Outdoor program of the 21st FrancoFolies de Montréal

21 years, 11 crazy days…
and 1 major celebration!

Montreal, Wednesday, July 15, 2009 - You only turn 21 once, and at Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, that calls for a party! This 21st edition, presented by Ford of Canada in collaboration with Molson Dry, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 9, 2009, promises to be even more explosive, more franco, and more fun. And this year, the largest celebration of francophone music takes place in a spanking new setting: Montreal’s downtown core has undergone a genuine metamorphosis, and this completely revamped environment is ready to welcome Francofans from around the world and showcase the very best of their music.

This gorgeous make-over bears many new names: the Place des Festivals-a perfect space to host all the Franco mania-the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan, the heart of the site-home to the pressroom, the magnificent live showroom L’Astral, and the Balmoral bistro, with its delectable menu, and its already popular Terrasse Côtes du Rhône… There will be plenty of new spaces and places to discover throughout this 21st edition, with sixty indoor concerts already announced, and an additional 180 free outdoor shows, including a multitude of massive free outdoor events.

Over eleven days, the Francos and the Quartier des spectacles assemble one thousand artists from no fewer than ten countries representing the francophone world: from France to Burkina Faso, Brazil to Cuba, and of course places closer to home, including New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The music of the francophonie is sounding better than ever, and with an array of musical newcomers and must-see icons, exciting prospects and seasoned veterans, the thrilling sounds of rock, hip hop, electro and folk will renew the FrancoFolies’ artistic reputation as a wildly diverse celebration showcasing all the colours of the musical rainbow!

A major free outdoor event every night on the Place des Festivals

In a programming master-stroke offered especially for this 21st edition, the Francos fires off a flurry of huge free outdoor events on the Place des Festivals. The party is going to be hotter than ever with an absolute record number of major free outdoor shows, featuring at least one fabulous blowout every single day. Most of these 12 events will be held on the Espace Ford stage. The main Francos stage has been specially relocated to the north end of the Place des Festivals, according to organizers’ original plans, which included a number of configurations in the interest of maximum user-friendliness.

Sept Mondes of music!

Like the entire francophone world, Les FrancoFolies de Montréal sing in many musical accents, delineated by the Sept Mondes (Seven Worlds). Each series offers a wide variety of francophone song in a full spectrum of colours, every day and every night.

Espace Ford

The Place des Festivals is the proud host of your first stop, Espace Ford! Here, fans will find the main stage of the outdoor site, home to most of the major free outdoor shows. Along with that array of big-time events in the Spectacles Ford Fusion Hybride series at 9 p.m., the Ford stage welcomes the Révélations Ford Fiesta series at 6 p.m., including dandy Florian Mona (July 31), bringing folk guitar, banjo, fillips of electronica and soothing lyrics; former Respectacles member Pascal Dufour (August 6) teaches us how to relax with Ici, le temps nous appartient, a groovy first album that breaks with his former rock sound; and lovely singer Geneviève Jodoin (August 8), whose pure, crystalline voice offers us the enveloping folk-pop of g, a debut album released in spring.

The Zone Molson Dry

This year, the Zone Molson Dry is located at the corner of Jeanne-Mance and Ste. Catherine Streets, the former site of the main Francos stage, and the place to be for all the exciting effervescence of youth! Les Shows Molson Dry presents two series, beginning at 8 p.m. with artists including Domlebo (August 2), former drummer of the Cowboys Fringants who, ever seeking new musical challenges, handles everything on his new album, Grand Naïf: songwriting, guitar, drums, vocals… The Ariel quintet (August 5), the big winners of the Francouvertes, with their angst-pop, psycho-indie and paranoid-rock, are nothing less than the surprise of this year’s new francophone crop, while Les Handclaps (August 6) set skirts a-twirlin’ with their kitschy yé-yé-electropop garage, sung in French, English, Spanish and German. At 11 p.m., get ready to step things up with rock star Antoine Gratton (July 31) and the ’70s funk-meets-electropop of his album, Le problème avec Antoine. One is bearded, one has sideburns, both can sing and are funny as hell: get ready for Les Denis Drolet chantent Plume (August 2). We eagerly await new music from Drummondville’s Kaïn (August 4), back after the uplifting music of their last album, Les saisons s’tassent. The following day (August 5), catch Patrik et les Brutes-and androgynous glam-rock singer Plastik Patrik-as the fearless garage-dance group discofies the masses with songs from Toutes les filles sont folles de moi, due out soon. Then gird yourself for the absolute wildness of subversive hardcore punk band The Sainte Catherines (August 7)!

