The instructions were strict: no one other than those constituting the France Inter teams, the artists' entourage and their rare guests was allowed to enter La Cigale to attend the unfolding of the triple concert offered by the radio at the end of this event. year 2020. It is therefore in front of an audience of only thirty people that Alain Souchon, Benjamin Biolay and Catherine Ringer performed with their respective accompanists.
Flanked by two guitarists - one of them being none other than his son and close collaborator Pierre - and a keyboard, Alain Souchon began his performance with a mask on his face, almost forgetting to remove it before sing.
Lighthearted, as he presents himself, the indestructible and precious author of so many classics of the French repertoire of the last forty years, has started with
Jaloux du soleil,
a brand new song.
Impossible not to applaud
Tired of streaming concerts, lacking real concerts, here we are quickly transfixed by emotion, in this so familiar room that we had never seen so empty, if not to attend final pre-show adjustments.
Sometimes for scene disassembly too.
The cozy atmosphere is that of an ultra-professional rehearsal, without any particular jitters.
The sound resonates with majesty in this room which can accommodate a little less than a thousand people in normal times.
Here most of the rows are empty, the few others sparse, in strict compliance with sanitary measures.
Everyone has kept their mask, but no one can resolve not to applaud, contrary to the instructions.
Impossible to keep your hands in your pockets for what is the first concert in several months of most of the lucky ones present.
Alain Souchon, mischievous, connects the songs, in particular
The kiss,
one of his most beautiful,
The life is worth nothing
and
Un terrain en slope
, taken from his last album,
Soul Fifties
.
He is not stingy in anecdotes, recalling how the situation reminds him of his beginnings, when his first record company rented marquees in the context of radio shows, which remained hopelessly empty.
He then welcomes Benjamin Biolay, proud and moved to give the reply to one of his masters on the
Foule Sentimentale
standard
, which takes on a particular resonance in the context of the Covid and the closure of theaters.
“You have to see how we are spoken to” indeed.
"There are always more of you than in my room"
Benjamin Biolay
Crowned with the double triumph (public and artistic) of his
Grand Prix
, which comes out in an increased version, Benjamin Biolay admits that he does not have as many good anecdotes to tell as his elder brother, but his physical commitment on the boards of La Cigale largely compensates.
Where has the tenderness gone?
and
La Superbe
are delivered foot to the ground by an impeccable group, the very one maneuvering on the album.
Biolay tastes the quiet applause of the small assembly, assuring:
"You are always more numerous than in my room"
.
His guest, the singer Adé, of the late Therapy Taxi, performs with him
Parc Fermé
and
La belle vie
by Sacha Distel, happily fucked up.
Like a stolen car, and its end in the form of an uncontrolled skid, then
Les cerfs-volants
, to which its author has stuck the melody of an extract from the last Strokes album complete the set of a Biolay visibly happy to make his job.
Read also: Benjamin Biolay, live against all odds
Catherine Ringer's lesson
The profession, Catherine Ringer has plenty, who gives a lesson from the introduction of
Histoires d'A
, which opens a concert dedicated to the repertoire of her group, Rita Mitsouko.
Marcia Baila
,
Y'a d'la haine
or the rarest
Jalousie
unleash passions, served by an orchestra with funk rock colors and an impressive set-up.
Superlative singer, the Ringer has lived on the stage like the popular diva she has been since the early 1980s. After the moving
Even if
, and a
C'est comme ça
anthology, she presents her musicians, including her son Raoul Chichin, and quotes Fred Chichin, composer and arranger of the titles
"even if he is not there."
From guitarists' heaven, this devil of a musician can be proud of the way his muse takes care of the repertoire they've crafted together.
Concert to listen to again on the France Inter website
