Vanessa Paradis packs the Zénith with a show with very soulful accents

Started on March 26, Vanessa Paradis’ new Zénith tour sells out every evening. She is visiting Paris on May 21 and 22, more than six years after her last concert in the capital, in December 2019 at the Casino de Paris. She is on stage to celebrate The return of sunny daysliterally and figuratively (this is the title of his latest album, released last fall).

This impeccable record, produced with Étienne Daho and Jean-Louis Piérot, saw the singer reconnect with the soulful accents of the album she had made in 1992 with the American Lenny Kravitz. And it was almost an old-fashioned soul revue that she presented, accompanied by the group from the last tours of Étienne Daho and Jane Birkin (Colin Russeil on drums, Marcello Giuliani on bass, François Poggio on guitar and Jean-Louis Piérot on keyboards and guitar). As reinforcement, Vanessa Paradis enlisted the services of percussionist Natascha Rogers, and backing vocals from instrumentalists Adélaïde Songeons (trombone) and Olena Powichrowski (saxophone and flute).

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Album titles The return of sunny days take the lion’s share, imposing their color on the rest of a setlist which ensures to revisit the entirety of a discography begun almost 40 years ago. We feel the particular pleasure Vanessa Paradis takes in performing her new songs. Very assured, totally controlled, her voice is one of the strongest elements of the evening.

From bass to treble, the fifty-year-old is a very impressive singer, with a musicality that is never lacking. It is appropriate to salute the very fine work of arrangements carried out by Jean-Louis Piérot. Long-time accomplice of Étienne Daho after having worked with Bashung or Miossec, this multi-instrumentalist with sure tastes has taken care of things. Between Motown accents, modern soul, funk and disco, the group flourishes in the range of black American music and its derivatives. From the layers of strings of the Philadelphia sound to the inflections of certain Amy Winehouse titles, through the brass punctuations, the extended group plays with relish and accuracy. Hip-hop rhythm over here (Treasure), reggae dub sway over there (There is)Vanessa Paradis had never covered such a broad musical spectrum. With her glittery outfit and her knowing interventions, the mistress of ceremonies holds the crowd in her hands with great tact and charisma.

It is surprising that the superb Love Songsa long double album from 2013, is only mentioned through two songs only, but Vanessa Paradis does not fail to honor the work of her collaborators, from Étienne Roda-Gil to Samuel Benchetrit, including Serge Gainsbourg, Matthieu Chedid, Benjamin Biolay and Étienne Daho, who joins her on stage for a beautiful version of My lovewritten and composed by Adrien Gallo. Joe the Taxi benefits from a nice disco replay with a disco ball on the screen. The guitars of Poggio and Piérot roar on Commando et Tandemwhich takes on very Stone-like accents, before an encore devoted to the hits woven by Kravitz, and the very moving I am Alivedelivered on a simple rope mat.