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Le 15 août des fous:...
One thing's for sure, Acadians know how to throw a great party. Two parties in fact, both held on Friday, August 15, the Acadian National Holiday.
The Aberdeen Cultural Centre will host 'le 15 août des fous' with alternative musicians such as Syntax Error, Fayo and the well-known Idée du Nord. For those who like more traditional Acadian music, Dieppe's hosting an Acadian Day show that includes musicians Hert LeBlanc and the group Jigeu.
Le 15 août des fous has become a tradition in the local Acadian music scene. Each year, different musicians share the stage for the Acadian celebration. It's often been held on Main Street, where in 2005, over 10,000 people attended legendary Acadian group 1755's performance. This year's event will however be held at the Aberdeen Cultural Centre's Sommet Art Park, located right in front of the building. The event will include Acadian musicians Fayo, Lisa LeBlanc, Idée du Nord and Syntax Error, along with France's Marcel et son Orchestre and special guest Quebec's Xavier Caféïne. The event will include a beer garden and BBQ. The show will be held from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.
"We call ourselves 15 août des fous (those who are crazy) because we don't impose a specific frame on our performers," explains organizer Claudia Boucher. "We aren't afraid to function outside the norm. We aren't afraid, for example, to include English music. We're very open minded. We still want to promote French music, but we want people to know Acadie is now an urban society. There are Acadian musicians these days who make music that's more urban than traditional.
"We have in the last few years been able to change people's mentality in thinking that Acadian music had to be traditional."
Not heading down the traditional Acadian music road, is Idée du Nord. The very essence of this event is still present with the band, one of the original performers of le 15 août des fous in 1993. With a style of music band member Benoit Dugas calls indie-rock alternative, he speaks of the desire to be an alternative to traditional Acadian folkloric music.
"We wanted to create our own fun and offer the chance for groups that are more alternative and 'déglingués'." This group, along with Syntax Error, has become legendary for the role it's played on the alternative Acadian music scene. This has included being invited to play in 1999 for the Sommet de la Francophonie.
So is it going to be punk head-banging stuff? "Head banging," Dugas says. "No. We're not that bad. We sort of have a punk/alternative influence, but our music is very intellectual, with sort of jazz influences." The band likes the alternative approach because he feels Acadian music should be diverse.
"There are a lot of people in Acadie, we shouldn't just be led by one vision," he says. "We must have diversity in our society and also in Acadian music. We can have influences from everywhere around the world and reflect this in our lyrics."
Among the other names to look out for is the retro group Syntax Error, which still has a cult-like following in Moncton. Jean-Pierre Morin is pretty mum about his band, however. He says the band was founded in 1983 and that their music is both French and English. And of course he spoke about the fact that it's reflective of an alternative underground sort of punk sound that began in the eighties. "Just make something up," he told me. "Say anything you want." The whole point is not to take himself, or anyone for that matter, too seriously.
Fayo Mario LeBlanc, better known as Fayo, is a local young award-wining writer/musician who is making a name for himself in the Acadian music scene. He published his first book of poems, Taches de naissance, in 1999 and started his solo career as a musician soon after. His awards include the prestigious award for writer/performer at the Gala de la Chanson in Caraquet as well as the Prix Éloizes. He has since sold almost 8,000 copies of his albums and has made a name for himself as Acadie's favourite chiac musician.
Is Acadian music important in his life? "It's super important," he says. "In the sense that I dreamt of being a musician since I was young. Since then I've come to a better understanding of Acadian culture, both past and future and this has influenced my work."
This year will be a special moment for Fayo, since he'll be accepting an honourary award on behalf of his father who passed away recently, for his contribution to Acadian culture, which included being a founding member of the troop l'Escaouette.
Lisa LeBlanc is also taking part in the event, but brings a folk-acoustic sound. Although she's pretty much straight out of high school, organizer Claudia Boucher says LeBlanc is definitely one of the rising stars of New Brunswick music. She was the winner in the writer/composer/performer category of the Gala de la Chanson de Caraquet.
"We really appreciate Lisa's music," she says. "We're also trying to vary our music and she's our 'newcomer' this yea but one we feel will be taking over later on."
Quebec's Xavier Caféïne is extremely well-known in Quebec, where there's no one who doesn't know who he is.
"It's the kind of music you really want to listen to during a show," Boucher explains. "High energy, good stage presence... catchy music. We try to have a Quebec musician come each year." His style is best described as punk, glam-punk, rock 'n' roll garage and pop.
Marcel et son orchestre consists of nine people who are here in an exchange France/Acadie. Their music is described as pop/ska.
Dieppe residents are 80 per cent Francophone, so it's no big surprise that the city would be hosting a larger scale celebration starting with the traditional "tintamarre," a sort of noise making parade which will leave the Dieppe Community College at 6 p.m. heading toward the Place 1604 for the raising of the Acadian flag. Citizens are also welcome to decorate their houses. Then comes Jigeu who will be performing traditional Acadian music at Place 1604 at 7:30 p.m. followed by Hert LeBlanc at 10 p.m.
Although Jigeu was only founded in May of 2006, their songs have hit the top of the French music charts. Inspired by traditional Acadian music, the group of six musicians aims to make you clap your hands and stamp your feet while singing.
"Our goal is to bring back our ancestors' songs with a little added twist; sort of like a 'kitchen party'," says band member Rita Langis. "We want to give the best show possible, while remembering it's important to have the most fun possible while doing it." Because of this, the group displays a great deal of energy in their performances. Their repertoire includes extracts from Blou, 1755, Suroît, Bois Joli, Waylon Thibodeau, Marcella Richard as well as other Acadians artists, along with the group's original songs.
Hert LeBlanc has come to be known on the Acadian music scene as one of the stars of Acadian country music. Among his musical influences we find 1755, Zachary Richard, Suroît, and la Bottine souriante.
En passant...bonne fête des Acadiens à tout le monde.
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