Come in, come in, the ladies will still be warm! For a 26e edition, Le Vent du Nord invites gigeurs to Club Soda for its traditional Vigil of the day before, the big evening of folk music and dance to be held in the metropolis during the holiday season. Dance session from 10:30 p.m. including diatonic accordion icon Gaston Nolet, New Year’s blessing offered by actress Ariel Charest and, from 8:30 p.m., a performance by the Homage to the Elderly collective.
Who is that ? Tribute to elders. The largest unknown group on the Quebec music scene, whose members all come from the village of Saint-Côme. “How can I possibly explain this to you? » hesitates for a moment Nicolas Boulerice, singer and old man of Vent du Nord. “In the village of Saint-Côme, something happened like in the village of Asterix and Obélix: it looks like they drank the magic potion. To be honest, I don’t understand, everyone sings in Saint-Côme! »
The small municipality of 2,500 inhabitants rooted in Lanaudière even prides itself on being the “Quebec capital of traditional song”, to the point of having had its municipal council adopt a regulation (541-2014) “identifying the practice of singing traditional as an important and significant element of its heritage” under the Heritage law cultural, adopted by the government of Quebec in 2011.
“And in this corner of our world, there are native families who have an incredible repertoire of songs,” continues Boulerice. Tribute to the elders, it is the reunion of a group of members of these families who come to sing for us. For twenty-five years, they have filled venues in Lanaudière and sold a phenomenal quantity of records at the convenience store or the butcher, you know what I mean? » A singer in his spare time, the mayor of Saint-Côme, Martin Bordeleau, will even be on stage at Club Soda, in the company of his fellow citizens. “They are so impressive! Nicolas Boulerice gets carried away. They have a particular swing, their music is contagious! »
Gaston Nolet is not one of the Elders of Saint-Côme, but he is nonetheless a “legend” in his own right, enthuses Boulerice. An accordion reference on the Quebec trad scene, Nolet will be part of the orchestra put together for the dance session. “He’s a silk, this man – both in his play and in his life – a gentleman of great refinement. When he was invited to The vigil, he was like a child! He is proud to go on stage with the youngest musicians from the dance orchestra, Olivier Demers, André and Réjean Brunet (all three from Vent du Nord), the caller Erick Tarte and the violinist, singer, ethnomusicologist and professor at Concordia University Kate Bevan-Baker.
This 26e Vigil will be particularly emotional for Le Vent du Nord since it will be the last concert of guitarist Simon Beaudry, a member of the original Beaudry family from Saint-Côme, after twenty years of grueling world tours with the orchestra. And as life sometimes does things funny, Gaston Nolet will be at this historic concert… he who shared the stage with Le Vent du Nord during the very first concert that Beaudry gave with the group.
“I remember it, it was in Sainte-Marie, in Beauce, in an event called Gigue en fête”, today renamed the Couleurs du monde festival, remembers Simon Beaudry. “It was the 1er July, my first concert ever; we then played in a dance evening with Gaston Nolet, who must not remember it today. » The guitarist promises to remind Nolet that, through his illustrious presence at The vigil, it helps to close the symbolic loop. “I will forever remain a Wind of the North, I have it tattooed on my heart,” adds Beaudry, who resigned from the group to devote himself to his young family.
For Nicolas Boulerice and his colleagues at Le Vent du Nord, “there will be a lot of excitement and emotion at this evening. From this year which is ending, I remember a number of shows, a prize won in Great Britain” two weeks ago, the Americas prize awarded by the renowned specialist magazine Songlines.
“It was the first time that a French-speaking group won it. Then there was the Félix won earlier for the album The voices of the Wind with strings and piano [avec Le Quatuor Trad et Philippe Prud’homme], a rather atypical project for traditional music because of this link between song and classical music. So, of course, we remember all these beautiful moments, but since we are sensitive beings, Simon’s departure will undoubtedly be what will have affected us the most in 2023.”
A new musician will soon join Le Vent du Nord, which is already simmering its next album, once a new group cohesion is “brought into the world”. And you guessed it: this new guitarist and singer is also from the Quebec capital of traditional song. Finally, all those who cannot come to Club Soda, turn on your television at 8 p.m.: Le Vent du Nord will offer a traditional evening, “a big show with lots of guests” recorded on stage in Halifax, which will be broadcast on Télé-Québec.