raging in Palestine. “By remaining silent, you are choosing a side. Your silence helps the oppressors! The audience takes its role as choir very seriously, especially on the song A conta vai chegar (or the bill will arrive), alluding to the debts linked to colonization.
She ended on a high note with Sharamanayas, the principle of keeping what’s good for you, and getting rid of what’s bad. One thing’s for sure, Bïa Ferreira’s concert was good for the people who came to see her, even if I would have expected a fuller house, as on her first visit. Having just come out of the Festival Nuits d’Afrique, this event may well have slipped under the radar of many a fan of her music.
En compagnie de solistes renommés et à la tête d’un effectif vocal et orchestral colossal, Rafael Payare dirigera un monument du répertoire postromantique : les Gurre-Lieder de Schoenberg. In the company of renowned soloists and at the head of a colossal vocal and orchestral ensemble, Rafael Payare conducts a monument of the post-Romantic repertoire: Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder. POUR ACHETER VOTRE BILLET, C’EST ICI!
Ce contenu provient de l’Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal et est adapté par PAN M 360
PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique 2024 | Final Evening With a Congolese and Colombian Flavour
by Jacob Langlois-Pelletier
Around 6pm on Sunday at the Festival international Nuits d’Afrique, it was the turn of Blaise LaBamba, a Congo-Kinshasa-born artist who has been based in Montreal since 1999, to take the big outdoor stage. From the outset, the 2022 Syli de Bronze winner’s intentions were clear: LaBamba would get the crowd dancing to infectious Congolese rumba, zouk and soukous.
On stage, the former member of General Defao’s Big Stars is accompanied by a host of musicians, dancers and backing singers. The Congolese singer’s various offerings are enhanced by guitar, drums, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion and numerous whistle blasts. The latter dictate the many swaying movements of the dancers on stage and people in the crowd.
The frenetic pace of the performance certainly charmed the impressive throng of festival-goers lining the TD – Radio-Canada stage. Clapping their hands on numerous occasions, the crowd showed their appreciation for the long instrumental flights of Blaise LaBamba and his band. It was hard to ask for a more festive offering to kick off this final evening of FINA 2024 activities.
Stephanie Osorio charms us with some cumbia
After having had a blast with Blaise LaBamba, fans on hand were treated to a gentler, more controlled offering from Stephanie Osorio, Colombian and Quebecer by adoption. Established in Canada in 2010, the singer-songwriter has been on the road for over a decade, and recently reaped the rewards of her efforts. In addition to being crowned “Female Artist of the Year” at the Latin Awards Canada in 2022 and 2023, Osorio has shone internationally thanks to her contribution to the theme song of the popular American series The White Lotus.
In March 2023, she released Fruta del Corazón, her first solo album at the confluence of cumbia, pop, folk and Afro-Latin. A large proportion of the tracks on this project were performed at her show.
Dressed in a long, colorful skirt, Osorio is confident on stage, maracas or guitar in hand. Like LaBamba, the singer is well surrounded; saxophone, bass, guitar, drums, various percussion instruments and flutes. A few minutes after her entrance, the Colombian compared her music to fruit. “There are a lot of different flavors and smells in what I do,” she explains.
Although she draws some of her inspiration from her Carthaginian roots, Osorio incorporates many contemporary elements into her music. Towards the end of her performance on the Loto-Québec stage, the singer offered a superb a cappella moment. The crowd fell silent in admiration, lulled to sleep by her hushed voice.
With no glitz or glamour, Stephanie Osorio took us to a place where it’s hotter than Montreal on this July evening.
PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique – Les Aunties, from Ndjamena to Montreal
by Sandra Gasana
Nine women, quite ordinary, in the image of other Chadian women, mothers, all dressed in orange skirts and black tops, sitting in a circle, each with her microphone and calabash.
In fact, they always massage their calabashes before tapping them. And despite heavy rain from the very first minutes of the concert and for a good part of it, the audience remained on hand, with their umbrellas or raincoats, for those who had planned ahead.
Depending on the song, one of them starts singing, while the other eight respond in unison. Sometimes, they walk in circles, with one singing and the others providing backing vocals. At other times, one of them sings, another starts dancing around her, and the others stay behind. In short, we had several configurations on stage, but all of them captivated the audience’s attention, fascinated to see these ladies of a certain age on stage.
Right next to the stage, I could see the great Chadian star Afrotronix, who had come to encourage his compatriots. It was only at the end of the show that we learned that he was behind the group. “It’s a movement that’s just beginning. We grew up seeing our mothers, and it was these women who made us what we are today,” he says, mentioning in passing that his mother is in the audience.
Les Aunties often talk about women and their right to education in several tracks that evening, as well as domestic violence. “Montreal woman, how are you doing ?” asks one, then replacing Montreal, with Kinshasa, Cameroon and Ndjamena. At this point, we hear applause from the crowd, and it soon becomes clear that Montreal’s Chadian community is represented.
