During his visits in 2014 and 2015, Stromae literally blew the roof off the Bell Centre. He therefore made a long-awaited return there on Friday to present the first of a series of four shows in Montreal, after a long break and the release of a new album last spring. And the most famous Belgian singer on the planet has lived up to his reputation as a stage beast, even if he seems a little wiser and his new repertoire strikes less of a balance between partying and lucidity.
Perfectly warmed up by the more than energetic South African rapper Sho Madjozi, the approximately 14,000 spectators jumped to their feet when Stromae took the stage at 9 p.m. It’s clear, the passing of the years has not changed the intensity of the relationship between the singer and the Montreal public, who shouted their affection for him throughout the evening.
” What a welcome ! even exclaimed Stromae after the third song, All The same. We were in New York at Madison Square Garden, and they weren’t as loud as you are! »
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Bell Center
It’s a super polished show delivered by Stromae, who no longer spends his time changing his costume as before – in fact, he will remain dressed in the same way, pale pants, white shirt and pink neckerchief -, but who creates a real universe around each song.
After a short futuristic film where we see his animated character choosing a destination on the map — Montreal! —, Stromae started the evening with Unbeatena hymn to courage and resilience, his and ours.
“As long as I am alive, I am undefeated”, he sings there, which could well sum up the theme of this show during which, as usual, the lucidity or the harshness of the texts comes to confront the rhythms happy, whether they are closer to Africa, the Caribbean or Latin America.
In fact, only Stromae can make the public sing the chorus of the short story loneliness “Celibacy makes me suffer from loneliness, life as a couple makes me suffer from weariness”, the sing-along the saddest in the history of music. And his new songs like sons of joy succeed less perfectly in this dichotomy that inhabits all his music.
Rich atmosphere
But we don’t blame him for too long, because he also knows how to transport us. In the diptych Bad day/Good day for example, more serious but really successful in its dressing, or the incredible double Papaoutai/Your partywhich was worth the detour on its own.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Stromae and its musicians
Alone with four musicians installed behind sorts of lecterns, in a rich but sometimes somewhat cold luminous environment that suits the futuristic imagination of the ensemble, Stromae inhabits the stage like a king by simply sketching a few dance steps. Behind him, sometimes abstract projections, or cartoons that support the subject or put action.
The home stretch of the show is a strong climb, starting from Tremendouswhich ignites the powder until the end. Laughin a universe all in black and white, hell – a powerful song about depression and suicidal thoughts that marked his comeback –, This is happiness, funny piece about fatherhood, then Healthwhich comes with its little choreography.
Another animated film heralds the start ofThen we dance, which he sings surrounded by light panels floating in the air. And it was there, at the end of his greatest success, that once again Stromae succeeded in blowing off the roof of the Bell Center — or rather it was the public, who couldn’t stop applauding and shout, who lifted him up.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
“Stromae inhabits the stage like a king”, writes our journalist.
“It is not for nothing that we had made the last recording of Square root here, at the Bell Centre, launched the singer, blown away. You, in any case, you know how to welcome. Want one last for the road? »
The answer was yes, of course, and he settled down with his musicians around the microphone for an a cappella version of My love, which he had sung earlier in the evening. In the complete silence he managed to impose on the 14,000 people hanging on his lips, the whole essence of Stromae was there, the rhythm of Congolese rumba, the bittersweet lyrics, the pleasure of singing, the communion.
The end was all the more abrupt, hoping that it will not take another seven years before returning.