Francos | In the magical world of Apple

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 hectic, after the appearances of the Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project on Friday and Souldia on Saturday. But it was an attentive, collaborative and attentive 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 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. It is rather the solidity of their complicity – 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 stands out.

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’m going to make you dance has Dead endwhich appears on their first album, through Butter knives And Us after us, they drew from their four albums to create a very solid hour without downtime.

“We were so afraid that there would be no one 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 if their performance did not last long, the two singers still took the trouble to invite younger artists, young women to whom they handed the baton in some way. Rose Perron, from the duo Rau_Ze, who listened to them when she was 12-13 years old, sang with them Take off my laundry. Later, it was the talented Arielle Soucy who was able to share the harmonies of her own song, Ottawawith Stéphanie and Mélanie.

At the end of the show, they performed a series of lively songs, I dream, Let life go, Oxygen by Diane Dufresne, Give 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.

Adopted child from the country

Pomme arrived an hour later, dressed as an elf, surrounded by giant mushrooms. This is the theme image of its Consolation Towerwhich she is touring all over France at festivals this summer, and which she is transporting to this side of the Atlantic for eight concerts in North America – she was in 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 this evening, she is incredible, and Quebec has given me a lot,” said Pomme, rather talkative between songs.

We also discovered her to be quite a crowd entertainer, capable of making a swarm of arms wave A millionto make people sing in chorus about Those who dreamand even do harmonies on top.

“It’s crazy to be here, I feel like I’m the adopted child of the country. 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 pour chanter Lesbian Break-up SongKlô Pelgag with whom she shared a… bewitching version of Witchesthe Boulay friends, who returned to Sun Sun.

The entire show by Pomme – surrounded by a group of three musicians and one musician –, despite the sad or melancholy songs or both, is shot through with the idea of ​​consolation and dazzling energy. In grandiose arrangements and a total, almost mystical originality, his pure and fair voice penetrates 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 will frankly have been a little gem, between the intimacy ofWe will burnwhich she dedicated to queer people and which she sang accompanying herself on the autoharp, or the release of Lights.

After another choreography on Blue, which created another immense wave on the Place des Festivals, the singer once again thanked the public. “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 One 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: we may never let her leave.