The Place Loto‑Québec

The Place Loto-Québec, located on De Maisonneuve Blvd. between Jeanne-Mance and St. Urbain Streets, is synonymous with musical discovery and celebration! At 8 p.m., Les Découvertes Loto-Québec unveil the dark, heavy new side of Carl-Éric Hudon (August 1), who drew inspiration from parks, nighttime and helicopters for his latest album, Contre le tien ananas bongo love; the melancholy folk-rock and polished, expressive lyrics of Keith Kouna (August 5), presenting a highly-anticipated evening of surrealism; and Patrick Pleau (August 6), coming on soaringly, energetically ’70s-style: Malajube plays Paul McCartney, in French, my dear. In the Chanson festive Loto-Québec series, at 10:30 p.m., the folk-roots rhythms of Gaspé native Guillaume Arsenault (August 1) take us on a road trip through Americana, while the boys in Yelo Molo (August 5), four albums and ten years to the good, return in fine fettle with a second wind and a brand new album, due towards the end of summer; we’ll also catch Francis Farley-Lemieux’s group Bernadette (August 8), inspired by traditional music and named for a generous grandma who bore and raised 11 children.

The Monde multiculturel Hydro‑Québec

In the Monde multiculturel Hydro-Québec, located in Parc Hydro‑Québec, next to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Les Spectacles multiculturels Hydro‑Québec present a foretaste of a future without musical boundaries at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Begin with the sublime desert diva Oumou Soumaré (August 1) singing of peace, love, women’s issues and society with disarming authenticity; move on to Marseille’s vocal sextet Lo Còr de La Plana (August 2) and the originality of their energetic, powerful, modern and stunningly rhythmic polyphony; and add in Carlos Placeres (August 7), a dance-music troubadour serving up Puro café, a blend of groove, pop and contemporary Cuban song.

The Monde FrancoFou le Lait

The whole family is invited to the Complexe Desjardins entrance, for the Monde FrancoFou le Lait. Throughout the Festival, fans can enjoy the Place de la famille le Lait and a program of free family activities: balloon animals, mini-workshops in painting and origami, entertainment with marionettes and jugglers… The Spectacle familial le Lait series is an absolute must for families in search of fun! From July 30 to August 2 and on August 7 & 8, Claude, Carlos, Rodolphe and Martin from Petites Tounes break out the kazoos, bombos, charengos and mandolins to present a playful, zany show full of songs and sketches. From August 3 to 6, it’s Benoît Archambault’s turn to entertain kids of all ages with Sourires. On the menu: comical songs, amusing stories and tons of fun! All these activities will be held in the Grande-Place in complexe Desjardins.

The Monde FrancoFou le Lait also hosts a panoply of colourful performers and personalities in the Rythmes le Lait series at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Catch Cafe Elektric: un nouveau collectif mené par Michel Cusson (July 30), a new cinema-rock project that’s featured Térez Montcalm and Luck Mervil; Marie-Annick Lépine and Catherine Durand (August 4), offering a ladies’ night out, teaming up on one another’s songs; and Paul Cargnello (August 5), a dizzyingly creative punk poet who has discovered the secret of blending reggae, R&B, folk-rock and Cajun music.

The Monde urbain Vidéotron

The Monde urbain Vidéotron takes over Clark St., between Ste. Catherine and De Montigny Streets, at the intersection of dance and rap! In the Soirées urbaines Vidéotron series, at 9 p.m., electropop trio 011 (August 1) brings the infinite possibilities of sequencers and synthetic textures of the album Calcul désintégral. Rapper and businessman Papaz (August 3), standard-bearer of famed Quebec hip hop label Iro Productions, brings us the aptly-titled 3 and Kodiak (August plunges into world music with La Mécanique, coloured soul, R&B and dub. At 11 p.m., the Nuits urbaines Vidéotron series ramps up with the ’80s-style rhythmic rap of PAYZ PLAY and the disco-mirrorball melodies of aRTIST oF tHE yEAR (July 30), united to thrill hip hop fans and dancefloor denizens. Next, dynamic duo Orange Orange (August 1) bring conceptual songs, sex appeal, delirious distorsion and krazy kitsch, while Mad’MoiZèle GIRAF (August 4) meld hip hop, Québécois culture and observant writing into an appealingly ragamuffin sound.

