Quebec Summer Festival | Half Moon Run and the Plains, a wonderful encounter

The Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) ended Sunday with a show by Half Moon Run and its guests (Les Sœurs Boulay and Daniel Bélanger) on the Plains of Abraham, following another day filled with music.

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

Montreal’s Half Moon Run may be favorites of the Quebec public, but they don’t take an occasion like the closing concert of the FEQ on the Plains of Abraham for granted. Because they know all that this moment represents, they put together for months a show expressly for this special evening.

The fabulous musical story that the group told us on Saturday evening began with the play Judgmenttaken from the band’s very first album, Dark Eyes.

The fantastic Esca quartet, which often accompanies him on stage, then moved in to I Can’t Figure Out and most of those that followed. Three other strings have been added, for more volume, more impact. All his albums have filled the set list of the group, while he continued with Unofferable, Narrow Margins, Flesh and Blood or the popular Call Me in The Afternoon.

High caliber production

Half Moon Run rolled out the big guns on Sunday. Unlike Rage Against the Machine the day before, which offers a touring show that is perfectly exported to the Plains of Abraham stage, Half Moon Run had to “build a complete show for this unique evening”, explained the leader of training, Devon Portielje, earlier today. About 40 people worked on this concert, he said.

Among all these people, the director, composer and musician Pilou, who here played the role of artistic director. Half Moon Run creates an intimate atmosphere when on stage. At the MTelus or L’Olympia, we are absorbed in this comfortable bubble that the group installs. On the largest stage in North America, it took creativity to make even those hundreds of feet away feel included in that bubble. One of the solutions: “a lot of very close cameras which give a more intimate effect”, Devon explained to us. A very organic visual vocabulary, too. “Pilou wanted people to have the feeling of being on the mush, if they are not already! “Mission accomplished: it was beautiful to see and we really had the impression of flying.

The talent of the Boulay Sisters

Vocally, on the instrumental side, but also in the energy brought to this huge stage, Half Moon Run was up to it. He filled the space, made this scene his own.

For one of the “biggest shows of [leurs] vies”, which was originally supposed to take place in 2020, Montrealers had started to prepare in 2019. The pandemic caused what we know in the music world and it all had to be put on hold.

“We know that Quebec is good to us, added Devon. We were adopted by the people of Quebec. This last sentence was spoken in French — the singer is improving in the language of Molière. Moreover, on Sunday, he had the opportunity to put it into practice, in front of tens of thousands of people.

The first guests of Half Moon Run, Les Sœurs Boulay, arrived after a poignant interpretation of need-it.

For the chapter including them, the singer-songwriters sang their superb ballad us after us, accompanied by the boys from Half Moon Run. The vocal harmonies are one of the common points between the proposals of the two formations. When the voices of Mélanie and Stéphanie Boulay meet those of Devon, Conner and Dylan (enhanced by the strings of the Esca quartet), something magical happens.

It continued with Sun Leads Me We, from Half Moon Run, for which the five artists gathered around the same microphone. Raw talent in action. Chills guaranteed.

Rare fact for Half Moon Run, this collaboration on stage with other artists.

The guys from Half Moon Run requested this collaboration from the Boulay Sisters about two months ago, they told us before the show. “It’s a chance that we wouldn’t have access to as we, noted Stéphanie. We haven’t made it there, so I think it’s cool to be able to do it through intermediaries. It makes me dream. »

“I even wondered if they knew our songs for real, launched Mélanie. One day, they sent us a little voice memo to let us know that they had already started practicing our song! We saw that they really put their hearts into it and that it worked. »

“Need” of the scene

The illustrious Daniel Bélanger arrived at the end of the show to The two springs. A wonderful encounter, as unexpected as it is brief and effective. The show concluded with the recent Grow Into Loveonce again in intimate mode, while all the performers joined forces: Half Moon Run, Les Sœurs Boulay, Daniel Bélancer and the Esca quartet.

Half Moon Run has been on the road for a few weeks now. After a final show in Sherbrooke, the trio will take a break to continue working on their next album, which Devon is announcing in 2023, ideally. After the pandemic, those who are known to be real performers have been able to reconnect with this part of their art that makes them vibrate. “The first comeback show [en 2021] after 550 days without having played, it has been a memorable life experience. I really think I need all of this [la scène]. Memorable experience also on the side of the public, it was obvious.

The curtains closed on Sunday on this edition of the FEQ after two weeks of celebration in the company of guests as varied as they are prestigious, as passionate as they are good to discover. This last evening, especially thanks to Half Moon Run (and its guests), was the ideal conclusion.

walk the moon

The American group Walk the Moon, led by Nicholas Petricca (with such a pretty voice), offered their danceable pop to the festival-goers gathered for the final show (Half Moon Run) in front of the main stage. In the early evening sun, when performing some of their hits, the trio probably surprised many festival-goers, realizing they knew the song. Walk the Moon is this popular group without really being it, well liked without being adored by very many people. This did not prevent him from giving his all on stage, in front of the increasingly crowded Plains. Between the unifying arena anthems and the songs to dance without restraint, the group knew how to warm up the crowd before Half Moon Run.

Sarahmee

Sarahmée “enjailed” the Parc de la Francophonie at the end of the afternoon. The hot sun that hit all day was just beginning to set when the rapper and singer, sometimes accompanied by her two dancers, raised the temperature. In a matching set tie dye, hair dyed blond, Sarahmée took the stage with formidable energy. Helped by Eman in the middle of the show to Diamonds (the two artists from Quebec collaborated on the latest album by the rapper from Alaclair Ensemble), Sarahmée otherwise offered a pleasant moment on her own. Six months after the death of her brother Karim Ouellet, she asked for a short and touching moment of silence before relaunching the machine with a vengeance. “Queen Sarahmée”, launched Eman when he was on stage. We agree.

Fredz

The young Fredz is building his experience on stage. The FEQ was his “first big festival”, it was our favorite of the evening. In interview with The Press a few months ago, while his second album Astronaut was going to come out, the 20-year-old Montrealer said he learned the hard way how to put on a good show. An observation by seeing him on the stage of the Parc de la Francophonie at the FEQ: he is on the right track. Fredz is a seed of star. His songs are well written and produced, he presents them convincingly in concert (accompanied by a drummer and a keyboardist-guitarist), his presence is catchy. After each song, her reaction is touching. He smiles as if he couldn’t believe how lucky he is, he is visibly grateful. “Thank you for coming, it’s a dream. »