The 9,000 people (figure provided by his label Mosaert and his turner Auguri) at Palais 12, a performance complex in Brussels, exult when he presses the word “Undefeated”, in a halo of light, for the first title of his concert.
“Undefeated” is therefore his hymn to life following his burnout, an extension of a marathon world tour which had wrung him out physically and mentally in 2015 (with the adverse effects of an antimalarial drug as an aggravating factor).
A depression, escorted by “suicidal thoughts”, narrated without disguise in “Hell”, a title already known. But Tuesday night in Brussels, even if some texts are still dark, the swaying electro takes everything. And the mood is happy with the reunion between the artist (37 years old this year) and his audience.
“I’m a little stressed, I’m not going to hide it from you, but I’m very happy to be here”, he quickly says, all smiles, at the microphone, in his white frilled shirt.
This first show is called “Avant-première” because the Belgian still does nothing like anyone else. The artist thus unveils new songs to the public, while his next album “Multitude”, the most anticipated French-language album of 2022, will not be released until March 4.
A great expectation felt among the general public as well as in showbiz. “This album is my expectation of the year, I am an absolute fan” confides to AFP Pierre de Maere, singer, new nugget of the Belgian scene, inspired by his eldest.
Avatar, robot-chien
The starting point for this new chapter in Stromae’s novel, which will then lead him on a world tour until 2023, might only be Brussels, his city.
“Well, how are you, wasn’t it too bad?”, he says to his audience twice when he unveils new songs. Delighted, accomplices, the spectators respond with a huge “noooon”. Stromae then has fun varying new and standard ones like “Papaoutai”.
The singer always takes as much pleasure in confronting points of view and putting on costumes in his songs. In a new song – of which he does not give the title – his voice changes to give voice to a child of a prostitute, a client, a pimp or a policeman.
Musically, Stromae is always hungry for sounds from around the world, a virus caught as a kid during trips with his mother around the world, particularly in South America.
Visually, his show opens with a mini-film, a mix of “2001 a Space Odyssey” and “Star Wars” where his avatar, already seen at the Victoires de la Musique on February 11, stars.
A robot-dog, very real, also comes to play with him, at some point. While four musicians, lined up behind consoles, like even more futuristic Kraftwerk (but dressed like him), accompany him.
“Hell”, sung in chorus
But the heart of the show remains his songs, like “Formidable”, his hit, which he follows with “Hell”, already taken up in chorus by the public. “Santé”, the first single unveiled, also really stirs the public.
“It was great to find him, it was perhaps a stress for him, but the new songs are very good, it went perfectly”, rejoices with AFP Arthur, 33, from Namur.
There will be two other “previews”, Thursday in Paris and Sunday in Amsterdam before the landing of “Multitude” in stores and on platforms.
Then the tour will resume, passing in April by Coachella, the biggest festival in the world in California, before returning alternately to Europe and North America (USA and Canada) until 2023. Because the international ambition is still there, as the proved his remarkable performance in early December on Jimmy Fallon’s American TV show.
“Then we dance” ? In Brussels the public answered yes when this hit resounded, at the end of this first show.
