Exactly one year ago, a very big show took place. A show that has already gone down in history, that of the Cowboys Fringants on the Plains of Abraham at the Festival d’été de Québec. Initially cancelled due to violent storms on Thursday evening, the show was exceptionally postponed to the following Monday, July 17. Yes, exceptionally because it was the first time that a festival show was postponed.
Already at the time of this announcement on Friday late morning, we felt a magic settling in. Everyone welcomed this news with immense happiness, having a hard time believing that it could be possible and saluting the generosity of everyone (festival, artists, sponsors, employees, volunteers, etc.). From that moment on, we all told ourselves that Monday night would be a great night, a night like no other.
Knowing that singer Karl Tremblay’s illness had already forced the cancellation of a few shows, it didn’t take much more to start wondering if this would be the last show of the Cowboys Fringants, perhaps the greatest Quebec group of all time, due to its longevity, its popularity and what it represents.
For about 25 years, the Cowboys Fringants have settled into the Quebec landscape, now part of its DNA, as are Félix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault, Robert Charlebois, Plume Latraverse, Richard Desjardins and Jean Leloup. The group attracts crowds across the province, even in France and elsewhere in Europe, with fans who sing their lyrics from the beginning to the end of the show in a rather impressive way.
There is a real communion between the public and the group. With the Cowboys, we feel that we are not dealing with a big machine cash who razes everything in their path, on the contrary. Always ready to sacrifice profits to help social, humanitarian or environmental causes, they have their hearts on their sleeve and they are generous with their fans.
When the band arrived on stage on that beautiful Monday evening in July, the emotion was at its peak. With tears in their eyes and arms in the air, the crowd was ready to support and sing along with Karl Tremblay until the end.
The most memorable part of this evening was the energy and love shared between the band and the crowd. Seeing and hearing 90,000 people singing in unison and in perfect harmony was awe-inspiring. Yes, we see that at other shows too, but that night, with Karl Tremblay sitting on his chair to ease the fatigue, and the faces of the band members, visibly moved and upset by the events, in close-up on the giant screens of the festival, it was breathtaking. In the sick and too often pitiful world we live in, so well described in the song America is cryingit was good and comforting to see and feel that energy and love. I felt it the rest of the summer. I don’t think I’ve ever been to an event with so much love and emotion. It was a big dose. It was magical. That love was for you, the Cowboys, and especially for you, Karl.
My kids were there, and I’m glad they experienced it. A great moment.
Thanks, Cowboys! Thanks, Karl!