For Apple, Quebec is a second home. This mutual affection came to fruition on Sunday evening, as the French singer-songwriter sang at the Francos de Montréal in front of a sea of people, her biggest crowd since her debut eight years ago.
This third evening of the Francos was certainly not the most lively, after the passages of the Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project on Friday and Souldia on Saturday. But it was an attentive, collaborative and listening audience that responded to Claire Pommet, her unique voice and her certain originality.
But if the evening was marked by gentleness and “collective consolation”, the power of sorority loomed large over the Place des Festivals. It was also her friends The Boulay Sisters who set the table at the start of the evening, respecting the theme, that of strength in gentleness.
To do this, they just had to be themselves: if we spontaneously associate the two singer-songwriters with a certain delicacy, the opposite happens when they go on stage. Rather, it is the solidity of their bond – they are always standing together, very close to each other, in the center of the stage –, their energy on the guitar, keyboards and drums, which are obvious.
We were therefore pleased to rediscover the fabulous harmonies and joyful spontaneity of the two sisters who had not played in Montreal… for five years! Mélanie, dressed all in white, and Stéphanie, all in black, furnished the Place des Festivals with their folk and intimate repertoire. From the recent I’ll make you dance to Cul-de-sac, which appears on their first album, via The Butter Knives and Nous après nous, they drew from their four albums to create an hour without downtime, very solid.
“We were so scared that no one would be there, but you are here! “, said Stéphanie, who after two songs already couldn’t stop crying – her sister wiped her eyes a little later.
Even though their performance didn’t last long, the two singers still took the time to invite younger artists, young women to whom they handed over the baton, so to speak. Rose Perron, from the duo Rau_Ze, who listened to them when she was 12 or 13, sang “Ôte-moi mon linge” with them. Later, the talented Arielle Soucy was able to share the harmonies of her own song, Ottawa, with Stéphanie and Mélanie.
At the end of the show, they performed a series of lively songs, I’m dreaming, Let go of life, Oxygène by Diane Dufresne, Make me a smoke show with Mélanie’s children dancing around, and the vibrations they left on the Place des Festivals were beautiful and good for the future.
Pomme arrived an hour later, dressed as an elf, surrounded by giant mushrooms. This is the theme image of her Consolation tour, which she is taking all over France to festivals this summer, and which she is transporting to this side of the Atlantic for eight concerts in North America – she was at New York on Saturday, and will be in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the coming days.
The first song on the program, Nelly, inspired by the Quebec writer Nelly Arcan, was perfectly in the concept of sorority, and could not more represent the singer’s dual allegiance. “This song makes even more sense when I play it here. I wanted to honor Nelly tonight, she’s incredible, and Quebec has given me a lot,” said Pomme, rather talkative between songs.
“It’s crazy to be here, I feel like I’m the country’s adopted child. It’s hard to realize how many of you there are. » To celebrate this connection, Pomme had some surprise guests from here: Safia Nolin and La Force to sing Lesbian Break-up Song, Klô Pelgag with whom she shared a… bewitching version of Sorcières, the Boulay friends, who returned for Soleil Soleil.
Pomme’s entire show – surrounded by a group of three female musicians and a male musician – despite the sad or melancholic songs or both, is permeated by the idea of consolation and by a dazzling energy. In grandiose arrangements and a total, almost mystical originality, her pure and just voice sinks directly into hearts and elevates them.
The intense and heavy sequence between Garden and Anxiety was one of the strongest moments of the evening. But each piece was frankly a little gem, between the intimacy of On brûléra, which she dedicated to queer people and which she sang accompanying herself on the autoharp, or the release of the Enlightenment.
After another choreography on Bleu, which created another immense wave on the Place des Festivals, the singer thanked the audience again. “It’s hard to say how grateful I am. It’s not always easy at festivals to make sad and acoustic music, I’m lucky to have had this audience. »
She delivered the last four songs with equal intensity. At the end on Une minute, his voice soared high above the crowd, depositing a little of his light on each head. Then all the singer friends came to join her to do harmonies with her. It is this beautiful and strong image that will remain engraved, that of a moment of grace and sharing. The adopted child from the country has brought together her whole gang and the public in her magical world: she may never be let go again.
