The lights hadn’t even quite come back in the room, on the last note of rapper and singer Zach Zoya’s opening performance, which the crowd was already chanting “Charlotte!” Charlotte! Charlotte! Thirty minutes later, she finally showed up, after having had to postpone her return to Montreal last January until last night due to the arrival of a new variant, we have already forgotten which one.
The two thousand or so fans gathered last night will not forget their evening spent with the young pop sensation, in quasi-residence at the MTelus for another twelve evenings which were already sold out. The triumph they gave him, in this room which still belongs to him until Monday! And after a jump in Ontario and four concerts at the Impérial in Quebec (from May 18 to 21), she will return there, from May 27 to 29, then from June 20 to 26.
Do the math: thirteen concerts, more than 26,000 Montreal spectators applauding the one who, last October, played at Parc Jean-Drapeau in front of a few thousand spectators at the Osheaga off-season. Cardin could have afforded a Bell Center (it will come one day, it will have to), but yesterday she preferred a more “intimate” room, she explained before offering us the sweets good girl and Sun Goes Down (Buddy)the latter simply performed with an acoustic guitar.
The crowd was therefore pumped up when Charlotte Cardin showed up on stage with her two accompanists (Benjamin Courcy on drums, Mathieu Sénéchal on bass, keyboards and sequencer), shouting out loud from the first notes. of his success Passive Aggressive. A strong entry into the subject, followed immediately by Daddyits sustained and linear rhythm making the floor swarm.
The public still wanted to dance, but the repertoire of the singer-songwriter was not able to satisfy them. Observation: there are many ballads in Charlotte Cardin’s repertoire. The trip-hop groove of sad girlthe darkest Oceanpresented on a sea background projected on the LED screen in the background (very elegant), the most pop XOXOthe tragic duo with his doctored voice (with a dove as a background, that one) entitled Scoprio Seasonshe worked to put on precious songs which, in the long run, made us impatient to let off steam a little.
Charlotte’s stage presence compensates for this repertoire lacking in tone. In voice last night, the musician sings with charisma, sometimes a guitar around her neck or behind her electric piano, undulates more than she dances, but each of her gestures is embodied, like a feather in the wind floating on the long bass notes .
After its French-speaking success I leave (another ballad!), Zach Zoya joined her on stage to sing along Dirty-Dirtytaken from his EP girl hand (2017), before returning to a more party-friendly sound, Sex To Me, on a vaguely Latin rhythm. The end of the concert was a little more raised, with the title song of his first album Phoenix released last year, his house reinterpretation (orchestrated by the composer CRi) of Daniel Bélanger’s classic Crazy anywhere and finally Meaningless, with its heady electric guitar motif slipping under the fingers. Two songs on the encore (Hand Girl, Faufile), and the trick was done in nearly 80 minutes.
Evening without surprises, but presented with heart to a delighted audience, goes without saying. He is predicted to have the same success for his next twelve concerts.