Games of la
Francophonie
Canada in Song: Karkwa Rocks the Casino in Beirut
September 30th - Karkwa brilliantly opened the song competition at the Casino du Liban theatre. The five-member group, fronted by singer Louis-Jean Cormier, gave a solid 20-minute performance, displaying the talent that earned them a Félix Award at the Gala de l’ADISQ in Quebec in 2008.
On a sparse stage, with lighting and design reminiscent of Radiohead, Karkwa played four songs from their latest disk, Le volume du vent. The band began with Le Compteur and followed up with Combien and its beautifully written lyrics about war and prejudice. The alternative-rock group then seduced the crowd with Oublie pas, a song that has been very successful in Quebec, and ended the show on a rock note with La façade. The four songs demonstrated the versatility of the musicians and highlighted the quality of the group’s lyrics.
“It’s hard to pick four songs. We racked our brains trying to figure out if we needed a strategy or not,” said Louis-Jean Cormier. “Finally, we chose songs that we liked and that we thought the crowd would like. We also wanted to give the jury an overall impression of our musical universe and the direction we’re going in.”
We won’t know until the end of the week if the group qualified for the finals. But, one thing is certain— Karkwa did Team Canada proud and made an impression on everyone who saw them perform.