It was Lana Del Rey’s night on Saturday at the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ). The one that many people were waiting for. The Californian was fantastic.
About 20 minutes late (to give the audience the right level of anticipation), Lana Del Rey came on stage with a wispy introduction that led to a shortened version of the superb A&Wtaken from his most recent – and magnificent – album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard.
Young and Beautiful followed, the songs (and cries) of the festival-goers accompanying the sweet voice of the American.
Dressed in a majestic white dress adorned with pearls and flowers, true to her aesthetic, the singer made sure that her huge train became a scenic element, floating behind her to the back of the stage. The whole staging of the show was fantastic, evolving. For Bartendershe settled in front of a vanity, while her dancers undid her bun to let her hair fall on her shoulders.
Throughout the performance, by means of props and with the help of her four dancers, she maintained a theatricality that breathed new and captivating life into her soulful songs.
Lana Del Rey, vocally, was always on point, always on point. On The Grantsshe and her singers allowed us to soar to the sound of their harmonies.
Then came Cherry, Pretty When You Cry (which she sang lying down on stage), then Wrinkled. Del Rey drew on all of his repertoire for this show, which took us back to the days of Born To Diefrom his self-titled album, and Lust for Lifebut also made it possible to see his most recent pieces on stage.
A magic moment
By presenting shortened versions of certain songs (like Born To Die, right after), the singer-songwriter put on a generous show where a lot of ground was covered. Super fans right in front of us, completely ecstatic every time a song started, showed the feeling in the crowd perfectly. At the time ofArcadiawhen tens of thousands of “stars” lit up on the Plains (thanks to the festival-goers’ cellphones), the singer seemed moved and then thanked her audience for this magical moment.
The moment shared with Lana Del Rey quickly flew away. An hour and a half seemed like only half an hour. After Ultraviolence, White Mustang, candy necklace (for which she rode the grand piano on stage) and Venice Bitchwe were already in the last segment of the evening.
Just before White Mustang, she went down to the floor to talk to her fans, hug them, take selfies and collect some gifts for a long time. But before reaching the crowd… she fell to the ground. “It wouldn’t be a show if I didn’t fall,” she said, full of self-mockery, her knee stained with mud and blood after her fall.
The evening ended well after 11 p.m., with Venice Bitch, Diet Mountain Dewthe very popular Summertime Sadness, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard and, finally, the ultrapopular Video Games.
“It’s probably the biggest show we’ve played in a year,” said Lana Del Rey to the many tens of thousands of people in front of her, touched and impressed, at the very end of her concert, before going up on a swing for the last song of the evening, Video Games. “Thank you for having me at home during the days. »
It was a hovering and beautiful moment. Thanks to Lana Del Rey.
Allan Rayman and The War on Drugs
The Canadian Allan Rayman, from 7 p.m., was impeccable. This fanatic with an energy as mysterious as it is captivating took advantage of the three quarters of an hour allotted to him to string together his catchy groove songs, with sometimes explosive, often dark and languorous rhythms.
PHOTO CAROLINE GRÉGOIRE, THE SUN
Allan Rayman
“I’m not the most eloquent, I’m the best singer,” the introverted singer told the crowd who chanted his name, clearly charmed by his pretty hoarse voice, his charisma and his presence as quirky as it was endearing. .
If he didn’t speak much to his audience, Allan Rayman gave his all on stage (without being very demonstrative, he clearly expresses his pleasure to share this moment). A first part of high caliber.
The War on Drugs didn’t fail either.
It only took him one song (Oceans of Darkness) to remind us why this group never disappoints us. Surrounded by his acolytes, a t-shirt tie dye purple on the back, sunglasses on the nose, the leader Adam Granduciel kept alive the hovering atmosphere that Allan Rayman had installed (and that Lana Del Rey then continued).
PHOTO CAROLINE GRÉGOIRE, THE SUN
Singer Adam Granduciel, of The War on Drugs
On tour since the release of his album I Don’t Live Here Anymore in 2021, the American team stopped in Montreal on Friday and immediately went to Quebec City afterwards for the evening of Saturday.
A performance by The War on Drugs was ideal to precede that of Lana Del Rey. No, the two styles of music have nothing to do, but the band from Philadelphia excelled, helping to make this evening memorable.
Solid on the instrumental side, the experienced group gave the kind of performance that testifies to a well-stocked repertoire and an ease on stage that only years can give. A simple production allowed to keep all the attention on his alternative music which sometimes flirts gently with pop.
The FEQ, this year, has to deal with various postponements and cancellations, for all sorts of reasons. Fortunately, none of the artists of the Saturday evening had to withdraw. Unfortunately, this will be the case on Sunday, since Patrice Michaud had to cancel his presence for health reasons.
Accommodation costs were paid by the Festival d’été de Québec, which had no say in the content of this report.