Dive into the latest editions of the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Quebec City Summer Festival.
Another very good vintage (f)estival, from the beautiful Province. Here we are in the spectacular, the supernumerary, the unimaginable sometimes, and especially unusual crowds. Whether in Montreal with its International Jazz Festival or in Quebec City and its Summer Festival, the numbers alone make your head spin. These downtown events where everything is within a few minutes' walk – restaurants, hotels, boutiques, thrift stores – are quite unique and original: if there is a paying part, many concerts, regardless of the city, are accessible for free. Thus, in Montreal, four stages spread out in the middle of the Quartier des spectacles allow you to discover young talents or superstars, from Pokey LaFarge and Jeremy Dutcher to the Cinematic Orchestra, or the spectacular Apashe for a sound and light show with a symphony orchestra.
In Quebec City, the capital, the bar was also set very high! For the main stage, in order to accommodate wild crowds – up to 100,000 people – in better conditions and to ensure that visibility was no longer an obstacle, the festival invested in giant, panoramic, curved high-definition screens with a surface area of 672 square metres, or 25 m wide and over 20 m high! “We were keen to offer something unique in America,” recalled the programming director, Louis Bellavance, on the sidelines of the festival. Before adding: From an artistic point of view, we had very few challenges. The artists were there. We were able to spend time on the ground, see what it was like for the festival-goers, for the artists. We had an extremely diverse festival this year. The line-up was very, very strong.”
As for the 44th edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which took place from June 27 to July 6, it offered a huge lineup of 350 concerts, two-thirds of which were free. A wide range, from the legendary Stanley Clarke and Al Di Meola as openers, to the great Marcus Miller, to the luminous Quebecer of Haitian origin, Dominique Fils-Aimé, via the Inuit singer Elisapie or the Brazilians of the psychedelic group, Os Mutantes… Old (and wise) Farka Touré, who captivated a small Italian-style room, was awarded an honorary prize. But the prize, this year, could well go to Canadian resident, Orville Peck, the mysterious cowboy and singer-guitarist of country from punk and living in Toronto. Masked, tattooed, oiled muscles, black sombrero studded with embroidery and red suit sparkling with a thousand lights, the handsome guy made all hearts sway with his beautiful deep, amber voice, mixed with Johnny Cash and Nick Cave. A true sensation in the world of country and far beyond, he managed the feat of bringing together Willie Nelson, Elton John and Kylie Minogue in Stampede, his latest album released at the beginning of the summer.
In the wake of this, 800 kilometres due north, the 56th edition of the Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ), one of the largest in North America, was, as you might expect, just as spectacular. Held entirely outdoors, on the vast Plains of Abraham overlooking the St. Lawrence River, as well as on other stages located nearby (including two free ones), the lineup included incredible performances, such as the explosive, sold-out concert by the charismatic Post Malone, who literally electrified 100,000 festival-goers. The day before, it was the Zac Brown Band, with Charley Crockett, the new star of the genre, opening the plains, who set the plains ablaze in front of more than 80,000 country fans from across the country and the neighbouring United States. A joyful and diverse celebration, “a popular event, loved, even adored by the public as much as by the artists,” emphasizes Maurin Auxéméry, the programming director, who is also developing a professional component welcoming this year some eighty decision-makers from the Canadian and international music industry.
The said program, smaller certainly, but structured around various musical styles, brought together Nickelback, 50 Cent, The Offspring, Jonas Brothers, Kansas, J Balvin – who got the crowd dancing –, or the Quebecers Karkwa, who were given carte blanche on the big stage. To close, what else but Mötley Crüe? Around Vince, rather in form, Nikki Sixx and especially Tommy Lee gave the hottest show of the festival with a reinvigorated repertoire, notably thanks to the arrival of John 5 on guitar, whose playing admirably matched that of his predecessors.
On one of the two free stages, we also enjoyed the bold and mixed world of the Franco-Japanese Maïa Barouh (yes, the daughter of…), volcanic and twirling in her moiré kimono. Let us also salute the impeccable organization in its smallest details, which allows a human tide to disperse quickly and joyfully in these Quebec nights that we can only recommend to you!
Relive the summer festivals that took place in France, Quebec and around the world in the editorial special report, featured in our issue 165, available on newsstands and via our online store.
