“It was not the right time to embark on great things”. This is how Paul Léger, the singer of the Fatals Picards, summarizes these two strange years which prevented the group from celebrating its twenty years of existence, exactly hair in 2020. The damn virus almost also compromised their 2022 tour. At the beginning of January, several datest been canceled due to health constraints.
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The official recovery, the Fatals Picards did it on February 5 in Chalon-sur-Saône covering some of their classics – My father was so left-wing, Bernard Lavilliers, Job Security, Punk à Chien, Suck rocks – and by revealing excerpts from their 10and album, Gothenburg syndrome, who should go out spring 2022. “Our best album since the last” can we read on their Facebook page. A phrase that sums up the humor that has been the group’s hallmark since its debut in 2000.
In twenty years of existence and ten albums, the Fatals Picards have certainly changed. The group experienced a variable geometry. The basic nucleus in 2000 was Ivan Callot (incidentally the only Picard of the group, which he left in 2007) and Laurent Honnel, to whom were added Régis Rodriguez, Gilles Di Giovanni and Eric Charpentier for n’ cite just a few. The group then signs its first “real” album (the previous one was self-produced) whose title, Maria Turnip, gives a guideline where self-mockery is in order.
After many comings and goings, for nearly ten years, the group has not changed with Paul Léger (vocals) and Jean-Marc Sauvagnargues (drums), Yves Giraud (bass) and guitarist Laurent Honnel, the only “survivor” of initial training. In 2007, it was them (still led by Ivan Callot at the time) who went to defend the colors of France at Eurovision with their song French love. An adventure that ended in the penultimate place of the competition… Enough to feed the jokes during the concerts. But not enough to divide the group which remains very united.
And yet, Les Fatals Picards is a band of odds and ends. As Yves Giraud explains to Pépère.com, “We are not high school friends who met by chance. We were all hired by someone, so we find ourselves running this “Fatals Picards” shop, but we didn’t decide together to set up this group.”.
The new ones had to integrate the basic DNA which, although beyond the music, lies above all in a form of humor that gives pride of place to puns. And, when the theme allows it, it coexists with a more serious, sensitive or even committed background.
Proof that despite the changes of musicians, Les Fatals Picards have remained faithful to their DNA, the public has always followed and the concerts are sold out. Another proof: to finance their tenth opus, Goteborg Syndrome, the Fatals launched a crowdfunding. It was necessary to raise 50,000 €. The jackpot exceeded €130,000. If that’s not proof of love!
The dates of their 2022 tour can be found here