Also, every night at 8 p.m., discover Montreal electronica trio French Kiss; at 8:30 p.m., VOX invites them to Mes Francos, hosted by Marc Denoncourt and featuring rising stars on the new scene and major names from the francophone music world; from 9 p.m. to midnight, Murales laser invites fans to create a design with an electronic laser projected on the façade of a building on Ste. Catherine St.; finally, illico digital TV invites fans to enjoy karaoké featuring 50 songs from the Québécois repertoire, available on channel 900.

The Espace vert Desjardins

Perfectly located between Place des Arts and the Musée d’art contemporain, the Espace vert Desjardins is a must for Francofans … and their fave up-and-coming artists! From August 3 to 7, in the Midis Desjardins series, Du haut des airs celebrates inventiveness and effervescence in a concert uniting four artists from Belgium, France, Quebec and Switzerland. In the Nouvelle chanson Desjardins series, presented at 5 p.m., the Espace vert stage welcomes Cindy Doire (July 31), a Franco-Ontarian singer-songwriter with a jazzy, loungey, blues-roots vibe; Imbert Imbert (August 2), the Montpellier native known for his melodic poetry and poetic melodicism; and Éric Bélanger (August 4), a singer-songwriter whose joyous melancholy sounds like Schubert in a pop song on Bananaspleen. Next, at 9 p.m., the Espoirs Desjardins series proves traditional music can be innovative, with the Chic Gamine quintet (July 30) from Winnipeg, and Lac Estion (August 5) illustrating the power of wordplay, emotion and pop-rock, and young quartet Casabon (August 5) livin’ large with their appealing, humourous folk-rock (winners of the Prix des FrancoFolies at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby). Still at 9 p.m., over in the Grande-Place in Complexe Desjardins, take a trip with Maytiss (August 1), a local group blending Creole influences, Caribbean rhythms, reggae melodies and a modern-tribal feel; the zany boys of Malade Mantra (August whisk fans away with Le Bal d’été, a festive, transcendent fusion of pop-rock, ska and reggae sure to fire up the site!

Please note that the Mouvement des caisses Desjardins continues its association with the FrancoFolies recycling program. Along with sensitizing the public to the importance of recycling, the Équipe de ratissage écologique Desjardins will collect all recyclable trash around the stages and transport it to the sorting centre located on the Francos site.

The Tente slam Pepsi

It’s brand-new! The Tente slam Pepsi, on the corner of De Bleury St. and De Maisonneuve Blvd., will thrill and energize Francofans in search of sincerity and sanity. The Acoustiques Pepsi series, every evening at 7 p.m., stars fave artists performing unplugged: welcome duo Monsieur Mono / Sylvie Paquette (August 2), who fuse his nostalgia and her sensuality; Davy Sicard (August 4 and 5) brings us rich and spellbinding melodies sung in French and Creole; the Placard-Macbeth duo (August 6), presenting the results of a Quebec road trip and a new CD of their respective hits in acoustic mode. At 10:30 p.m., the Soirées slam Pepsi series presents slam artists in the raw. Don’t miss Ivy (July 30 and 31) accompanied by her group, who blew away an audience last year in the Hip Rap Rock series; Tristan Malavoy (August 1 and 2), accompanied by his group and special guest Amylie, already opening for Julien Doré; former Atach Tatuq member Khyro (August 3 and 4), with his clarinet, and the accompaniment of machines and special guests; Marie-Paule Grimaldi et cie (August 5), with the poetic performer and her friends presenting the show Des filles qui ont de la gueule; Elkhana Talbi alias Queen KA (August 6 and 7), accompanied by a DJ; and finally, Erlenmeyer (August 8), an assemblage of poets and musicians including two members of Pierre Lapointe’s band.

Les Partys du Shag Molson Dry

Les Partys du Shag Molson Dry are back by popular demand! These energetic soirées star well-known figures from the music world, playing DJ for a night and spinning platters until the last dancer drops! Singer-songwriter, pianist and surrealist Arthur H (August 3), Franco-bizarro songwriter Pierre Lapointe (August 4), Breastfeeder members Luc Brien and Suzie McLelove (August 5) and journalists, hosts and absolute musical reference points Anne‑Marie Withenshaw and Rebecca Makonnen (August 7) are but a few of the personalities expected in the nighttime musical demi-monde of the Shag, the temporary Francos bar, located in Savoy du Métropolis, from midnight to 3 a.m.

