Lisa Symphony | Between the red neck and magic

Queen of disco, western, banjo or bingo: the Acadian singer-songwriter was all that on Friday, and more. She arrived on stage, wearing a long, sequined dress, bowing, and was greeted by an audience very different from the one we see in this room, which is mainly made up of white heads — and that's not a criticism, but an observation.

The atmosphere was already tense for Lisa LeBlanc, who chose to start the evening with one of her most poignant songs, Kraft dinner. Alone on guitar, she sang this unusual love song in a soft voice, and the Laval Symphony Orchestra enhanced its somber side, as if it wanted to bring a more festive aspect to the evening.

But the tone quickly changed with In juiceWhile her “traditional” group – Maxime Gosselin on drums, Benoit Mourier on bass, Sunny Duval on guitar, and Camille Gelinas on keyboards – came to join her. A song that fits the arrangements well, since its original version is already orchestral. But we appreciated the addition of brass at the end, and that's what made the beauty and intelligence of Antoine Gratton's arrangements, all those unexpected little touches and these surprises, sometimes amusing, that added flavour.

I followed the irresistible why todayThe orchestra, led by Jean-Michel Maalouf, seemed more in the shadows compared to the electric instruments. They actually buried it sometimes during the evening, although the insurance operation was successful most of the time. It was also unfortunate that the orchestra was a little hidden: throughout the evening, unfortunately, we could not see the musicians very well.

After this first set of disco funk, which received applause for a long time, the singer finally addressed the audience. “You'll make me scream by the third song!” she said, obviously happy.

That's the way we like Lisa LeBlanc, straight and raw. Just as we liked this slow-paced cinematic version I'm not a cowboy, has been redesigned so that you think you are in a salon. The Western atmosphere was completed by two tracks taken from his English-language album Highways, heartache and wasted time.

Lisa LeBlanc explained that she then returned to her disco chic, “a meeting between red neck and glamor.” “This is how I feel tonight!” », she said before starting excellent and cheerful gossip. Of course, there were also quieter moments, like very beautiful ones It seems easy to mebut that was before the musician tried her hand at the “symphonic banjo” for two exciting songs – a test that, let's say, is not very conclusive!

The final segment of the show went off with great fanfare, launching with Second gossipWhere we can appreciate the funk skills of the orchestra. Then Lisa LeBlanc took us to it bubble A joy that makes us dance… During the musical performance, the singer transformed herself into Belinda, the bingo queen character she created during the pandemic to relieve boredom, and then sang her hit song (!) It's not a game, it's a lifestyleWhich ended with a heavy guitar solo from Sunny Duvall.

We already knew, when we got there, that we had witnessed a beautiful evening unlike any other symphony performance to date. But when Lisa LeBlanc finally responded… Today my life is trivial With the same gentle restraint as the first song and with the entire audience singing along to a chorus that we will never tire of, we knew we had witnessed the funniest and most bizarre finals in the entire history of the World Finals show.

It was that kind of evening Once in a lifetime », Lisa LeBlanc was fired shortly before. Not just for her.