After the stress test of the pandemic, the Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac, pioneer of the genre, is back in full force this year. However, the crisis of recent years has given the organizers the chance to rethink the formula and settle more in the setting of the village, the gateway to the Côte-Nord.
Subject to the vagaries of weather forecast to be capricious for the four days of this 38e edition, the director of the event, Julien Pinardon, prefers to avoid looking too much at the forecasts of rain or storm watch. “You have to let go if you don’t want to go crazy, but we prepare ‘plans B’ in case of rain,” he says.
It must be said that the organizers of the festival have made the bet this year to hold a good part of the shows outdoors, but without counting on the presence of the traditional tents. Thursday evening, there was therefore Émile Bilodeau in the chilly air from the St. Lawrence estuary, on the same stage which will see the Hay Babies, Clay and Friends, Les Louanges and Lisa LeBlanc.
If the idea of camping in nature exposes the festival to the elements, it also makes it possible to work the magic almost everywhere at the mouth of the Saguenay fjord, underlines Julien Pinardon. “In Tadoussac, we want to be in the natural setting, so even if it’s risky from a weather point of view to have outdoor stages, we prefer to take the risk, to get the magic of the place. The festival management therefore decided to install a stage directly on the beach, but also to repeat certain formulas, such as a tour, in song, of the tip of L’Islet.
The public is also present once again this year; a musical reunion that also rejoices some artists who have not set foot in Tadoussac for several years. This is the case of Lisa LeBlanc, discovered here in 2011 as part of the “writing paths”, a formula that allows emerging artists to spend the week in the village, working on texts and music. Several have also been there, including Philippe Brach, Klô Pelgag, Alex Nevsky and Stéphanie Boulay.
“It’s a festival that gave me a very big hand. It was very formative. It was also there that I met Karim Ouellet, who was writing with me,” recalls Lisa LeBlanc, who is returning for the first time since 2013 to present her new show under the sign of ‘album chic disco. “This kind of festival gives us the opportunity to enter a bubble and what’s more, in Tadoussac, the decor is so beautiful. You can be in a magical place for a few days, walking from show in show “, she adds.
Discoveries
Vincent Vallières, who opened the ball Thursday on the main stage of the church with a show he was presenting for the first time, accompanied by five musicians, salutes for his part the special nature of the event. “The added cachet of this type of festival is the gathering with other artists, but also with the public in a context of excitement, at the beginning of summer, in a small village like Tadoussac. And we feel that the public has a real love of artists and Quebec culture, ”he argues.
A love that allows the organizers to offer several discoveries year after year. In addition to the artists of the writing paths, the Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac notably allows this year to discover some names to watch, including Marilyne Léonard, who combines pop, rap and catchy melodies, all in French. The room Boatsfrom his first album, angel lifebears witness to this.
But what drives people to drive several hours on the 138 to come to Tadoussac? “The need for connection is there. Music is important to many people, even if we don’t always realize it. There are several people who have been able to get through the pandemic better thanks to music and the arts. We have to realize it and assume that it’s super important, ”says Lisa LeBlanc.