Family memories at the Zénith de Toulouse with Francis Cabrel
6,000 Francis Cabrel fans will be present on November 15 and 16 at the Zénith in Toulouse. In a family atmosphere, very peaceful, enhanced by the warmth of memories.
A Francis Cabrel concert is a quiet journey into our young years. We come there most often as a couple to revive memories marked by his love songs. And on that side, the troubadour of Astaffort did very well. Aware of their evocative power, Francis Cabrel gladly resumes his stainless ballads: “The ink of your eyes”, “I loved you, I love you, I would love you” or “Little Marie”, which he continues with the audience smiling: “I heard like a choir where I dream? Francis Cabrel hasn’t really changed his way of giving concerts. The decoration is simple (here floating curtains and two stylized trees shining like Christmas trees), the soft and warm lighting, the most classic scenography (which the very shy Cabrel sometimes breaks by sketching dance steps a bit rock ‘n’roll). The singer speaks little, even if there is better. He confides on the occasion, lip service, admitting that he “keeps everything conscientiously since he wrote” and recounts the few words (“a foggy evening in November”) which occurred on “You resemble you”, magnificent portrait of his father who died too early, taken from his latest album, “A dawn coming back”.
Because, if he knows the importance of memories, Francis Cabrel, accompanied by three choristers and four superb musicians, always looks ahead, alternating great classics of his repertoire and novelties which do not have to be ashamed of the comparison. In a clear and confident voice, which says so much when she sings but refuses spoken redundancy. A strong choice, a lifeline, a consistency that we can only salute.
Francis Cabrel in concert at the Zénith in Toulouse on Tuesday November 16 at 8 p.m. Prices: from 45 to 69 euros.
A bio in pictures
For an increased pleasure, the spectators of the Zenith will not fail to obtain the biographical book dedicated to Francis Cabrel which has just been released. The singer’s life and work are told by himself through interviews he was able to give when his albums were released to various newspapers, here largely used by the authors. The portrait emerges of a lover of words who asserts himself as a “singer at certain times” but who, “the rest of the time tries to be anonymous” (he has succeeded very well and for a long time). From an artist as shy and discreet as he can be engaged … but in his own way: “I will never be in activism but always in humanism and citizenship,” he says. I am a megaphone who uses the song as a vector. As it should be, this beautiful book is widely illustrated, in particular by the photographs of Cabrel’s friend, Claude Gassian, “naturally” or in concert.
“Francis Cabrel, poetry blues”, by Valérie Alamo and Stéphane Deschamps (Hors Collection, 180 p. 29 euros)