The singer is releasing this week the live disc from his concert event at the Accor Arena. Memories.
Every evening on tour, he took a booster shot. “We started the “Daho Show” in November in Caen. After each concert, we returned by bus to Paris, says Étienne Daho. And the drop-off point was each time in front of the Accor Arena. To better remind us that we were going to conclude with a concert here. » In forty years of career, the singer had never faced the immense Parisian arena. It was Thierry Suc, his producer, who suggested the idea to him, offering him the means to offer the most beautiful show of his life. “On December 22, when I arrived for the soundcheck with my eight musicians, we realized what awaited us. There, we felt very small. » Before the concert, Étienne performs his ritual: “Not seeing anyone except the team. Get a massage. Take my time with each movement. It's athletic, a Zénith tour…” At 8:45 p.m., when the lights in the hall went out, the clamor of the 17,000 spectators reached him straight to the heart. “I felt the wave wash over me. But you shouldn't miss it, it's the first syllable that sets the tone. If you screw it up, it will show. »
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Fortunately, that evening, Étienne was immediately in the swing of things, rolling out forty years of pop hits made in France in front of an audience of loving connoisseurs. “I often had difficulty with my songs from the 1980s, but here I knew that I could not, as I usually do at the Olympia, sing seven or eight new songs. I have reconciled myself with the songs of yesterday, I know that they mattered to people, that they are part of our common history. » For two hours, the communion is perfect, and Étienne even invites Vanessa Paradis to come join him to perform “Tiring the night on the stars”. Once the concert is over, the descent is not immediate. “There is euphoria in the air, the feeling of having defeated the dinosaurs. The holidays are starting, I know that I will be able to eat pancakes and drink Moscow mules again,” recalls Étienne.
I have worked a lot all my life. There, I want to take my time
Etienne Daho
Especially since the festivals are expecting it in the summer of 2024. “I was often scheduled among urban artists and I feared that it wouldn't work. But the reception has been crazy every time. Even stronger than in the Zenith. » At the end of August, the “Daho Show” ended. “I went back to writing two days later,” confides Daho. But not for me. I got into the habit of taking side steps, with Lou Doillon, with Jane Birkin, to decenter myself a little. I don't see any urgency in coming back with a record. I have worked a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot my whole life and running all the time. Here, I want to take my time. »
What is certain, however, is that at almost 70 years old (in January 2026) Étienne has no desire to hang up his phone. “I just know that I will only do what really makes me happy, everything else I will eliminate. » We point out to him that he has never had any real setbacks in his career, he who, since 1981, has almost done as he pleases. “Perhaps it's my luck,” he admits, “even if I sometimes gave the impression of piling up projects. » This discographic memory of Bercy was he who imposed it on Barclay, his record company. The latter was rather chilly. “They explain to me that it no longer sells, and that it only serves to feed YouTube. But I wanted to. »
What does the showman think of the spectators who spend two hours filming the entire concert? “I feel sorry for them… I think it’s a shame they don’t participate more. It's human to want to capture a moment in which we feel good. But when you're singing and you have someone right in front of you filming you throughout the concert, you want to say to them: “Put away your little phone and live in the moment!” » On the stage side, Étienne smiles when we talk to him about projects. “Nothing concrete in my head. What would be difficult would be to play my fourteen albums, one per evening, for two weeks. » Chick?
“Étienne Live” (Barclay / Universal), released November 29.
© DR
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