The winners of the 2008 Prix Félix‑Leclerc de la chanson
perform at the Francos

Every year, the Prix Félix-Leclerc de la chanson showcases two winners, one from Quebec and one from France, in concerts in major-league musical events on either side of the Atlantic: the FrancoFolies de Montréal and the Alors…Chante! festival in Montauban. In keeping with tradition, the two winners from the previous year perform here at the FrancoFolies de Montréal. Fans can discover Montpellier native Mathias Imbert, alias Imbert Imbert (August 2, 5 p.m., Espace vert Desjardins): performing solo, the melodic poetry and poetic melodicism of his Débat de boue leaves programmers and punters swooning in his wake. Our Quebec winner is Catherine Major (August 2, 7 p.m., Club Soda, with opening act Sammy De Coster): nominated in three categories at the 2008 Gala de l’ADISQ (taking home a Félix for best production), winner of a Jutra for the soundtrack to the film Le Ring, she’s a universally acclaimed and simply stunning performer!

The free Grand Concours des Francos 2009:
over $30,000 in prizes!

Festival fans will be thrilled to rediscover the free Grand Concours des Francos and enjoy a chance to win magnificent prizes offered by our sponsors. More than $30,000 worth of prizes will be awarded:

Grand prize: a 24-month lease on one of 4 Ford vehicles;

2nd prize: two weekend trips to James Bay for two, offered by Hydro‑Québec, including transportation by Hydro‑Québec airplane and bus, guided visit to the Robert‑Bourassa Generating Station and La Grande-1, food and lodging at L’Auberge Radisson;

3rd prize: a one-year subscription to the Vidéotron Quattro package, including high-speed internet, digital video recorder and subscription to illico digital television Mega package, cable telephone, wireless telephone;

4th prize: two plane tickets to Paris, offered by Air Transat;

5th prize: a compact disc collection-over 50 CDs featuring artists participating in Les FrancoFolies 2009-offered by Loto‑Québec;

6th prize: a gift pack courtesy of by SIRIUS Satellite Radio, including a recent-model car radio and a 1-year subscription.

Entering the contest is easy! The public is invited to experience Les FrancoFolies de Montréal and to enter using any of the on-site interactive terminals between July 30 and August 9; the terminals are located near the Ford car podiums, and entries must be made before midnight. People may also register on-line or view the contest rules at francofolies.com. The contest is reserved for persons 18 and over.

Le Grand Concours des Francos 2009 is presented by Ford in collaboration with La Presse, RockDétente 107,3 Montréal, CKOI 96,9 FM and Info 690.

Listen to the FrancoFolies anywhere in Quebec!

Those who found themselves being drawn in by the great music at the Francos-at indoor venues and on the outdoor site-will be thrilled to learn that their favourite music can follow them around wherever they go with the Galaxie FrancoFolies de Montréal music channel, available exclusively at Vidéotron. This channel showcases artists and groups presented at the 2009 FrancoFolies. Galaxie FrancoFolies de Montréal is available only to illico Digital TV subscribers on channel 546, and to Vidéotron high-speed Internet subscribers at videotron.com/francos. The network will broadcast on the Francos site, from July 30 to August 9.

Thanks to our partners

A cultural event of this quality would not be possible without the participation and loyalty of our public and private partners, first and foremost Ford Canada, the official presenter of the event, and Molson Dry, its co-presenter. Thanks to Government of Canada-Economic Development Canada, Heritage Canada and Industry Canada. We offer particular thanks to the Government of Québec for its renewed support-the ministère du Tourisme, the ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire., the SODEC and the Secrétariat à la politique linguistique. Thanks to the Ville de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, MUSICACTION, SOCAN and our overseas partners the Consulat général de France, Cultures France and SACEM.Thanks also go out to Loto‑Québec, Vidéotron, Hydro‑Québec, the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec, the Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, Air Transat, Radio Satellite SIRIUS, CBC Television, ARTV, Hyatt, Jura, Pepsi, Fromages CDA and Vital Link.

Everything you need to know about the Francos

The official Francos program and free official brochure provide all the necessary information on the indoor program of this 21st edition of the FrancoFolies de Montréal, with 100,000 programs and 175,000 brochures now available in participating concert venues, and most record stores, bookshops public areas and major businesses in downtown Montreal. Outside of the metropolitan area, free copies can be ordered by telephone through the Vidéotron Info‑Francos line at 514-876‑8989 or toll-free at 1 888 444‑9114. Information can also be found on our website, at francofolies.com.

We hope to see you at the 21st edition of the FrancoFolies de Montréal, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 9, 2009.

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