Marc Dupré does not hide it: the pandemic has indeed made him believe that he would never go back on stage again. Now that he is back on the road with a new tour, the singer has the firm intention of experiencing each concert “as if it were the last”.

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"Everything fell apart so quickly, I didn't see how we could go back to normal. And I'm still 48 years old, I know that my best years are behind me. But I couldn't believe it was all going to end so suddenly. I need to be on stage, to feel the energy of the public. It's a therapy every time, ”says Marc Dupré in an interview with the Journal.

Life will have managed to surprise him once again since he hit the road earlier this week to walk a “brand new show” around the province.

This time, it is the universe of Where will be the world, an eighth opus launched last fall, that he will deploy on stage.

Vulnerability and doubt

Several artists do not hesitate to confide that their most recent offer is their “most personal”, making the expression hackneyed. But in the case of Marc Dupré, it would be difficult to describe him better. Because it was in the pandemic context that it was written and composed; and the climate of uncertainty has broken down the barriers that the singer – like all of us, for that matter – used to erect between his vulnerability and the general public.

"Where will the world be, that's exactly it: it's fear, doubt, questioning what world we're going to leave to our children. During the pandemic, I became hyper anxious. I was afraid that my mother would fall ill, my sister works in a CHSLD, I saw couples around me separating... I was in all that when I wrote the album. So there is something very transparent in these songs, ”he confides.

Marc Dupré has some additional surprises in store for audiences in Montreal and Quebec City, expected respectively at Place des Arts and the Videotron Center over the next two weekends. In the metropolis, his daughter, Stella Dupré, will join him on stage for a few songs. Then, in the Old Capital, it is the entire cohort of Star Académie 2022 who will invite themselves to his side for an act the details of which he prefers to keep silent for the moment. For these two performances, Josiane Comeau will be responsible for warming up the crowd in the first part.

"It's going to brew"

This will keep Marc Dupré busy between now and the end of the year.

Then, next January, Marc Dupré will return to his red armchair for a ninth season of La Voix. By his own admission, he had no intention of returning to service, he who has just left the locomotive that is Star Académie.

“I heard rumors of a return of The Voice and, in my head, I told myself that I would not do it. But when they asked me... I thought I couldn't refuse that. Me, what makes me trip in life is to share my passion with new talents, to help young people realize their dreams. I couldn't miss it, ”says Marc Dupré.

He will this time be flanked by three new coaches, whose identity was revealed earlier this week: Mario Pelchat, Marjo and Corneille. The competition promises to be fierce... and not just between the candidates. Because Marc Dupré announces that he has the firm intention of fighting (metaphorically, of course) to recruit the young talents he covets.

“The last season of La Voix, I find that I became too nice with the other coaches. This time, I'm going back to my habits from the beginning, I'm going to do everything to steal the best singers and attract them to my team. It might brew. Marjo, she is not afraid of anything. And Mario Pelchat, he has never let himself be stepped on, he is certainly not going to start today, ”laughs Marc Dupré.

The Where will the world be tour will stop at Place des Arts on June 11, then at the Videotron Center on June 18.