35th Francos of Montreal | Apple, Karkwa and Corneille to the Francos

The 35th anniversary of the Francos will be celebrated from June 14 to 22 in the company of local and international artists from all musical backgrounds, including Pomme, Les Sœurs Boulay, Philippe Brach, Karkwa, Souldia and Eddy de Pretto. Overview of the programming revealed Tuesday.

The big names

The Francos have relied on several renowned artists to liven up the streets and halls of Montreal in mid-June. The largest outdoor stage, where free shows will be held, will host performances by the Frenchwoman adored by Quebecers Pomme, the Quebec rapper Souldia, the folk-bluegrass group Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project, the lively Philippe Brach , the newly reformed group Karkwa (a return after 12 years on a Francos stage) and, at the end, a celebration of R & B led by Corneille. A range of artists will join the latter to make the Quartier des spectacles the hottest place to dance in Montreal on Saturday, June 22, including Les Louanges, Barnev, Zaho, Rau_Ze, Yellowstraps, Naomi, Naïma Frank, Shah Frank and Vacra. French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel, whose link with Quebec defies the years, will be at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, just like Eddy de Pretto, another public favorite, a few days later.

The local scene

The local scene will have pride of place during these Francos. Marie-Anick Lépine will open the festivities outside the Francos by presenting her third solo album Between Beaurivage and L’Ange-Gardien. The Boulay Sisters will open the Pomme show, Imposs will take the stage before Souldia, Miel de Montagne will open for Karkwa and Dee End will warm up the Quartier des spectacles before the R & B concert. Pierre Kwenders, Guylaine Tanguay and Gab Bouchard will perform during the week of festivities on one of the outdoor stages. Further on the festival site, still for free concerts, music lovers will be able to find VioleTT Pi, Population II, Lydia Képinski, while another stage will be dedicated to the hip-hop universe, with Raccoon, Ye* , KNLO, K! ra Oji and Statzz. In the theater, at MTELUS, Galaxie will be performing, as will The King, The Rose and the Lou[p] for one of their last shows together. Félix Dyotte, Fanny Bloom, Maten, Cédrik St-Onge and King Melrose will give free shows on the Loto-Québec stage.

The Francos of France

The link that unites Quebec and France in music allows for some great catches for the Francos, who will welcome, in addition to Pomme, Francis Cabrel or Eddy de Pretto, the much appreciated Zaho de Sagazan (who is all the rage on the other side of l’Atlantique), rapper Josman (two nights in a row at MTELUS), Albin de la Simone (also two nights in a row, at the Cinquième salle) and rising hip-hop stars Sean and Jäde, both in concert outside. Marseille rapper SCH, immensely popular with the French, will have the Bell Center all to himself on Saturday, June 15. Also arriving from the scene outside Quebec will be the Belgian Témé Tan, the Ontarian Jill Barber, the Franco-Mexican duo Los Eclipses and the Algerian Zaho, among others.

Some discoveries

The Francos are a fertile ground for discoveries while a beautiful place is dedicated to emerging French-speaking artists from the local and international scenes. Thus, the acoustic series at the Pub Brasseur in Montreal will host free shows by Jeanne Côté, big winner of last year’s Francouvertes, the Radio-Canada 2024 revelations and Sandra Contour and Blondes Naturelles, winners of the Ma Première Place des Arts competition. In addition to participating in the evening dedicated to R&B, the duo Rau_Ze will give a free show outside. On the same stage, festival-goers will find Malaimer Soleil, Marco Ema, Grand Eugène and Étienne Dufresne, all from the emerging scene here.

Visit the Francos de Montréal website