FEQ: Lana Del Rey makes her cinema

She’s making a habit of it! After Glastonbury, Lana Del Rey made her admirers languish for a good twenty minutes on the Plains of Abraham on Saturday. One of the most anticipated artists of this 55^e Summer festival, the American singer, who received special permission to bypass the 11 p.m. curfew, was nevertheless able to complete an uncompromising performance.

Lana Del Rey is rare on stage. So rare that it had been four years since she had set foot in Canada. And the last time was in Vancouver. His last stop in Quebec dates back to 2015, in Montreal.

Her visit to the capital, the only one in the country this year, was therefore enough to stir up fans of the 38-year-old American and her melancholy pop, inspired by the 50s and 60s. And many of them gathered on The plains! Even some had camped on the spot to secure the best seats in front of the stage!

I can’t believe how many people there are here tonight! And you? Is this normal for you? This has got to be the biggest show we’ve done in a year, if ever!

Although the singer-songwriter’s performance ended in triumph, it was not without a hitch. Of course, there was this delay at the start of the show, but it was quickly forgotten when the singer’s voice began to resound on the Plains, while the stage was still dark.

tragic heroine

Then, she appeared against the light, surrounded by her dancers, her four musicians and her singers, against a background of saturated blue, red and yellow lighting. Then finding herself in the light, she showed herself, like a tragic heroine, in a white lace dress with a shiny headband in her hair.

From this introduction, it passed, thanks to an ingenious transition of lighting, to the interpretation of A&W. Very quickly, we realized that something was wrong with the sound. Too much bass, distortion, her caressing voice lost in the sound mix. Unfortunately, the situation persisted with the play Young and Beautifulone of the favorites of Lana Del Rey’s repertoire, which the public immediately started with her.

As the show progressed, the sound quality improved, a bit, but never completely back to normal. The singer also seemed bothered by the sound of her monitors, which we saw adjusting on several occasions.

This did not prevent her from throwing herself body and soul into this theatrical aspect of the show. We’ve seen her sit down and have her hair done, we’ve seen her sing lying on her back, we’ve seen her sit on a swing, on a piano. We even saw her take a walkabout and come back with her knees bruised. It’s not clear if she took a fall or scratched her knees after the metal fences…

It was all part of a well-crafted script. Lana Del Rey still came out on a few occasions to address the crowd. During one of these interventions, she recalled that she was from the Adirondacks on the other side of the river at 3 h 30 by road or even thanked his fans for contributing to the realization of her childhood dream.

However, it was she who gave the most on Saturday, to a crowd in which there were many young girls, with daisies or heart-shaped glasses in their hair. To these unconditional fans, she offered the greatest titles from her repertoire, comprising some ten albums, the Born to Die, Blue Jeans, Summertime Sadness And Video Gamesas well as more recent songs like the poignant Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvda magnificent piano-voice lament.

At the time of the 11 p.m. curfew, there were only four songs left on the program, which she was able to finish without being worried. Like any good movie, the show concluded with END – in French – in the middle of the screen in the background, while cinematic music slowly disappeared into a fade out.

The War on Drugs

The War on Drugs left lasting memories during its visit to the Parc de la Francophonie in 2018. Back on the Plains of Abraham stage this time, Adam Granduciel’s band picked up where it left off with its americana lined with guitars and atmospheric keyboards sometimes flirting with the psychedelic.

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Opening the program with In Chainsthe Philadelphia team often compared to Wilco quickly set the tone for a thrilling performance.

You are beautiful tonight! Thanks to be here! It’s an honor to open for the great Lana Del Rey! said Granduciel, wearing sunglasses and a purple t-shirt, as an introduction.

Donning the energetic Bread And Red EyesThe War on Drugs quickly made a break in tempo with I Don’t Wanna Waitan enveloping ballad highlighting the slightly nasal singing of the leader and in which rich vocal harmonies and a baritone saxophone are invited.

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With a short program of nine songs, we suspected that the group, renowned for its improvisations, was going to have a field day on the instrumental level. And that’s what he did with obvious pleasure.

Stretching the pieces from both ends – with augmented intros and uplifting jams – in Strangest Thing And Harmonia’s Dream in particular, The War on Drugs delivered a performance surely appreciated by music lovers.

The festival-goers also underlined the performance of these seasoned musicians by turning on the lights of their mobile phones in the last piece of the program, In Reverse.

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Allan Rayman

Solid favorite for the Torontonian Allan Rayman, in the first part, whose eclectic musical proposal knew how to captivate the public of Lana Del Rey.

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Unclassifiable with his mix of rap, folk, R&B and soul, the songwriter impresses with the breadth of his vocal spectrum, easily switching from soul singing to a slow jam languorous to a desperate rap on a folk-rock plot.

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What links his compositions is the warmth of his musical arrangements. Delivered by skilled musicians, who mix classic rock instrumentation with elements of piano and acoustic guitars.

A proposal delivered with intensity by the singer, dressed in jeans and a black belly t-shirt, contorting at the microphone, especially in the very sexy 25.22, carried by a haunting electric guitar. A talent to watch!

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