Louis-Jean Cormier gave free access to these “Secret Passages”, title of his new solo exhibition, on Friday night at the Outremont theater, which seemed transformed into a musical temple as the communion between the artist and the spectators was infused with respect, listening and openness.
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Opening with “L’au-là”, the singer invites us to go beyond our limits and live this evening as we hear it. “Outremont, know you have the right to do what you want tonight,” he declared. You may come home feeling like you’ve only heard one song, it’s a bit of the initial idea. It might also make you feel the dread of a classical concert knowing when to clap. Tonight you do what you want, when you want.
Center stage, with his microphone and guitar, Louis-Jean Cormier continued with “Bull’s Eye” punctuated by a sip of water (“If there are no rules for you, there has none for me too,” he joked ) before resuming The Wind Calls Me By My First Name, which he wrote with Michel Rivard for Marie-Pierre Arthur.
MARIO BEAUREGARD/QMI AGENCY
‘La 138’ and ‘Even the Wolves Shed Tears of Joy’ go together perfectly as we forget that Louis-Jean Cormier is alone on stage, his sonorous kick allowing him to beat the beat, brilliantly staged lighting by Mathieu Roy.
Voluntarily reduced, this show leaves plenty of room for songs, profound lyrics and moving melodies that touch our hearts and allow us to experience all kinds of comforting, calming and soothing inner journeys.
“Head first” answers “Escape from Fate” before “St-Michel” comes on, followed by “Everything falls in its place” for which the audience takes the chorus and the rhythmic “Je me moi” that does very well works well in this acoustic formula.
We visit well-known countries that look different but remain songs that we have heard and loved many times.
Whether he draws from his oldest repertoire such as ‘Traverser les travaux’ or from the more recent songs ‘100 Meter Hürden’, they are surprisingly all part of a coherent and complementary whole, the work of a great singer-songwriter.
Special mention deserves the completely nude version of “Croire en rien”, which gives the song an even more dramatic dimension.
Like an evening with friends, Louis-Jean Cormier invites us to a benevolent vigil, lulled by his deep songs, sometimes harsh and often dark, where everyone is free to let go, applaud or react as they please.
Simple, natural, fraternal, Louis-Jean Cormier conquers our hearts and our souls by letting us enter his own.
The “Les passages secrets 2” tour will travel through Quebec and Europe until next summer.