2023-10-04 20:05:36
Michel Sardou on stage at the Zénith de Rouen, October 3, 2023. Richard Melloul for TS3
WE WERE THERE – The singer gave his first concert in Rouen. A mastered, innovative and smooth show for the 76-year-old artist.
To come back is to disappoint. Not for everybody. After five years of absence as a singer – where his goodbyes to the musical Seine had been successful, although a little conventional – Michel Sardou began his new tour in Rouen. “I remember a goodbye.” A thunderous start. The voice, the choice of songs, the orchestration and the staging… Everything was executed (almost) to perfection. Enough to make the 5,000 spectators present at the Zénith happy.
Coming back is reassuring. Was Michel Sardou, 76, going to be able to hold his audience and his voice for more than 1h30? After the inaugural Connemarathe subject of a great summer controversy launched by Juliette Armanet, the rare Marie-Jeanne et Casino were laborious as if Sardou doubted his abilities. Or rather heated his voice. The triptych A girl with light eyes, Privilege et I will love you (“a song will deconstruct Sandrine Rousseau”, he says) has finally convinced us that “The Voice” (nickname given by Elton John, according to legend) was indeed the singer we left in 2018. Or even a little better. The jazzy version ofToday maybeLouis Armstrong style, is a nugget that we want to listen to again.
Popular Karaoke
Coming back is a pleasure. With an extremely ambitious choice of songs (Let’s talk about you, about me, The other woman, Bac G, I’m flying), we still had to satisfy fans who want the classics. A giant medley composed of 11 hits, reorchestrated and linked together in a surprising way (a “mashup”), launched a kind of popular karaoke: Hello, Jazz singer, I want to marry her for one evening, The Java of Broadway, Africa Farewell, Ten years ago, I come from the south, I accuse, The Old Woman, The Old Marrieds et France. A hundred million records (sold) are staring at you. All without a false note and without excessive chatter: Sardou, dressed all in black, spoke little and sang a lot. And paid a tender tribute to his “friend” Johnny, that a bad joke about his daughter had angeredby interpreting Something from Tennessee.
To return is to provoke. Despite his age, Michel Sardou can’t help but throw a few barbs. He makes his choristers hum a few verses from Colonial timesinterpreter Vladimir Illitch with his fist raised as in the great era and dares to resume his role as «passant» who has “want to rape women” In Cities of solitude. In 2023, we had to dare. But Sardou dares everything and that’s how we recognize him.
Ambitious staging
Coming back means innovating. A large white veil covers the stage three times. Accompanied by the play of light by Jacques Rouveyrollis, images are projected. A 3D film with a Celtic rock violinist (Emma Sempere), a bagpiper (Anthony Masselin) and a horse (the favorite animal of the man who defines himself as a bear) for Connemara Lakes. A huge statue of Lenin which crumbles as the song progresses to Vladimir Illitch. A romantic-warrior painting on the little-known Verdun, so as not to forget those who died for the homeland. The French and American homeland with the famous Ricanswho in 1967 offered the singer the first controversy.
To come back is to leave again. After 1h15 of a carefully orchestrated show and fans totally committed to the star, we must attack the finale. The difficult Be a woman is performed without too much difficulty (we reassure the regulars, he ended up getting confused in the words), the captivating Muslims carries away the crowd and As per usual (finally freed from her mother Jacky, who played her role in a hackneyed sketch for 40 years) finished the concert. Before the last notes of Connemara allow, as usual, Sardou to sneak away.
“I Remember a Farewell” is off to a good start. The tour will take him to a good part of France. Michel Sardou will set down his bags and his voice on March 16 and 17 in Nanterre. He will be the first singer to perform on the central stage at Paris La Défense Aréna. These will be the final dates for his return. But leaving is always coming back.
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