Five months after the shock of death of the songwriter-interpreter Karim Ouellet, the Francos are dedicating their edition to him this year and are organizing a vigil in his memory. baptized Bye bye bye Karim. The vigil of friends, this great concert presented on June 12 will bring together on the same stage his talented relatives, because he did not know how to create otherwise, underlines his sister, Sarahmée: “With him, the important thing was to always surround himself with his friends. His band, they were all friends. When he collaborated with other musicians, they were friends. That’s what we wanted to recreate on stage, its gang of friends. »
“We had a small gathering at my house after the funeral,” says singer-songwriter ClaudeBégin. The business is still there, in the back of the room, ”he adds as if to imply that his friend and musical accomplice of almost two decades is still a little there, close to him, even if he had already disappeared. of his daily life before his death, announced on January 18.
“Everyone mourns in their own way: me, at the beginning, I had it hard, confides Bégin. I no longer live in mourning today — Karim, I had already lost contact with him… But he came to see me in my dreams. Often. We made peace, we made music in my dreams. [Le rappeur et membre d’Alaclair Ensemble] Eman told me the same thing. It’s so real, it’s like he’s still in our lives. I really feel like he’s still here, and he’ll be there at the show. »
Bye bye bye Karim. The vigil of friends will be held on the main stage of the Place des Festivals. There will be gathered relatives, starting with his sister, Sarahmée, the guys from Alaclair Ensemble, the musicians of his orchestra, conducted by Olivier Beaulieu, as well as collaborators and admirers, Klô Pelgag, Hubert Lenoir, Valaire, La Bronze , Ariane Moffatt, and many others. Only King Abid, percussionist in Karim’s orchestra, will be missing, his right arm, who will give a concert in Africa, one of the few, with the chorister (and Claude’s sister) Élise Bégin, who have managed to keep in touch with Karim when he cut ties with all the others.
Unforgettable
“I continue to this day to receive messages from people who tell me of what it has changed in their lives, assures Sarahmée. People of all ages, of all genders: “your brother saved my life”, “I was in a relationship, I was unhappy, he helped me out”. Karim marked those who crossed his path. He was a very sensitive guy who in his songs spoke of love and disappointments. We’re gonna sing it all. In his vulnerability as in his strength, we want to pay homage to him. This show will really be, for me and my family, the moment to celebrate the legacy he left us, and the moment to heal ourselves a little with the people who knew him and who love him. »
The musician claims to have had “very early” after the small gathering at Claude Bégin’s the idea of an event in memory of her brother. She approached the management of the Francos last February. “When Sarahmée offered us this opportunity, we jumped on it without hesitation,” says Laurent Saulnier, senior vice-president of cultural events and festival programming at Spectra.
“The important thing in all of this was to have his approval; we especially did not want to propose this kind of project without the consent of the family. This is also why the show is called Bye bye bye Karim. The vigil of friends : the spirit of show, it’s really that of a vigil, since the pandemic has prevented such a gathering where we could have told stories, sung, simply been together to celebrate Karim. The Francos organization even dedicated the 2022 edition to the late musician, who left memorable songs and an indelible mark on the history of Quebec pop.
The brand
“He arrived with a new sound,” explains Claude Bégin. With his first album, Feather (2011), Karim Ouellet passed the pop song through the filter of rap, soul and reggae with hitherto unheard-of accuracy, already anticipating the transformation from hip-hop to pop that we see today. “He also had a vocal personality, lyrics filled with images, his own way of telling his stories like fables, mixing lots of musical styles, always very soulful, says Bégin. He marked the sound of Quebec music. »
He introduced a new sound and a way of doing things that was uniquely his own. He is one of the artists who made the least compromises in his approach and his artistic choices. Then, there is his fragility like his strength, his gentleness, his great humility.
Sarahmée approves: “He introduced a new sound and a way of doing things, modeled on no one else. He is, in my opinion, one of the artists who made the least compromises in his approach and his artistic choices. Then, there is his fragility like his strength, his gentleness, his great humility. Listening again, even his most danceable songs knew how to take us by the guts, ”she says, adding that her favorite song by Karim remains The mistsfrom the album fox (2013).
We guess that it will be on the program of the concert bye bye byewith his others, love, Unrealizable, Mary Jo, The monster, Karim and the wolf. We will even be entitled to a new song, since Karim Ouellet was already well advanced in the design of his next album.
Sarahmée entrusted her friend Ines Talbi with the staging of the show: “Do you see, after a funeral, that moment when everyone gets together to remember and tell anecdotes? There is something very liberating in these moments, she says, drawing a comparison with the June 12 event. We will let his music speak and live the moment. I think it will be a show where people are going to want to cry sometimes, then scream and dance right after, and I don’t want to favor one emotion more than the other. It doesn’t matter to make a show where we would like to collect ourselves in silence, it’s beautiful to live that everyone together. What is beautiful is that we will feel that there is only love in this affair. »
And a bit of healing, without feeling like therapy. Karim’s death occurred, recalls Sarahmée, “at a time when life had not returned to normal with regard to the pandemic. We were able to see each other with friends, but not a lot, and we especially couldn’t take the time to commune together and celebrate it. It happened so suddenly,” she adds, referring to the still-present pain. “It will be a very emotional evening, but it will do us good. »