(Brussels) Fifteen short minutes. This is the time it took for the tickets for the new concert of Stromae to fly away at Palais 12, in Brussels. This flash sale is hardly surprising. This is the first time in seven years that the Belgian singer goes on stage to defend his songs.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
We won’t tell you the story of his prolonged absence. the burn out. The Depression. Suicidal thoughts. Fatherhood… Just know that Stromae is back with a new album titled Multitude (out March 4) and that he starts to give concerts again.
Tuesday’s did not disappoint the tens of thousands of fans who had, for the most part, purchased tickets well before Christmas. In this short performance, presented as a “preview” of the upcoming tour (in Montreal on November 25 and 26), Stromae has once again won over with its bittersweet songs, its stylized universe and its abundant imagination.
We knew it was modern; this time it falls squarely into futurism.
On a dozen LED screens, which sometimes form a single one, giant animated films propel us into an entirely virtual world, where the singer is embodied by an avatar who constantly interacts with arms robotized.
This replica will come back several times during the show, like a digital echo to the Stromae of flesh and bone which struggles in a very small way before our eyes. The organic and the technological dialogue, hold hands, sometimes dance together in a kind of visual feast that tends towards augmented reality.
On stage, we are in the same spirit. Four musicians accompany the star with keyboards that look like science fiction consoles. If we can see some acoustic instruments for the song Health at the end of the concert, we are essentially in the electronics and the samplings. The icing on the cake: Stromae even invites a robot dog to bring him his costume live. Superfluous gadget as far as we are concerned.
A little bit of everything
In terms of songs, there is new and old. Stromae pleases its audience with the successes that have made it known on the world pop planet: Papaoutai, Formidable, So we dance… Immediate response from the spectators, who start jumping or capturing the scene with their phone. On the other hand, the energy falls with When it is ?a dark song about cancer, which temporarily breaks the rhythm.
The reception is also very enthusiastic towards the new songs, which the public seems to have already adopted, even if most of them have never been released. Huge applause for Unbeaten, sons of joy, Have a nice daye and Bad daywhich will soon be found on Multitude. Then, explosion of joy for Health and hell, the first two extracts from the album launched only a few months ago. These songs, though not jojo, go straight to the heart because of their subject matter. The first is aimed at workers in the shadows, and the second is openly about suicide…
Amazing to see how much Stromae encourages celebration and communion, despite the darkness of his songs. The smiles were engraved on the faces of the spectators, who, for the moment, did not wear a mask for the most part.
For many, this concert was not only that of the reunion with the singer, but also that of the first official release after two years of COVID-19. A kind of liberation.
Coming out of Palais 12, the comments were bound to be positive. ” It’s been a long time. I think everyone was happy to see him again. It was a privilege to hear songs that haven’t been released yet,” Ayco Duster told us after the show.
“Me, I find that the emotions are more honest on the new songs, added his girlfriend Leni Sonck. We really listen to them. And visually, it was just perfect. »
It should be noted that the public was very varied: young people, less young people, couples, families with children, French speakers, Dutch speakers. Stromae has the talent to unite, a real tour de force in a country as divided as Belgium.
His songs, carrying universal themes and rather festive music, probably explain his unifying side and his international influence. This suggests that his new album, as rich and deep as the previous ones, could experience the same success.
The singer will perform at the Coachella festival in April, then begin his North American tour in the fall. Tickets for the Montreal concert went on sale Tuesday.