At a certain point in the show, they all wear a traditional Chadian dress, over their original skirts, and continue to sing together, seated or standing, with or without calabash, in a circle or in a row. During a song, the title of which I don’t know, the music is quieter and they line up as if going to a mosque for prayer, before taking off their traditional dress and returning to their initial attire. Sometimes, one of them takes center stage, and all the women around her encircle her, addressing her sympathetically and obviously singing for her.
At some point during the concert, each of them takes the floor and addresses the audience in their native language. This is where Afrotronix takes on the role of translator, translating the words into French.
No way!” she says to the applause of the crowd. It’s clear that these women are not afraid of words, and that they speak from experience in their desire to break the silence. From that moment on, it was madness on stage: we witnessed dance performances by several members of the Chadian community who came to perform traditional dance steps, in the center of the circle formed by Les Aunties. The step they often performed consisted of moving shoulders and chest movements, rather like Ethiopia’s Eskesta. A percussionist also joined in, improvising on one of the tracks, while one of Les Aunties was at the turntables, headphones on and console in front of her. From time to time, Afrotronix came to adjust buttons on DJ Aunty’s console. In fact, the entire Chadian artistic community was on hand to contribute to the success of this original group on Saturday night. Moral of the story: there’s no age limit to following your dreams. If Les Aunties have done it, then anyone can.
PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique – Fredy Massamba Was Blessed with Some Rain
by Sandra Gasana
Rain is often associated with a blessing in many African cultures, and certainly in other parts of the world. As the concert was about to end on Saturday evening, the rain may have kept some festival-goers away, but many stayed till the end of Fredy Massamba’s first-ever concert in Montreal.
For the occasion, he was accompanied by the one he calls “master” Donald Dogbo on drums, Willie Bareto on keyboards, Christian Obam on bass, Charles William Mpondo on guitar, Hendry Massamba on backing vocals and percussion, and Floric Kim on backing vocals. The two backing singers had arrived three days ago from Brazzaville for the occasion. And what a great idea it was to include them in this show!
From the very first track, he plunges us into his world, with the drum, or Ngoma, at its center, a track featured on his most recent album Trancestral. “I have three albums to my credit: Ethnophony, Makasi and Trancestral,” he reminds the crowd. “I invite you to take a journey together between Brussels, Brazzaville, Kinshasa, Douala, Ndjamena and here in Montreal,” he adds.
He then takes a step back in time with Zonza, featured on his debut album Ethnophony , which is much more groovy and lends itself well to a festival performance.
You can tell that Fredy is particularly fond of the African continent. He talks about it in several songs, lists many of them and even wears a white shirt with maps of Africa on it. The choice of the two backing singers was a wise one, as they contribute enormously to the success of the band. They do a remarkable job on stage, and you can feel their complicity with Fredy, who seemed to appreciate their presence.
He mentions the women of Kivu, of Goma in the track Bidilu Bio, and denounces “this war that makes no sense”. The song starts gently, highlighting the artist’s soulful voice, and suddenly moves into reggae, making you want to move despite the sensitive subject matter. Increasingly at ease on stage, he in turn gives the backing singers (very well dressed) space to shine, having opportunities to take turns singing verses, all the while involving the audience.
“I was told I had to sing a love song. Where I come from, in Congo, we have Koffi Olomidé, Fally Ipupa, Lokua Kanza. There’s no shortage of love songs,” he tells a smiling audience, before performing Makwela. We discover his rapping talents on the track Nkembo, but the most touching moment is when he suggests inviting Papa Wemba (Paix à son âme) on stage.
He “goes and looks for him” backstage and gives us the impression that he’s with the great artist who left us a few years ago. His imitation is remarkable, and moves festival-goers who knew the great Congolese star. Fredy tells us that he always wanted to do a featuring with Papa Wemba, but never got the chance. Hence the symbolic gesture.
And it was after this emotional moment that the rain came down on the Radio-Canada stage (Coincidence? I don’t think so). First the backing singers and Fredy entered together on the song Zua Idée, before being followed by all the musicians. “Even in the rain you’re here!” he says gratefully. You can see the professionalism of the musicians when a situation like this happens. The band carried on as if nothing had happened, Fredy singing with the same ardor. The rain didn’t discourage the audience; on the contrary, they were impatiently waiting for it to stop so they could get back to dancing. And that’s exactly what they do for the last song of the show, Ntoto, during which he takes out his famous bottle on which he has fun blowing, and which we had mentioned in our interview a few days earlier (PAN M 360 at Nuits d’Afrique | Fredy Massamba, a Congolese (from Montreal) on 3 Continents – PAN M 360). And so ends Fredy Massamba’s very first show, blessed by a summer rain shower.
“Thanks to Nuits d’Afrique, my dad Touré, my friends, my family, RFI, Hangaa Music, Vanessa Kanga, and you, watching me in the rain.”
Publicité panam
Subscribe to our newsletter
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
