Review of the Three Accords at MTELUS | Lots of fun for the whole family

The other day in Tokyo, the weather was better than the average anywhere else. And on Saturday night at the MTELUS, it was warmer than anywhere in Quebec thanks to Les Trois Accords, who kicked off the tour of their seventh album in front of a crowd made up of happy representatives of all ages, Presence of mind.

Touching moment. At the top of the stairs leading to the MTELUS restrooms, facing the small wall separating the women’s restrooms on the left from the men’s restrooms on the right, a father gently but firmly holds the shoulders of his 7 or 8-year-old daughter, of which it is undoubtedly one of the first shows in life.

According to the snippets of conversation that we pick up in passing, the man reminded his offspring of instructions through which they had already had to go through several times: when she left the toilet, the little one had to wait for her father to return, and especially not to venture alone in the very dense crowd. Promise, darling? Yes, dad, I promise.

Twenty years ago, in 2003, Les Trois Accords published with limited means the Big Mammoth Albumand it is easy to forget how much, despite the cultural phenomenon that have become Hawaiian And saskatchewan, no one gave much to the future of these troublemakers whose main influences were Paul and Paul, Weezer and Californian skate punk. Two decades later, Simon Proulx, Alexandre Parr, Pierre-Luc Boisvert and Charles Dubreuil nevertheless form one of the Quebec groups claiming the greatest longevity.

Young and old, men and women, parents and children in their oversized t-shirts bearing the image of their band favorite ; Saturday night at MTELUS, everyone and her grandmother were there. And everyone was freaking out.

The Drummondville Stones (genre)

For reference: 20 years after the release of their first record, the Rolling Stones had just concluded their album tour Tattoo You and reveal its successor, the very average Undercover. In other words: their last great songs were already behind them.

Les Trois Accords, for their part, always combine their work with the present and constantly add essential refrains to a catalog of a depth that would nevertheless allow them, if they stopped recording new albums now, to be invited until at the end of time in all the festivals of the province.

The mischievous drummondvillois have however in common with the Stones not to skimp on the hits and not to abuse their new equipment. Although theoretically related to Presence of mindtheir most recent album, this new tour draws almost equally on each of their seven discs, the youngest being barely more represented than the others (5 titles out of 21).

Even if we are well aware of the richness of their catalog, there is something breathtaking to hear one after the other. I love your grandmother, Her name was Serge And grand champ. To the essentials Really beautiful, In my body And All naked on the beachthe quartet therefore continues to add young classics, such as Open your eyes Simon! (2018), offered just before the recall.

How many artists can end a show with a song taken from their sixth and penultimate album, without anyone feeling that their goodwill is being abused, on the contrary? No, there is no remedy in the sense of the melody of Simon Proulx. The rhythm possesses it, and we are victims of the dance.

Moving shepherd’s pie

Chinese doughan ode to filial love taken from Presence of mindfalls into the same category as The doctor’s office, that of songs that make you smile until you cry, and will have provided Saturday’s show with one of its most memorable moments of communion. Claude Meunier would have been proud to hear so many people sing the name of the dish that had caused so much trouble for his Thérèse.

In a world where hardly anyone is wary of pathos anymore, Simon Proulx is one of those rare songwriters who can’t help defusing his most purely touching lyrics with an absurd line.

The irony: this salutary restraint exacerbates the emotional power of his (almost) serious creations. Bathing suit is yet another proof that Les Trois Accords are the most reliable suppliers of songs to the Strokes not to be called the Strokes.

Supported by Gabriel Gratton on keyboards and Mélissa Lavergne on percussion (ayoye, the bongo solo in lovers who love each other), the eternally youthful-minded veterans concluded the evening with what is now their You Can’t Always Get What You Want their, dolphins and unicorns“a song that talks about animals”, according to Simon Proulx, but which perfectly encapsulates the state of euphoria in which everyone found themselves at the exit.

“Tomorrow, we will call each other and we will say to each other that it was worth it”, launched the singer by presenting Saskatchewan. Leaving home to hear Les Trois Accords is always worth it.