Les Louanges, Cœur de pirate, Loud, Robert Charlebois, Lisa LeBlanc and Soolking are among many others on the poster for the outdoor shows of the 34th Francos de Montréal, unveiled on Wednesday. Festival-goers will have access to around a hundred free shows again this year, from June 9 to 17.
“We don’t have the means for an Osheaga, a major American or French festival, but we have the means to bring to the ears of Montrealers and tourists these sounds that most do not yet know. That’s what we’re for, “said Maurin Auxéméry, festival programming director, met this week. “And at the same time, we are a playground for established artists who want to get in touch with their audience and find it. »
The program for the next Francos is varied. As it has been proud of for a long time, the festival offers the public the opportunity to make musical discoveries, but also to find their favorite artists on the outdoor stages. All for free (in addition to the thirty paid indoor shows already announced).
The largest of these stages, on the Place des Festivals, will host big names of all generations. The opening event, Friday June 9, was entrusted to FouKi. The next day, Roxanne Bruneau will go on stage. It will then be the turn of Cœur de pirate, then Lisa LeBlanc and Loud, the following evenings.
Algerian sensation Soolking will be performing on the main stage on June 15. Les Louanges will present its show Crash the following day. Finally, the great Robert Charlebois will close the festivities the following Saturday.
The Francos organization takes great care to offer a variety of choices to festival-goers, says Maurin Auxéméry. Whether through the representation of musical genres, gender parity or cultural representation, the programmers try to make the festival a place for all encounters.
“It happens on stage, but also in front of the stage, explains the new big boss of the organization. With a Soolking, for example, a lot of media will wonder what this guy is doing on the big Francos stage. But we’re going to have the whole Algerian community coming to the site. And that is essential, because these are people from the Montreal community too. »
This showcase will also serve young artists who are beginning to reveal their colors, while a special place is given to the emerging local scene. Émile Bourgeault, Velours Velours, Fredz, Naomi, Parazar, Vanille, Super Plage and Kanen will notably be festivities.
In between, we find a variety of artists loved by the public, who will be able to bring their loyal audience and capture people who pass by. On the Loto-Québec stage, we expect concerts by Dumas, Bon Enfant, Ariane Roy, Choses Sauvages, Jay Scøtt, Rosie Valland or L’Isle, among others.
Hip-hop will again have a good place this year: in addition to headliners FouKi, Loud and Soolking, Manu Militari, Rymz, Shreez, LaF, Eman, Prince Waly, Greg Beaudin, Ya Cetidon and Rowjay are expected to perform late-night performances, as part of Urban Nights.
Rapper BRÖ and singer-songwriter Pierre de Maere, European artists on the rise, will also be there. “We are still a little in this obsession of discovering the next Christine and The Queens, the next Damso, remarks Maurin Auxéméry.
He cites for example Zaho de Sagazan, a French singer-songwriter who “makes everything explode” at home and will be performing on Wednesday 14 on the stage of discoveries. On the rap side, BEN plg or B.B. Jacques are also among those artists to follow very closely, whose recent albums are of high caliber, says Maurin Auxéméry.
“With artists like them, we want to position ourselves as a talent scout, to put forward this world that is rising. »
