Marc Dupré At Fête Nationale

The events may change, but the crowd chants of "Marc! Marc! Marc!" are always the same.  The Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture put on their annual Fête Nationale party this past Thursday night and the headliner was Québec's crown prince of Pop and Rock, Marc Dupré.  Though the clouds had parted by the time he took the stage, I think it's fairly safe to say that it would have taken more than a few rain drops to keep a crowd that has been waiting for two years from celebrating with one of their best known vedettes.  Sure enough, the chants of "Marc! "Marc!" Marc!" began to rain down as soon as his backing band hit the stage ended didn't end until the man himself hit the stage and the crowd decided to sing along to the tunes they had been waiting to hear.  His most recent album, Où sera le monde, was released last year and its title track was nominated for Song of the Year at the most recent ADISQ awards, adding to an already long list of award nominations and wins.  The first photogaph was taken at  f/2.8. 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of his performance.

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 42mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 55mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 55mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 55mm

f/18, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 55mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 25mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 47mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/4000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Marc Dupré and his music, you can do so by following the link to his website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of Geneviève Borne & Friends and Annie Blanchard, you can do so by following the links.  A big thanks to the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture for getting me a pass to photograph the concerts.  As always, the opportunity was very much appreciated.

Annie Blanchard At Fête Nationale

It was a rainy night on the streets of Longueuil last Thursday, but the clouds broke just in time for the music to begin at the big Fête Nationale festivities organized by the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture.  The first artist to hit the stage was Annie Blanchard.  Bursting onto the scene as the female finalist in the 2005 edition of Star Académie, she has been sharing her brand of Country music ever since.  She rose to fame on her interpretation of the song Évangéline, which went on to win the ADISQ award for Song of the Year in 2006.  She has gone on to record 6 albums, the most recent of which, Hurricane, was released last year.  She credited the crowd for chasing away the rain crowds, but one could argue that maybe it was the Sun that pushed them out in order to hear her sing.  Both arguments have merit.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs of her performance.

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 59mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/2000sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 35mm

f/3.2 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 39mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 35mm

If you'd like to find out more about Annie Blanchard and her music, you can do so by following the link to her website.  If you'd like to see the photographs of Geneviève Borne & Friends and Marc Dupré, you can do so by following the previous links.  The rain clouds did indeed pass, showing Annie Blanchard to the the ultimate opening act.  Not only did she get the crowd going, but she was able to conjure more favourable meteorological conditions as well.  What can't this great performer do?

Geneviève Borne & Friends At Fête Nationale

June 24th may be the official date of our National Holiday, but the city of Longueuil usually gets the festivities off with a big bang the night before.  Thanks to the kind folks at Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture, I had a pass to shoot the festivities that were taking part up on the main stage.  Our master of ceremonies for the occasion was someone well known to us cable TV kids of the 1990s.  Geneviève Borne first gained our attention as a VJ at Musique Plus, back when the station actually played music videos.  Since then, she has been a mainstay of Québec pop culture, handling various radio, television and internet related media.  On this night, other than being our host with the most, she was also responsible for closing the evening as she made sure the crowd danced the night away as DJ.  I don't have much experience shooting DJ's, so I tried to focus on some of her movements behind the computer.  To add a little something more to the post, I've also added some photographs of her 'friends', who made speeches during the evening.  Up on the stage were Longueuil mayor Catherine Fournier, Members of National Assembly for the CAQ Lionel Carmant and Shirley Dorismond, Member of the House of Commons of Canada Denis Trudel and City of Longueuil councilor Carl Lévesque.  Quite the distinguished guest list.  Once the speeches were out of the way, it was time for the party to continue.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/2000sec, ISO 1600 at 59mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 26mm.  Here are several more photographs of their time on stage.

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 59mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 53mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 35mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 63mm

If you'd like to find out more about Geneviève Borne you can do so by following the link to her website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of Annie Blanchard and Marc Dupré, you can do so by following the links. On with the festivities!