The centerpiece of his repertoire, an essential hit in all his concerts since the early 1980s, “Les Lacs du Connemara” opened Michel Sardou's Parisian concert given at Paris La Défense Arena in front of 25,000 people on Saturday evening.
On an impressive central stage, the disillusioned and grumpy singer explained that he was not leading the way.
“
You scare me a lot but I'm really happy to almost end up here,
” he explained to his audience.
After a real false start in 2018, the septuagenarian assures us: this tour, entitled “I remember a farewell”, is indeed the last.
It was well worth an ambitious scenography, an expanded orchestra, strings, brass and backing singers galore.
In a black suit, Sardou walks the stage in a circle with small steps, revisiting a career that began at the end of the 1960s. He introduces “Je va t'aimer” by saying “
here is a song that we could no longer write today 'today
' and dedicating it to Sandrine Rousseau "
adorable, intelligent and boring
".
The man is not afraid to don the costume of the old reactor, he does tons of it, with firefighter arrangements in tune.
We miss the ugly guitar choruses straight out of the 1980s. But the fans enjoy a set list that gives pride of place to obscure songs.
Admirable funky version of “Cities of Solitude”
The hits are delivered in an efficient 10-minute medley.
“At
each turn of singing, I am criticized for not having sung this one or that one, but I can't sing 400!
» he laughs.
“Le bac G”, which had upset the Minister of National Education at the time, was re-emerged, as was “Le Privilege”, a courageous song addressed to the homosexual community, or “Vladimir Illitch”, a scathing criticism of Lenin's perverted ideal.
Sardou pays homage to his father through a New Orleans rereading of his “Today perhaps”.
The first surprise is his cover of “Quelque chose de Tennessee”, which Michel Berger had written and composed for his friend Johnny Hallyday.
We also salute an admirable, funky version of “Cities of Solitude”, undoubtedly the most politically incorrect and the most misunderstood of his career.
A little cold at the beginning, the voice of this great singer reaches its peak halfway through before weakening at the end of the concert.
But many singers are there to support the melodies, punctuated by the interventions of a very talkative saxophone.
We feel Sardou happy when he picks up bouquets of flowers placed on the central stage before returning backstage and the tranquility to which he now aspires.