135,000 at Centre de la Nature for Harmonium tribute

The tribute to Harmonium was in fact a detour for those who love progressive rock of the 1970s. Musically, some minor technical glitches did little to tarnish the wonderful performance of the artists on stage, this, despite the fact that as singers’ eyes were glued to the teleprompters, they were somewhat impeded from communicating the full intensity of their passion to the audience.

Disappointed spectators might have compared the show to an evening of karaoke on a large scale.

However, it’s impossible to deny that seminal pieces from Harmonium’s first album are classics, while Neil Chotem’s arrangements make of L’Heptade a masterpiece. The listener grasping it as much in the OSL’s soaring symphonic delivery, nuances included, as in the poetry of Serge Fiori, well-rendered notably through the voices of Marc Déry and Boom Desjardins.

Among the crowd, acerbic comments surfaced throughout the performance. Programmed for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebration, the music lacked festive spirit, fact confirmed by the steady stream of spectators expressing frustration as they left the site, even before the show’s first hour had elapsed. A show of this magnitude deserved a better fate and a better place within the nine-day Mondial Choral Festival, perhaps as part of the closing production.

These annoyances, despite their negative impact on a grand initiative which deserved a better fate, can cast no doubt on the fact that the event represented a great moment in musical history: a sumptuous tribute to Harmonium and a way of saying that in Laval, the Fête Nationale is celebrated in a different way.