"The Charbor Chronicles": Concert Review: Renaud 50 Ans at the Place Des Arts in Montréal, Québec, Canada

Okay, so first of all, many, if not most, people who read this blog (which is almost exclusively in English) will have no idea who Renaud is. And thus, they will have no idea what a big deal it was, for me, to finally have seen him in concert (well, sort of - but later for that).

Briefly, Renaud (full name Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan) is a famous rock musician from France. I am not sure of the numbers, but he seemed to me possibly the second biggest and/or most famous and/or most influential French rock star. I started getting into him sometimes in the late 1980's. It must have been my father who introduced me to him. Specifically, knowing my interest in anything associated with South Africa, he told me about the song Jonathan by Renaud. At that time, I was almost starving for anything - any little scrap of information or even mention - of South Africa, which of course was going through the apartheid struggle at that point in history. So I have the song a listen. Then I began to listen to it quite often, and before long, eventually encountered, and began listening to, some other songs from that Renaud album, which is called Putain de Camion. That includes the title track, as well as Jonathan, and some others, which include two songs which were performed at last night's show: Triviale poursuite and La mère à Titi.

Needless to say, since I found myself liking this album so much, I explored other albums. Of course, these were the days well before Youtube, and since this was a French artist, I really only had the stuff available that my father had on cd's. This was before I ever even started collecting cd's myself, because they just seemed so expensive to me at the time. The other Renaud album which my father had that I listened to was Mistral gagnant. Knowing (and perhaps specifically feeding) my growing activist streak at the time, he mentioned the controversy surrounding the song Miss Maggie. It is a beautiful song praising women around the world for being generally more decent and more intelligent than men, generally....with the exception of "Miss Maggie" Thatcher in Great Britain. The song was banned in Britain, which added to the appeal for me. I fell in love with that song as well as the title track, and some others. One of those included La pêche à la ligne, which along with the other two songs from that album already mentioned, were performed at last night's show.

So by the time that my brother and I went to France to visit family in the summer of 1989, when France was celebrating the bicentennial of the outbreak of the French Revolution, Renaud was one of the relatively few French musicians whom I knew and, more importantly, really liked. When we went to the bicentennial celebrations in Paris, we briefly went to a free concert which was playing there. I have no idea who was playing at the time that we were there. But I know that it was Renaud who was supposed to be headlining that evening, and I was excited. Unfortunately, we walked away. The family felt that it would be too long of a wait, and it was very crowded. I was disappointed not to see him, although we still enjoyed the Bicentennial festivities in Paris, including a spectacular fireworks display. Nevertheless, my desire to see a Renaud show started then.

Fast-forward some years, to the fall of 1996, a magical year for me. Possibly the best of my adulthood, and certainly the best of my young adulthood (say, in my late teens into twenties). It had been four years since my last trip to Québec, which in those days felt really long. I went with a college friend, and we visited both Montréal and Québec City. It got me back in touch with Francophone culture, which I realized I had desperately missed. Among the things I obtained were two cd's of Renaud. It was a greatest hits compilation called "The Meilleur of Renaud, 1975-1985" and The Meilleur of Renaud, 1985-1995. I listened to that in the car during the trip, and for months afterwards. Again, this was before the internet, and music albums were not so easily obtained. Especially foreign albums, and going to Québec offered the chance to get some French language stuff. Before, I only had those two albums that my father had. But this compilation gave me a taste of some of the best stuff that Renaud had put out. Suddenly, he started to rank as one of my favorite musicians, and was a crucial link to the Francophone world for me.

Yet, I never saw him in concert. Going to France or even to Québec was a relatively rare treat. And he just never seemed to be touring when I was there, nor was I able to catch wind of one of his tours or shows before such a trip. In truth, my suspicions were that I would never actually get to see a Renaud show.

Then a couple of weeks ago, there was an announcement on my Facebook. Renaud was coming to Québec for two shows to celebrate his 50th anniversary. The first show would be in Montréal on October 9th, and the second in Québec City on Sunday the 11th. Weighing my options, it seemed to me that Friday would be more doable, for several reasons (which I will not bore anybody with right now).

And so the trip was on. Yes, finally I was there at a Renaud concert....well, sort of.

In fact, I had misunderstood the nature of this show. This was not a Renaud concert. Not exactly, anyway. It was more like invited artists from Québec paying homage to Renaud for his 50th anniversary as a recording artist. The show was called "Renaud symphonique: 50 ans de carrière!" I was apparently wrong in assuming that Renaud would be performing with the help of local musicians. It was more the local musicians interpreting Renaud's work, which was nice. They had the stage set up in an interesting fashion. There was a beautiful wood grand piano on on side of the front of the stage, and a makeshift bistro - fitting for Renaud - on the other side. In the back, on an elevated stage, was the orchestra.

The conductor was Antoine Gratton, who was amazing. Other Québecois artists included Isabelle Boulay and Diane Dufresne, Betty Bonifassi, Daniel Boucher, Émile Bourgault, Édith Butler, France Castel, Luc De Larochellière, Gaële, Antoine Gratton, Keith Kouna, Yann Perreau, Marie-Jo Thério, Mara Tremblay et Édouard Tremblay-Grenier.

