If there was a place to be for any French hip-hop fans in Montreal on July 17th, it was definitely the Olympia! The “Dads” of French hip-hop, IAM, were back in Montreal for an outstanding performance. The crowd was on fire for them, after an opening act from Narcy (aka the Narcycist).
Narcy was pretty good and knew how to get the crowd involved during the show, right from the start, asking the audience to sing with him or to keep their hands in the air with the peace sign. This artist was sending out positive messages for the public: mostly against war and promoting the love and freedom of everyone.
I don’t know about the crowd in general but in my opinion, even if his performance was entertaining and flawless, I doubt he was the right fit to open for IAM. I would have pictured a French band opening for them, with the same vibe as them. Someone like Youssoupha or the brand new stars Bigflo & Oli would have been a better match to me, mostly since the latter have been highly influenced by IAM in their music and lyrics. Having a 100% French hip-hop night, full of smart and conscious rap would have been perfect to me.
Even if IAM members are getting close to 50 years old with about 25 years in the rap game already, they were still energetic and ready to spend an exciting evening with their fans, mostly composed of French people who live in Montreal and French Canadians.
Their performance was simple but strong and efficient. Their stage presence was remarkable and kept the audience transfixed. We could tell that it really was a pleasure for them to be there with their fans, and it definitely was a pleasure for us to see them live! With songs taken from a variety of their albums, whether it was Arts Martiens (2013), IAM (2013), Ombre et Lumière (1993-1994) or the famous L’Ecole du Micro d’Argent (1997), IAM offered their fans an excellent evening. We had the opportunity to hear their hit songs such as « Nés Sous La Même Etoile”, “Je Danse Le Mia”, “Bad Boys de Marseille”, “Un Bon Son Pour Les Truands” or even “L’Empire du Côté Obscure”. During the latter, the band got on stage with lightsabers, a really good and extremely entertaining surprise to their fans!
However, the best part of the show was definitely at the end, for the Encore, for probably their most famous song “Demain C’est Loin”. Not to mention that right before that last song, they played “Petit Frère”, another famous song of theirs that helped making L’Ecole du Micro d’Argent a gold record within the first day it was released. For those who don’t know it, “Demain C’est Loin” a French hip-hop classic and is like the French “Still Dre” if I may. The instrumental is easily recognisable and the hardcore fans will know every verse and every word. Moreover, this song is really particular. It is about 9 minutes long so you need patience to listen to it but this is not its only particularity: its first verse is written in Anadiplosis, meaning that every sentence starts with the last word of the previous one.
For the live version of the song, all the band members were sitting on the stage one next to the other. Shurik’n stood up and started the first verse a capella. The crowd recognised the song right way and was ready to sing along. He stopped for a few seconds after each verse and after a few minutes, the beat started to drop for an explosive atmosphere.
The crazy thing about this whole evening is that IAM fans seemed to know the lyrics of every single song as much as the band members themselves!
For the second time coming to Montreal in 17 years (the last time being 2 years ago for the Francofolies), IAM showed their fans that they were still relevant and a real pleasure for the eyes and ears.
Review – Maxime Le Huidoux
Photos – Kieron Yates
