This Saturday, November 30, it will be the last of the last at the Accor Arena. After a tour sold out After nearly sixty dates, the alternative rock group Shaka Ponk decided to self-destruct “for the planet”.
20 Minutes attended this Thursday, November 28, one of the final dates of the training which, through its approach, wants to put its environmental, but also social, convictions before its own pleasure and interest.
Extinction, of the species
Shaka Ponk, 2004-2024. Here lies the crazy electro rock group, this Saturday… at the Accor Arena in Paris. After a crazy tour called The Final F*cked Up Tourthe formation self-destructs. “Extinction of the species”, she announced when unveiling the sixty dates of her final concerts, after 20 years of an electrifying career and seven albums. Of which act.
There is no doubt as to whether these promises will be kept. Samaha Sam and Frah, singer and singer of the six-member group, affirmed it again this Thursday at the Accor Arena, while we attended one of its last four concerts. The atmosphere is likely to be very sad for the last one this Saturday, November 30 in Bercy. And crazy too.
“We are mishandled, hurt, abused”…
Full arena, obviously. The height of an audience mainly made up of people in their forties and fifties, sometimes coming with their children, who have undoubtedly followed the Shaka since their beginnings. Public which is an integral part of the show.
It is in the middle of the pit filled to the gills, after ten minutes of entering the room shaking hands and lavishing hugs, that the group settles down and speaks in front of an already won over crowd.
“One of the reasons for this stop is that we are being mistreated, mistreated by a government. We are hurt, we are abused, we are bruised by the destructive madness of these people who govern us and try to deprive us of the most beautiful treasures of this life. They try to deprive us of each other, they attack the environment, the living, but also the treasures of society, such as freedom, democracy, solidarity, education, hospitals, health . All of this is driving us a little crazy and we intend to work against it once we separate,” says Frah. And the show starts with I’m Picky in acoustic version (“I'm difficult”), one of Shaka Ponk's hits, undoubtedly even more relevant than ever.
Communion, demands
For two hours and forty-five minutes, the group never lets up, except to welcome on stage the astrophysicist Aurélien Barrau, who has come to read his text I don't like people“a human text, profoundly human”, says Samaha Sam, a text which points out the missteps of the West and those who “puke shells and swallow oil”, but which honors those who “are raised fists against the injustice.” Ovation.
On a living room-style stage with sofas and giant piles of books, but also in the pit where Frah multiplies jumps and slams (not forgetting a monstrous dance which will make thousands of fans circle around him at the risk of them ending up trampled), the show is total, 360°. Communion.
Mention to the Sankofa Unit urban and gospel choir, whose eighteen members surround the show with their voices and dances dressed all in white.
And invitation to sign the petition for the release of Paul Watson, the ocean activist arrested in Greenland in July 2024, still in detention, thanks to a QR Code projected on a giant screen. “This QR Code is one of the few that is used to save humanity. Sign this petition to free Captain Paul Watson! », says Frah, like a true ambassador. Claim.
Boycott brands to change things
Run, run, run ; I'm moving forward… passing through the highly anticipated (cult) revival of The House of The Rising Sun de The Animals, le set with its imposing scenography is thus interspersed with words, sometimes virulent: “If you want us to change this music industry and make it healthier, we must boycott these brands. Boycott Coca-Cola, boycott Sprite, boycott Nestlé, boycott Louis Vuitton, boycott Mac Donald, boycott KFC, boycott Zara, boycott H&M, and that way things will change! I don't want Coke here. Fuck Coca-Cola! », shouts Frah. Which obviously does not prevent the sale of soft drinks behind the scenes of the UE Arena. Partnership with the venue required?
The Shaka are concerned about their heritage: “There are kids who need us here. We have to make them understand that the most important thing is love, it’s living things, it’s the environment. There are kids at the end of the world who need us, there are kids who are dying in Palestine, in Israel and they all need us, OK? “.
What will happen to the six members of the team? Only they know it now. There is no doubt that they will reinvent themselves… differently. There remains, obviously, images to fill your eyes, albums to listen to again (including the last, a double testament, in the form of a compilation, with live), and an unfailing, coherent, sacrificial environmental commitment by “realizing that we were part of the problem”, according to the training.
If you are not part of the 1.5 million spectators who attended the The Final F*cked Up Tourand save the date is a must on your 2025 calendar. The very last Shaka concert, filmed in full on November 30, will be screened on April 3 in cinemas.
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