[EN IMAGES] Alanis Morissette at the FEQ: a strong voice that still inspires

Long held by the male glories of the 60s and 70s, the torch of nostalgia on the Plains of Abraham was successfully taken up, Friday evening, by the one who redefined rock for women during the 1990s, Alanis Morissette.

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On a beautiful summer evening, tens of thousands of festival-goers reconnected in sweet joy with the inspiring songs of his immense album Jagged Little Pillpublished in 1995.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Of course, the Ontario artist has never stopped creating music, but this reunion with the public of Quebec, 23 years following her last visit to the capital at the Colisée, was first and foremost a celebration of this flagship album and, by extension, of his career.

A video montage presented before his arrival on stage has also testified to his past successes and his influence with a whole generation of musicians.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

As for the songs from her other albums that were on the program, she only offered short excerpts for the most part.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Alanis Morissette did not keep the nostalgics waiting. A series of titles from Jagged Litlle Pill started his performance. After seeing him pace the stage from edge to edge on All I Really Wantas she had done all evening, the crowd took out their cell phones and vocal cords to accompany her for Hand In My Pocket.

Powerful

What was striking from the outset was the power of her voice, clearly unaffected by laryngitis which forced her to cancel two concerts last month. During his impressive performance of Mary Jane and several times during his 90 minutes on stage, Morissette reached heights inaccessible to ordinary mortals.

She often practiced social distancing with her microphone, lowering it to the height of her hips without losing a single note, à la Ginette Reno, a flattering comparison if there ever was one.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Although she was not very talkative, the 48-year-old artist delivered an almost flawless performance. Even if the public was especially fond of the hymns Ironiccomplete with a tribute to his late late drummer, Taylor Hawkins, and You Oughta Knowit was when she used her formidable rock energy, on Wake Up et Uninvitedfor example, that Alanis Morissette was at her best.

Garbage: up to date

Even if, like Alanis, he will be associated for eternity with 1995, the year of the release of his eponymous album and the refuge of all his great successes, the American group Garbage have come to reaffirm that they have lost none of their relevance, in the first part.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Obviously, the Vow, Stupid Girl, Queerthe latter preceded by a reaffirmation by singer Shirley Manson that we do not live in a friendly world for women and the LGBTQ+ community, and Only Happy When It Rainsthis one presented in a clever version started in slow motion, in keyboard-voice formula, before melting into an irresistible crescendo, have had their effect.

However, the performance of this flagship group of the alternative scene fulfilled its promises when the quartet, which became a quintet on the boards, used songs from its 2021 album, No Gods No Masters.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Placed at the start of the course just following Vow, the title track, with its nervous rhythm, established that we were not just in a nostalgic affair. Same with Godheadduring which guitarist Duke Erikson and bassist Steve Marker erected a powerful wall of sound on the Plains.

A similar operation was repeated with the same exhilarating result on Push Itthis one fished out of Version 2.0published in 1998.

Moreover, at 55, Shirley Manson has retained the rebellious energy of her youth and her voice still holds up. She insisted on speaking to us in French, even seeming annoyed when she mightn’t find the words.

She didn’t have to worry. The effort, especially in the context of a rock show of this quality, was appreciated.

The Beaches : rock coloré

The singer in yellow, the two guitarists in green and blue, the drummer in red: if each girl of The Beaches group has her color palette, the Torontonians showed that they shared the same rock energy, at dinner time .

This formation, which has been rolling since 2013, crowned revelation group of the Junos awards in 2018, was sponsored by Emily Haines and James Shaw, from Metric, producers of their album Late Show and you can hear it in the concern they seem to have that their punk rock melodies can also be danced to.

On stage, we were able to discover, they have contagious pleasure and a conquering attitude. As an appetizer, just before Garbage and Alanis Morissette, it was perfectly in tune.