Maybe I’m being a bit too sensitive. Maybe I’m nit-picking and missing the big picture here. But it’s a bit odd to listen to anglo music during a sound check for Les Francofolies. Surely there’s an Isabelle Boulay or Marie-Mai CD they could stick in instead?
UPDATE (July 20): From an actual performance at the FrancoFolies, Seven Nation Army (or “Seven Army Nation,” as it’s introduced):
Meh. I get your point.
But do you really want the head organizers of the festival to regulate which music can or can not be used during sound checks? Sounds like a bad case of micromanagement to me.
I’m not calling for regulations or micromanagement.
Or maybe this is an attempt at justifying the need for this festival.
Look! Everyone listens to English music, even the sound tech guys! We’re being assimilated! We must create French music opportunities!
Celine Dion or Paul McCartney!
Pick your side.
You may be a little too sensitive. I hope Gilles Duceppe and Pauline Marois don’t get a hold of this. They will surely use it to stir up a manufactured controversy to advance their dead end option. This is Montreal and we are all “bi”.
Next you’ll be wanting jazz at the JazzFest, sheesh!
Yeah that’s nitpicky.
Call les Jeunes Patriotes, Steve. They’ll issue a statement,
yes, fagstein. you ARE being too sensitive… as usual.
At least it’s a song written by a Montrealer! Possibly even written a few blocks from where the photo was taken.
Several years ago I was a judge for a car stereo competition at the old Auto Audio in N.D.G. We had to use a competition-sanctioned Alpine test CD as a baseline reference for all cars, and the Jennifer Warnes cover of “Bird On A Wire” was the first song on the disc. I must have had to listen to that song at least 100 times that day and avoided her album Famous Blue Raincoat for years after that.
It turns out it was one of the best-sounding recordings of the mid-80s (recorded digitally–remember that coveted “DDD” code on the back of CD cases?) and is STILL being used to evaluate sound systems, especially for the vocals. Maybe the FF sound tech was also using it to balance the front-of-house sound?
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
The Francofolies is a festival for musicians not good enough to be part of the Jazz Festival.
And you base this ridiculous assertion on what?
I could see at least one possibility. The Montreal Jazz Festival & Francofolies are both connected, through Alain Simard(he founded & still runs both events to my knowledge). So I could see Anne’s point(at least it’s possible). You don’t have to play jazz to be invited by Montreal Jazz Festival(heavy metal & alternative bands have played at the Jazz Festival in recent years), & I’m not sure you have to sing in French to play at Francofolies. Well known Italian singer Carmen Consoli sang at Francofolies over the weekend(from what I know, she doesn’t sing anything in French & doesn’t speak the language).
Forget about the sound check. I’ve actually heard an artist sign in English at The Francofolies a few years back.
actually, it depends on where the sound and lighting company is from, and the personal preferences of the sound engineer. Each and every one of us who has done this sort of work has a cd or a mp3 set of songs we are use to hearing, and that we are comfortable to hear as reference. we know them very well, and know what they are suppose to sound like. They are often selected because they match the type of music that will be played, or the that they happen to have some very good sonic points in them for reference.
I suspect that nobody was paying attention, it really isn’t important (except maybe to the SJBS, and they can “suck it up, buttercup”.