Belgian popstar Angèle has very quickly become one of my favourite artists of the last few years, and recently I had the pleasure of seeing her live on stage in Lyon, France as she toured in support of her latest album Nonante-Cinq.
When I arrived at Halle Tony Garnier around 14:00 pm, I was astounded to see two queues both full of around fifty Angèle fans waiting to get in. They had snacks, card games and gold foil to keep themselves fed, entertained and warm as they waited in line. I had never seen this level of dedication for a concert before, not since Coldplay played Wembley in August. Fans were singing songs with microphones, speakers were blaring various Angèle fan favourites and the energy seemed very much alive for the duration of the wait, even as it rained. Lots.
At around 17:00 pm, the gates opened and everyone rushed to the front. The Tony Garnier Hall holds a capacity of 17,000 people, with a very wide standing area and thousands of seats at the back and sides. It was pretty much impossible to get a bad view, but I managed to be about fifteen people away from the front.
The support act arrived at precisely 20:00 pm and brought thunderous energy to the stage. The support came in the form of French singer Maxence and his guitarist/drummer. I loved every second these two were on stage and am quite frankly very jealous of Maxence’s energy. He was quite clearly ecstatic to be there and was smiling, laughing, dancing and singing with everything he had. The audience was especially into it, too. He had us jumping to some of the heavier hitting tracks like Flûtiste and also had us swaying our phone lights in the air with slower ballads like Poids-Lourd. Whichever emotion he played into, we were all for it and it left a positive impression on us. They both punctually left the stage at 20:30 pm to prepare us for the main act. Then, at 20:57 pm, Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time blasted through the speakers. The fans were singing. The lights were dimming. The show was about to begin.
After a very visually engaging video of a roller coaster rocketing through different environments (and thus the themes of the album Nonante-Cinq), Angèle’s silhouette was cast into the middle of the screen. The hall cheered and screamed, and it only grew when the first song began, Plus de sens. It’s a straightforward pop-bop and was a great way to start the show. Angèle was in full swing, strutting down the steps onto the centre of the stage. She was hitting notes and the crowd were hitting them back just as hard. There’s something about a big crowd chanting back lyrics that makes me feel part of a community, even if I had no idea what was being sung. Halfway through the track, six dancers appeared from the back and all involved performed the first dance sequence of the show.
So, to recap, in the first 5 minutes we’ve had an enticing video to start the show, dramatic silhouettes, vibrant lights, a great focus on the artist’s voice, outfit and movement and an entire dance crew. These additions are what separates a good concert from a great show, and this was the case for pretty much the entire two-hour set. Nothing but an astounding level of showmanship and skill was on show and it only got better. The next song, Tu me regardes, took us back to 2019 with the Brol La Suite album. Among the crowd, there seemed to be more energy brought forward for the older tracks, which was to be expected. I was happy to hear whatever was on the setlist as still, to this day, Angèle had not made a bad song. Not one.
Angèle took a moment to calm things down later in the setlist by performing the heart-wrenchingly beautiful Ta reine. It’s a definite fan favourite, and it’s not hard to see why. The audience was in full force with their singing, and what made it that bit better was the fact that Angèle sang the entire song with a pride flag wrapped around her that a fan had thrown onto the stage. Perfect.
From this point on, Angèle played a mixture of songs both new and old and both with and without the aid of her dance crew. Her voice in every song was pitch-perfect and her ability to both sing and dance gave me more and more reasons to believe she’s the best pop artist Europe has to offer right now. The high energy came to a halt when her dazzling white piano came rolling out onto the stage, which then led us to be treated to a four-track medley played entirely on the piano. These songs were Jalousie, Taxi, Solo and Mots justes. Of all the tracks named, I have to bring attention to the fourth track. Mots justes is, in my opinion, Angele’s best song. It’s rhythmic, sensual, and classy, brings elements of classical as well as pop and is all done under a 6/6 time signature. It’s wonderful, and I did not expect it to be played that night. However, when those first chords were played, I really had to hold back my tears and pick my jaw up off the ground. The entire crowd was silent. No one was shining a phone light or making any distractions. All focus was on Angèle’s voice and piano skills and was without a doubt a huge highlight.
The piano then got carted away and the show continued in its regular fashion of upbeat pop tunes with excellent choreography, awe-inspiring stage lights, epic visuals and some great contributions from the live band. Oh, yeah, there was a live band with a drummer, a keyboardist, a guitarist and a bassist. Because why the hell not?
Things started to heat up for the climax of the show, with a costume change for the last six tracks. These last few songs were arguably Angele’s biggest tracks to date. The song that most people here in England would recognise would be Fever, a Dua Lipa song that Angèle features on. A projection of Lipa was on the big green for nearly the entire track, an idea that was repeated when Damso delivers his featured verse on Demons. It’s been done before but was still effective on the night. The aforementioned Demons was the first song that Angèle played after the inevitable encore. It was bassy, and loud and filled the room with a demonic vibe. Harsh red lights were everywhere and the screen projected a hue of red smoke. It was intoxicatingly heavy, with the drummer giving it his all on this track in particular.
After a spectacular showcase of every individual dancer’s dance solos, the show ended on a high note with Bruxelles je t’aime. Everyone loves a happy ending, and it’s exactly what we got. A very happy crowd chanted the catchy chorus back to the live band and dancers as they all took turns bowing and thanking us for coming.
Cheer and applause were in abundance that night, and my description of it doesn’t paint nearly as good of an image as it should. It was one of those concerts where you had to be there to feel just how much love was in the room that evening. Throughout all twenty-five songs performed, not a foot was out of place, nor a note out of tune. Everyone played their part in delivering a lifelong experience I’ll never forget.
Angèle, je t’aime.
