Richard Séguin Uplifts the Crowds at Les FrancoFolies De Montréal
A musician, singer and songwriter whose imaginative lyrical messages are rooted with meaning about the human life. Accompanied by the outset melodic patterns drawn from folk, blues and rock music, Richard Séguin is that musician.
The fourth indoor show for Les FrancoFolies de Montréal festival was with Séguin this past Friday at the Cinquième Salle in the Place des Arts concert venue. For this performance, he took some new spins on some tunes from his most recent album Les Horizons Nouveaux, but revisited some of his acclaimed classics.
The first part of the show began with the song called “Les vents contraires.” Séguin began the set strong, using his powerful vocals as he picked away at his acoustic guitar. The volume pitch in Séguin’s voice enabled him to deliver strong emotion behind every one of his lyrics.
The melody maintained a consistent tone with a stomping drum bass that was created using the drum pad, the light sound of the piano being played on the keyboard and two acoustic guitars strumming a repetitive chord progression. All of these sounds worked together to build the song’s melody.
One of the more emotionally driven songs that Séguin performed was “Sous les cheminées,” not because of its beautiful sound, but for its nostalgic message that described springtime in the east-end of Montreal during the 1960s. The sounds of kids laughing and playing in the streets, some fathers getting ready to work the night shift, and others who were just returning from their day shifts.
The repetitive tune began with Séguin singing with a soft voice while picking a simple chord progression. The sound of the cello made its way into the melody followed by an acoustic guitar and a mandolin made of aged wood that gave a nostalgic touch to the melody.
The first half of the set ended with Séguin’s tune “L’ange vagabond.” Coming out of the harmonica were the sounds of blues and folk music being mixed together, followed by Séguin’s rough strumming of an acoustic guitar.
The backup guitarist picked a musical pattern on his own acoustic guitar with a clean tone that sounded like an electric guitar, followed by the drawn out sounds of a cello and the electronic drum pad creating a stomping melody.
The second half of the show began with a tune called “Le manteau” which recounted an old tale of a worn out jacket that had gone through different situations such as break-ups, first crushes and building solid friendships.
The ballad began with the harmonica accompanied by two acoustic guitars strumming a repetitive chord and the thumping sound from the electronic bass drum pad.
The tune developed an engaging mood wherein the audience clapped along and ended with Séguin’s blues-y harmonica solo followed by his background musicians.
The show came to an end with “Rester debout,” one of Séguin’s classic hits. The melody kicked off with the constant strum of the guitar followed by background vocals repeating “rester, rester debout.”
This lyrical repetition developed a powerful meaning that one must stand up for themselves and be strong at all times, with the electric guitar strumming in the background and the melodic piano effect on the synthesizer to help deliver this strong message.
At the peak of the song, Séguin’s acoustic guitar was strummed hard, while he engaged with the audience to sing the verse, ending things with an acoustic jam.
Overall, Richard Séguin proved to the audience that he will always be one of the most acclaimed musicians, singer and songwriter in Quebec for his engaging, meaningful ballads and melodic tunes.
Richard Seguin // Les FrancoFolies de Montréal // francofolies.com
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