After a noticeable absence for the past two years, the Quartier des Spectacles finally regained its festive air on Thursday, on the occasion of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, celebrated in style, but above all in front of a huge and excited crowd.
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It was under clear skies and mild weather that Montrealers were finally able to celebrate the long-awaited return of the National Day festivities in the quadrangle of the Place des Festivals. Hand-decorated with fleur-de-lis, families and friends who came to attend the big party showed elation throughout the evening, singing and dancing to the rhythm of the "party" tunes, covers and classics that were played by the thirties. of musicians and the dozen singers who took turns on the main stage.
Hosted by Pierre-Yves Lord, the evening entitled J'aime ma langue sometimes gave rise to touching moments, particularly during the revival of Tu m'aimes-tu by Ariane Roy and Les Louanges, but above all to festive and dancing, so much so that a contagious electricity and feverishness emanated from the crowd.
The celebrations were launched at 9 p.m. with a potpourri of Quebec classics, revisited by the artists who took part in the Fête, uniting their voices on L’étoile d’Amérique, by Claude Léveillée.
Roxanne Bruneau then took the stage to perform her song À ma manner. Of course, she came back later to sing her hits Love me again and Des p'tits bouts de toi, but also to cover Provocante, by Marjo.
An essential symbol of Saint-Jean and “québ” rap, the group Loco Locass took the stage as a surprise to play Le Mémoire as well as Le but, with a happy nod to the Blond Demon, Guy Lafleur.
FouKi, who took over with Sarhamée, in a rap version, Gens du pays by Gilles Vigneault, notably played Copilote with his good friend Jay Scott, as well as Ciel with Alicia Moffet and Gayé – during which everyone crouched down to better back up – towards the end of the show.
Ariane Roy, who was a hit at the Francos last Saturday, sang As long as there will be children, by Marjo, and Ta main, while Alicia Moffet revisited several songs by other artists, including the hit popularized by the iconic duo formed by Garou and Céline Dion, Sous le vent, and Pour que tu m'aime encore.
Accompanied by two dancers, Sarahmée made the crowd dance with Le cœur à ses raison, concealing a “we will always love you, Karim” in one of the last verses to pay tribute to her big brother. Les Louanges, Patrice Michaud, Michel Pagliaro, Kathia Rock – who brought a bit of Maliotenam to Montreal – and Jay Scott also walked the stage on the main stage of the Place des Festivals on Thursday. All, including P.-Y. Lord, joined their voices at the end of the evening to sing Karim Ouellet's L'Amour.
Towards the end of the show, Pascale Montpetit, Catherine Proulx-Lemay and Patrice Michaud read an excerpt from the text Aux héritiers de l’an 2000 by René Lévesque, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. The text, written in 1980 but still relevant in 2022, was followed by the Hymn to the beauty of the world, written by Luc Plamondon and Christian Saint-Roch, interpreted this time by the singer Marie-Josée Lord.
The National Day show will be broadcast on ICI Radio-Canada Télé and TVA on June 24 at 8 p.m., and simultaneously on the music stations of Cogeco Media, 96.9 CKOI, the 5 Rythme stations, CIME and Planet.
