The day after the death of Karl Tremblay, rallies were organized in L’Assomption, in Quebec and in Montreal, while tributes continued to rain in to celebrate the work of the singer of the Cowboys Fringants.
When Nancie Giroux learned that gatherings in honor of Karl Tremblay were being organized elsewhere in Quebec, she spontaneously created a Facebook group to invite people to gather on the Plains of Abraham, Thursday evening at 7 p.m., there where the dashing Cowboys put on a grandiose spectacle this summer. As of Thursday noon, hundreds of fans of the group have already confirmed their presence.
The goal: “to honor the memory of a modern poet, a storyteller of our lives, Karl Tremblay, the soul of an entire generation and a people.” It will be very simple, warns Nancie Giroux, 54, who invited people to bring their musical instruments. “There won’t be a sound system; simply fans who come together to sing together, to be together, to experience this together,” she explains to La Presse.
You can hear it in her voice: Nancie Giroux, who saw the Cowboys perform eleven times, is extremely touched by the departure of Karl Tremblay. “I was destabilized by the intensity of my reaction,” says Nancie Giroux, who feels like an impostor. “I burst into tears. I feel like I’m losing a great friend. »
Also in L’Assomption, where Karl Tremblay lived, a large gathering is being organized, also at 7 p.m. Blue-collar workers are hard at work on Thursday to organize the public square for this event, which is intended to be solemn, but festive, like the singer of the Cowboys Fringants.
Finally, another “grand vigil” will take place at Jeanne-Mance Park, in Montreal, at 7 p.m., an initiative also launched on Facebook.
Smaller gatherings are also organized elsewhere in Quebec, such as in front of the Seigneurie des Monts inn, in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, and at Cartier-Richard Park, in Contrecœur.
At 8 a.m. Thursday morning, many radio stations played simultaneously On My Shoulder, the anthem that the Cowboys offered with great emotion during their show on the Plains of Abraham this summer.
It was the programming director of 107.3 Rouge FM, Jean-Philippe Marcil, who launched the idea on social networks on Wednesday evening.
“I was looking for a way to pay homage to him,” explains Jean-Philippe Marcil. The Cowboys have accompanied us for so many years, with lyrics that could be as gripping as they were festive. We are experiencing collective mourning at the moment. »
Until 11 p.m. Wednesday, Jean-Philippe Marcil exchanged text messages with colleagues and people from other broadcasters. “Unanimously, everyone said yes.”
The 21 Bell stations throughout Quebec (Rouge and Énergie), the Rythme network and the RNC stations have notably got on board. Even 98.5 – a Cogeco talk radio station – followed suit. “It created an emotional moment at 8 a.m. this morning,” says Jean-Philippe Marcil.
The death of Karl Tremblay is also highlighted in France, where the group performed several times.
“Their committed texts made the heyday of the independence left and green activists of the early 2000s. The words of La manifestation will continue to resonate in the protest movements in Quebec,” wrote the newspaper Libération on Thursday.
The shooting stars, America is crying: in 25 years of career, Les Cowboys fringants had become a real social phenomenon in Quebec and a group also well known to the general public in France, where they regularly performed,” underlined L ‘Obs.
