Safia Nolin launched her mini-album on Thursday in Montreal SEUM. This acoustic and intimate evening was to be followed by another launch concert on Friday, at the Electric Foufounes, which had to be postponed. Report from Thursday’s show.
Two acoustic guitars, one voice, no amplification. That’s all. And that’s all it took. For its first Montreal launch (after two shows in Quebec), Safia Nolin invited her audience Thursday evening to the magnificent Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel. The decor was solemn, but very quickly a feeling of lightness and intimacy set in. Unfortunately, there was also an all too familiar feeling in the air. That of living a moment that may not happen again for a while.
The concert was sold out, the long pews were full. In front of us, in the choir of the chapel, a fireplace, candles arranged here and there, minimal artificial lighting. When Safia and her guitarist, Marc-André Labelle, arrived on stage, the crowd cheered wildly. That moment, the audience needed it even more, that day, and it felt in his reaction.
” Big day ! That’s how the singer-songwriter described December 16, and everyone seemed to agree. Later, Safia will say that she wanted this show to be a “safe space where real life does not exist”.
The few hundred people present on Thursday were able to take refuge in this shared musical moment, suspended in time.
Safia Nolin did not have a microphone, the guitars did not have an amp (“It was written on the ticket!” strong ”). When she and her guitarist started the performance with the piece Die off, it took a moment for our ears to get used to having to listen, to really listen. The singer’s delicate voice carried just enough, echoing beautifully in the enclosure, imposing the most complete silence in the audience.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Safia Nolin at her show SEUM unplugged, Thursday night
The shadows of the musicians danced on the high ceilings of the church, tracing their shape on the impressive frescoes. Very quickly, we got used to not receiving the decibel level of an amplified show, we found comfort in the clarity of the singer’s voice, which echoed without help. She interpreted us the version sunrise (acoustic therefore) songs from his latest mini-album (PLS, 1000, Anybody), but also returned to a few other titles in his repertoire.
Quirky moments, relaxed atmosphere
While Christmas everywhere, she moved in the rows of the chapel, Marc-André behind her. The urge to laugh made him pause a few times, the moment was a bit offbeat and funnily entertaining. And that relaxed, no-fuss atmosphere lasted the entire time of the show, where the songs were interspersed with jokes, interactions, bursts of laughter.
When she invited Claire Pommet (alias Pomme) to join her to perform some songs (including White Christmas – it’s the holiday season after all, even if it was a “big day”), their two sumptuous voices, which come together so well, created another splendid moment.
Then there were only four songs left, Safia warned us that there would be no encore (no flafla, remember). When the show ended, her audience thanked her with a standing ovation. Everyone went away certainly happy to have been entitled to such a beautiful conclusion to this “big day”.
The show scheduled for the Electric Foufounes Friday, postponed due to the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, will take place on a date yet to be determined.