The SuperFrancoFête de Québec is still going strong: 50 years after the legendary concert I saw the wolf, the fox, the lion, an imposing free show will be presented on July 26 on the Plains of Abraham. Robert Charlebois (the “wolf”), present in 1974, will be on stage, while Gilles Vigneault (the “fox”) will be present on the big screen during this multigenerational event in which Hubert Lenoir also participates.
We have rarely seen such growth in the world of Quebec entertainment: in just three years, the new SuperFrancoFête has gone from an outdoor concert designed for TV to a festival extending from August 15 to 31 which offers 10 shows. Better: the event will be preceded on July 26 by a large-scale event entirely dedicated to local music entitled Plaines de mots.
Imagine: Robert Charlebois, Diane Dufresne, Claude Dubois, Paul Piché, Marjo, Pierre Lapointe, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Les Trois Accords, Muzion, Hubert Lenoir, Patrice Michaud, Ariane Roy, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Thierry Larose, Kanen, Pierre Kwenders, Sarahmée, Beatrice Deer and a few others will set foot on a stage set on the Plains of Abraham.
“I would dare to say that this will be unprecedented in terms of French-speaking music and song,” says Sylvain Parent-Bédard, president of Sysmik, the musical division of the new comedy giant, Comédie Ha!, which is behind it. this great event. In addition to the many singers and musicians on stage, the show will also include dancers and circus artists perched in the middle of the crowd.
The July 26 show echoes the opening show of the 1974 SuperFrancoFête known as I Saw the Wolf, the Fox, the Lion featuring Robert Charlebois, Gilles Vigneault and Félix Leclerc. Charlebois, who will be 80 years old in ten days, will be back on the plains five decades after this legendary concert. “From the start, we had in mind to convince Robert to come to the plains for this fiftieth anniversary,” confirms the promoter. We also wanted to have a certain presence from Mr. Vigneault. »
Gilles Vigneault, now 95 years old, will not be on stage in Quebec. The organization, however, offered to be present remotely. “He was touched and honored,” assures Sylvain Parent-Bédard. He will participate in the party through a video shot specifically for the event. We’re really happy about it! »
Like the entire SuperFrancoFête, the goal behind the July 26 show is to invite people to “dance and sing in French.” The poster is a mirror of today’s Quebec, that is to say, it is diverse in terms of origins and musical genres and demonstrates sensitivity to the indigenous communities here. Two of the women who will walk the stage are Inuk (Beatrice Deer and Sylvia Cloutier) and a third is Innu (Kanen).
“The vision we had as an organization was to represent today’s French-language music and songs, with diversity and for all generations, while highlighting the history since 1974,” says the promoter, who emphasizes the desire to make this show a popular celebration. Hence its free nature and the invitation he extends to people to come and have a family picnic as soon as the site opens.
Hubert Lenoir was invited to join the show by Alex McMahon, who is the musical director. “He told me he wanted to do a sort of review of everyone who was active and I agreed, because I consider myself active in the music scene,” he says simply.
His knowledge of the SuperFrancoFête is mainly limited to its revival since 2022, although he has heard of the large gatherings of the 70s in Montreal and Quebec City. Hubert Lenoir believes that these types of events still exist. The evening dedicated to Quebec rap at the Francos in 2016 remains a great unifying moment for him. “There are some on different scales. Ariane [Roy], Lou [Adrianne Cassidy] and Thierry [Larose] did something that people found significant,” he emphasizes, speaking of the Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou(p) concert, which was performed again on Saturday at the MTelus as part of the Francos.
In addition to the free concert on July 26, the SuperFrancoFête presents a series of paid shows at the Agora of the Old Port of Quebec featuring Samian (August 15), Roxanne Bruneau (August 17), a tip of the hat to Starmania (August 23), IAM (August 30) and the Grand concert de la francophonie hosted by Véronic DiCaire, Patrick Bruel and Black M (August 27).