Tuesday evening, the restaurateurs on boulevard des Capucines found a smile for a few hours, and the Olympia its flamboyant facade. With Van Morrison in red letters. While all concerts at the Olympia are canceled (or postponed) until April 15, following the ministerial decree prohibiting the gathering of more than 1,000 people, the legendary Northern Irish bluesman - singer of Them and among others of the rock anthem “Gloria” - found the ultimate parade by offering two concerts in the same evening.
"We sold 1,700 tickets (out of 2,000 possible) for his concert," explains Matthieu Drouot, who produced the concert. When Van Morrison arrived in Paris on Monday afternoon, we explained the situation to him, and he offered to do two concerts in the same evening to cut the audience in half. His shows not exceeding one hour fifteen, it was quite possible. Everyone played the game. He kept only one stamp, Olympia did not ask for more for the rental of the room, the security guards made an amplitude of 6 hours as usual. Only the Van Morrison musicians had two fees, a difference that was covered by our insurance. "
Tuesday, the first concert started at 7:30 p.m., the second at 9:30 p.m. With a hundred or so people already inside (between the artist, Olympia and production teams), the security guards let 900 spectators in at 9:30 p.m. "People were not badly organized," notes Matthieu Drouot. We only had to ask around 50 people to come back at 9:30 p.m. ”
Warm, friendly, almost euphoric
At 9:15 p.m., we entered with the second wave. There were 600 of us. "17% of ticket buyers did not come, whereas usually we have 5% of no shows (note: spectators who bought a ticket but do not come) ", specifies Matthieu Drouot. In the Olympia, the atmosphere was surprising. It was not the crowd on the big evenings, but it was very warm, friendly, almost euphoric. Many thanked the organizers, the security guards, the refreshment team for having kept the concert going. In the half-empty room, the openers encouraged everyone to mass in the front rows of the orchestra and the mezzanine. It sometimes felt like you were in a jazz club.
At 9:30 pm sharp, the musicians attacked the second session under the vivas. "Sir Van Morrison", as announced by his keyboard player and trumpeter, joined them ten minutes later with a nice ovation. Saxo with shoulder strap and harmonica in hand, the 74-year-old singer led his (excellent) troops without a word for 1 hour 20 minutes with soul energy, involvement and a cheerful voice.
"Van the Man" has linked his classics - Them and his prolific solo career, "Baby Please don't go", "Moondance", "Days Like This", "Brown Eyed Girl" -, and added some rarities to the first show - like “Thank You” or “Steal My Heart Away” - so quickly that his guitarist barely had time to change his guitar and adjust his strap. The extended version of "Gloria" abseiling has finished raising the half-room and lighting up the smiles.
"It's a good solution for the show to continue"
“Van Morrison was also delighted with his evening, admits his French producer. In general, artists are sad in front of a half empty room but there, it was for a good cause and in a positive spirit. He even preferred this concert to the previous Salle Pleyel (Editor's note: in November 2017) . "
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
On the same principle, the rock group Nada Surf will also give two concerts in a row this Wednesday at La Cigale. “We would like to reproduce this idea, admits Matthieu Drouot. It is not always possible. With the cine-concert of Le Grand Bleu which is 2 hours 40 minutes for example. But Murray Head is leaving (Editor's note: March 28) at the Olympia. His show for two hours, you have to get organized, but it's a good solution for the show to continue. "