Already, I mentioned five of the songs performed last night earlier. Obviously, they did plenty of others. Now, I am not going to remember the order, so apologies for that. Unfortunately, I also did not find the setlist online (at least not yet, although the show just took place last night). However, they performed many of Renaud's greatest hits, for the most part. Some songs I already mentioned. But there was also plenty of other songs, such as Société tu m'auras pas, Manu, Morgane de toi, Dès que le vent soufflera, Laisse béton, En cloque (brilliantly sung by Antoine Gratton in a very moving performance), Hexagone, Dans mon H.L.M., La Ballade Nord-Irlandaise, and Manhattan Kaboul. Unfortunately, I am not familiar enough with these Québecois artists to say definitively who did what song, much less the order in which they were performed. The two final songs, however, were Mistral Gagnant, when Renaud finally came up on stage and sang with children in front of the stage. My brother hesitated about this show, saying that Renaud's voice was pretty much shot. As much as I love Renaud's music, I will admit that this was the case. I had heard it on some Youtube videos, but it really hit me hearing him in person. Sadly, he is not able to sing the way that he used to, although it was still a thrill to see him perform, nonetheless. Then Renaud stayed on stage and did a duet of La tendresse with Diane Dufresne.

Probably, there were a few more songs which are slipping my mind. However, until I get more confirmation, there is no way for me to provide any more information accurately. Maybe someone will post an accurate setlist for the show at some point.

Finally, though, I was able to see a Renaud concert. Well, again, sort of. The closest thing to it that can be had at this point. And I am very grateful. It felt like an enormous privilege to finally see him. Before this concert, he was probably the number one musician - English-speaking or French-speaking - whom I wanted to see and had not yet seen. And it finally happened last night.

Really, it can feel strange liking an artist who is generally and genuinely unknown where one lives. And when it comes to being an American who really enjoys an artist who's lingua franca in signing is not English - especially when living in the United States, frankly - it can feel very strange. To me, Renaud is an obvious great talent. He was one of the biggest rock stars that France produced, yet he remained far more humble than, say Johnny Halliday, France's biggest rock star. His lyrics are powerful, yet since French itself was and still admittedly remains a challenge to me, it took effort to try and understand his songs and the meaning to those lyrics. Undoubtedly, there likely were and also likely still are some misinterpretations on my part. And yet, I appreciated his body of work, including the lyrical content and his activism. Perhaps a part of the reason that he was so easy for me to get into was the fact that he was French, and thus more challenging to get into, and on almost every level. It also connected me to both my father and my brother, and I remember discussions asking about the lyrics, trying to understand better. So there was a personal connection on that level, as well, which if anything, helped to enhance my experience as a fan. This probably is especially true now that my father is gone. He likely would have enjoyed going to this show, and I remembered going to Montréal with him in 2000 in order to see Johnny Halliday.

Renaud was very different, also. His music was not really like most of the stuff that I liked, and not just because of the French language. Yet, that also helped to draw me, while requiring more effort on my part, as an English speaking fan who's command of the French language can admittedly be suspect sometimes. Renaud's lyrics took a lot more effort to try and understand. And yes, simply obtaining any albums - new or otherwise - generally required a lot more effort, and often had to wait for trips made to France or Québec. Still, there was an appeal in this. Liking quality musicians or art from another country, another culture, which one's own culture knows nothing about is a bit like being in on a secret. There is almost a secret pleasure that comes with appreciating something which nobody around you is familiar with, or admittedly interested in. Still, it was nice to be in Francophone cultures (again, particularly France and Québec) where Renaud was known and popular.

Which is what made it so special, so moving, to see a large crowd assembled to appreciate this artist in particular. Again, the vast majority of Americans are unaware of almost all French musicians, with very few exceptions. Maybe Edith Piaf and probably Maurice Chevalier. Maybe. But as big and flashy a rock star as Johnny Halliday was, for example, most Americans have never even heard of him. Fewer still have ever heard of Renaud. So to be in a theater filled with people who not only were familiar with Renaud, and who appreciated his work, felt very special. The audience audibly reacted to a lot of songs. That was particularly true with the first chords of Mistral Gagnant, towards the end of the show. I have to say it was very moving. It felt special to be able to appreciate this, which likely is my favorite Renaud song of all, with literally thousands of others in the same room. Isn't that what makes concerts special to begin with?

Also, to see the man in person. And while he admittedly no longer really has the voice he once had, nevertheless to be presented with an opportunity to stand and applaud the man for his lifetime of great works and enduring songs. Songs which my Francophone side felt particularly endeared to while surrounded by a sea of very loud and often grass, almost exclusively Anglophone culture. It meant a lot to me, particularly on this evening. I am so glad to have made the effort to come all the way up to Montréal and to be at this concert.

It was a terrific show. Admittedly again, I was not familiar with most of those artists who performed these Renaud songs. Also, some of the songs were such radically different interpretations of the original that they almost seemed like different songs. On more than one occasion, it took me a bit to fully know which song was being played. Yet, it added something to the show, rather than detracting from it.

So yeah, it was not exactly the show that I had originally been expecting. But the differences made this feel more unique, even more special. An awesome show overall. I feel grateful to have gotten the opportunity to see it.