With two weeks to go before Christmas, Stromae fans in the Quebec City area were finally able to unwrap the gift they’ve been waiting for a decade at the Videotron Center last night: a dazzling performance from the Belgian pop prince.
• Also read: Iridescent stromae
• Also read: In Quebec for 5 shows: Here are 7 things to know about stromae
Incredible as it may seem, the most French of American cities has never seen in the flesh the most colorful music star of the Francophonie of the past decade.
His name had been linked to the Festival d’été de Québec in 2015, but the rumor hadn’t materialized.
Twelve years after his birth to the sound of the bombshell “So we dance,” the people of Quebec were therefore more than due to celebrate with Stromae.
“We are very pleased to be here for the first time,” emphasized even the 37-year-old Belgian Paul Van Haver, as his real name is, a gifted master of ceremonies, who willingly presented himself horizontally behind him accompanied by four musicians.
brilliant
The patience paid off. The show on the Multitude tour, named after his spring-released album ending a six-year hiatus related to mental health issues, is a success on all levels. A pop gem crafted with taste and intelligence.
Thanks to a sophisticated staging in which the animation sequences on a huge screen with his avatar and the play of lights become one with the music, Stromae lets us feel the ups and downs of a life that is not always so nice.
Each song has its own visual signature. While the star performs fils de joie behind a lectern, an army of stromae dances on screen in a magnificent animated ballet.
Later, Stromae finds himself in the middle of a skylight singing “When is it?” while panels float around and above him on stage. Depressing atmosphere, great painting.
Next comes Bad Day, the last bit of a title block that referred to his dark time when we find Stromae slumped in a chair, imploring, “Help me, I feel so alone.
Bright
happiness
But after the rain comes the good weather. The Good News performance got us back on the path to happiness, and what a treat it was afterwards.
Papaoutai and Ta fête, in turn, fueled the crowd at the Videotron Centre, just waiting to shake their hips and sing these songs that have become classics of their repertoire.
Formidable lived up to his title and the lively performance of L’enfer, one of the many tracks from Multitude on the programme, earned him a standing ovation.
Apparently pleased with the response from Quebecers, Stromae had another reason to smile when his wife and child joined him at the end of his North American tour. “She gave me the wonderful gift of coming here,” he said.
Let’s hope that Stromae, who then made the whole building dance wildly during the encore with the unstoppable melody of So we dance, will give us the gift of not having to wait so long to come back.
One thing’s for sure, he’s found he has rabid admirers among us. “What a welcome! You’re screaming really loud,” he said after another long ovation in farewell.
Sho Madjozi: energetic
We must take a few lines to appreciate the energetic, and the word is weak, performance by South African rapper Sho Madjozi and his two acrobatic dancers at the start of the evening.
The 30-year-old, who is among the most prominent young artists on the African continent, combines gqom, a powerful style of electronic music born in her country in the early 2010s, and afrobeat.
The result is spectacular and highly entertaining. Talented, colorful and charismatic, Madjozi received hearty applause at the end of her performance. It was fully deserved.
“In a previous version of this review, we incorrectly stated that Sho Madjozi was 20 years old. We apologize !”