At the end of April, Michel Fugain embarked on a Quebec tour of 15 shows in 4 weeks. We followed behind the scenes the energetic and generous singer who will be 81 years old in two days, and who after 60 years of career still has as much appetite for life and the stage.
The preparation
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
A casual sound test
Sunday, April 30, 4 p.m. The sound test had already begun when we arrived at the Zénith de Saint-Eustache, a small but modern theater located in the cinema complex. On the side of the stage, we can see Michel Fugain seated at a table, facing his four musicians. He sings Maybe in 100 years, and we immediately recognize his clear and rich tone of voice. Then the five friends stop, discuss, resume, stop again to clarify a detail or a note, start again. Always on good terms and listening, with a smile on your face.
“I haven’t seen that often, someone so nice”, slips us behind the scenes the tour director, Dominique Romano, who is working with the legend of French song for the first time. “Everything happens in a good mood, he is always with them, always in the gang, in the dressing rooms, to eat. He adds with a smile: “He’s so smart, it’s almost annoying!” »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michel Fugain and his musicians
This “grouped” configuration is quite unusual for a sound test, we pointed out a little later to Michel Fugain, during a short interview (directly on stage). He exclaims. “But you know what this show is called? Michel Fugain makes Bandapart. It’s the name of this group, because they are good, they are apart. He’s been working with the same four musicians for “decades” already, and the sound check is just when they get together during the day. “I’m the singer of the band, that’s all! They are friends, pals, real ones. And I’m quite happy, because the Quebec team quickly stood apart as well. »
Perhaps because he has a certain talent for bringing people together around him, and has done so since the glorious days of the Big Bazaar? He opines, believes that he is “no more than the guy who maintains the heat between people”. A role he likes.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michael Fugain
“I think I am a unifier. But we are not unifying like that! You cannot federate if you are not generous yourself, respectful of the people who make up the team. It goes from there. Everyone needs everyone to give their best, so that the show is as polished as possible. »
Waiting
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
After the sound test, everyone takes refuge in the tiny dressing rooms. What does a day of performance look like for Michel Fugain? Whether in Quebec or France, “we only think of the evening,” he replies. “It takes a lot of energy, it’s two hours at full speed. So we pay attention to the voices, not to tire, to stay awake. It’s not very interesting. We wait until evening because we have to arrive fresh. “During the two hours before the show, he will therefore” wait, hang around, talk “… and drink a glass of red – just one. “Because it’s good for the voice. »
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
A few moments of intimacy with his wife Sanda, with whom he has been married for nearly 10 years, and who accompanies him on tour as a backing vocalist.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
The wait does not exclude several moments of fun. When one of the musicians shouts out loud, coming out of the toilets: “Hey Lulu, you forgot to give Michel his big microphone”, the singer grabs the toilet siphon and improvises spontaneously, distorting the words of a of his greatest hits. “Ah yes that’s going to be it! Boring, boring life…”
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
A spectator asked a member of staff to bring his Big Bazar records to Michel Fugain in the dressing rooms, for him to sign. The singer lends himself to the exercise with good grace, not without having carefully observed and commented on each cover.
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PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
A little moment of concentration before going on stage.
1/5
Quebec
In the minutes before the show, Michel Fugain is behind the scenes, very concentrated – we see him here with Sylvain Lussier, responsible for the “sound feedback” on the stage. The latter is part of the small “downright deadly” Quebec technical team that accompanies the singer, a regular in Quebec since his debut. “In general, we end it in Rouyn-Noranda or Val-d’Or! My first show here was in 1969, in Matane. I am lucky to be recognized, almost friendly, by Quebecers. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michel Fugain and Sylvain Lussier
The relationship was built over decades and there was never any question of him being just “passing through”. Every time Michel Fugain comes back here, he is filled with memories. He throws them pell-mell into the conversation, whether it’s his friendship with Max Gros-Louis or this period, around 1976, when he performed for 21 concerts at Place des Arts. “We lived in the Laurentians… It’s absolutely unforgettable. It’s part of my culture. There is necessarily Quebecers who have entered into me. »
The scene
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
One last look before crossing to the other side. He has known the stage for 60 years now – moreover, it is there that he will celebrate his 81st birthday, on May 12, the evening of the performance which will take place in Trois-Rivières. “But this is not a farewell tour, not an anniversary tour. In my head, I’m not 80, I’m 17! With so much mileage on the clock, Michel Fugain takes no theater for granted, and is more and more convinced that live performance is one of the last ramparts against dehumanization. “I want to talk about what we have in common, about the humanity we have in common. »
The show
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michel Fugain, generous performer
As soon as Michel Fugain sets foot on the stage, we know we’ll have a good time. Warmth, humanity, energy, that’s all that instantly emerges from his presence… in addition to a repertoire that has proven itself in terms of the joy of living: Sing, Sun, I won’t have time, Attention ladies and gentlemen, Do like the bird… all his big hits from the 1970s and the Big Bazaar. “It’s been 50 years, huh! “, he reminds us kindly and with humor, but he interprets them with closed eyes and open arms, in all his great generosity. He sketches the same dance steps as at the time, a little cha-cha, a few turns on himself, without a microphone stand, alert and solid. All for two and a quarter hours without intermission, a tour de force even for artists quite a bit younger than him.
Full of self-mockery, but also of pride, Michel Fugain spends a lot of time telling the story of each song and all kinds of anecdotes. He also brought with him the photos of two of his now deceased lyricists, Pierre Delanoë and Maurice Vidalin, his “founding fathers”. He also transports us to songs less known to the general public, but which are frankly pretty – I leavefor example, a sort of will he wrote about 25 years ago, or the very recent A smile And The street of passing time.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michel Fugain’s Quebec tour ends May 20.
” The guitar years/These are the years we don’t forget/Three notes and two words/Leaving traces », sings Fugain in The guitar years. Traces of inestimable value, which we said to ourselves when the gentleman in front of us wiped his tears under his glasses during A nice storythen when his companion raised her arms in joy at the start of Celebrationand during the spontaneous ovation at the end of Well done mister worldand seeing all those smiles that he knew how to print on people’s faces thanks to his joyful vitality – we swear to you that he danced until the last song.
When the show ended, the singer stood alone on the stage, taking the applause as if it were the last. Or the first. It’s not for nothing that he knows how to sing life so well.