Robert Charlebois closed Saturday evening the 34are Francos with his large-scale show Robert en CharleboisScope. At almost 79 years old, in shape and in voice, the singer has breathed his legendary swing into the Place des Festivals.
One would have thought that the rain of the day and the very cold weather would dampen the ardor of the festival-goers. However, by 8:30 p.m., there were hundreds of people massed in front of the main stage – a diverse crowd made up of many families, young adults with their parents, boomer friends, groups of thirty-somethings and couples of forty-somethings, at the rendezvous. you despite the weather.
The umbrellas thankfully closed around 9 p.m. when “Garou” took the stage, and the fairly dense crowd – but which could have been denser without the bad weather, for sure – was able to enjoy his trip dry. in the singer’s timeless repertoire.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
“We’re not made of chocolate!” “, launched the singer to the crowd at the start of the evening.
Created four years ago, Robert en CharleboisScope has been presented mainly in large halls since 2019. It is therefore quite a gift that the Francos offered the public on Saturday evening, especially since it was identical, with neat projections on a giant screen, made of archival footage, psychedelic drawings and colorful animations.
Above all, the coating was the same: the lively arrangements of Daniel Lacoste and the group of 10 musicians – a brass trio, two drummers, two guitarists, a bassist, a violinist, a keyboardist – to give depth to this music that we know by heart.
Dressed all in white, Robert Charlebois was generous with his immortal songs. After opening with the most recent The lack of self-confidence – an old text by Réjean Ducharme that he set to music a few years ago – the successes, or rather the classics, followed one another without respite.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
At almost 79 years old, Charlebois is not lacking in swing.
From the beginning of the second song, Dolores, we actually knew that Charlebois was going to give us a real lesson in rock, blues and charisma, the swinging leg, the carrying voice and the crooked smile. Followed The wings of an angel, Between two seals, All torn apart – that he sings again and again, all torn apart, as he should –, My country, Fu Man Chu : such a surge can only engender boundless admiration and guiltless pleasure, even if it has been heard a million times.
The highlight of the evening was certainly the arrival on stage of her friend of 60 years, Louise Forestier. The 80-year-old singer brought her powerful voice and magnetic presence to California and of course, Lindbergand everyone was a little pinched to have been able to live this unique moment in the company of the legendary duo.
After the ever stirring Ordinary – we pinched ourselves again, we admit it –, Robert Charlebois launched I love you like crazy on drums, and had the thousands of people gathered before him raise their hands in the air.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Charlebois gave a real rock lesson.
Then his friend Louise came back to join him to The end of the worldand, as an encore, the show raced to the end with I will come back to Montrealintoned movingly by tens of thousands of voices, then with the electric Here you are.
On the giant screens, while waiting for the encore, it was frankly beautiful to see people of all generations show their love for a singer who has accompanied them all their lives. This very rare thing even happened after he left the stage: the public stayed on the spot to watch the credits that were scrolling, with a video of a young “Garou” singing Ordinary, and we applaud at the end. Sincerely touching.
Robert Charlebois barely intervened during the evening, making a few jokes here and there, but he took the time to thank the music gods for stopping the rain just in time. We thank them too, but people who stayed home because of bad weather are probably going to bite their fingers for a long time.