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Youssou N'Dour at Bercy
Mbalax Fever Comes to Paris
Paris
16/10/2001 -
Cutting a tiny figure in the crowd jam-packed into the grandstand at Bercy stadium to welcome Youssou N'Dour, 19-year old Awa can barely contain her emotion. Clasping the arms of her two best friends, decked out in their trendy weekend outfits, Awa may not know how to dance the mbalax. But who cares? They scream and shout at the top of their voices, anyway, leaping up from their seats to join the crowd in the "Ola" wave which has been going round the stadium for the past two hours.
As audience anticipation reaches a feverish high, Youssou makes a dramatic entrance on stage at half past midnight, rising up on a huge platform and stepping out beneath the spotlights in a gleaming white robe. He launches straight into a catchy version of Birima and the crowd are away, dancing as if possessed. Awa throws herself into her dancing body and soul, pausing only to glance proudly at her friends and declare: "It's incredible! I just can't help myself! I was so worried my friends would be disappointed if they came to a show like we have back home. People often say the real thing is never as good as on TV, that you don't get the special effects and the magic. But this is amazing! Just look at my friends – they came to see Assia tonight and now they're completely hooked on You!".
It was Awa's father who allowed her to bring her two best French friends along to Youssou's "Grand Bal", an event which Awa's whole family have spent the past three months getting excited about. Everyone expected a strong turn-out from France's Senegalese community, but no-one expected as big a turn-out as this for the second edition of the "Grand Bal". Indeed, not even Youssou's most committed fans could have dreamt that the singer would achieve the extraordinary feat of packing 17,000 people into the "Palais Omnisports" at Bercy. Far from being a purely African audience, the 17,000-strong crowd are a veritable melting-pot of races and cultures. But Youssou's compatriots have turned out in force from the Paris region and thousands more have arrived from the provinces by car and train. Whatever their nationality, Youssou's fans appear to have one sole idea in mind: to party all night long! (Mission accomplished, judging by the thousands of tired but happy faces spotted at Gare de Lyon and Gare de Montparnasse Sunday morning at dawn!)
The phenomenal success of Youssou's second "Grand Bal" was confirmed by the crowd hanging round outside Bercy two hours into the show. Judging by the hundreds of fans trying to pick up last-minute tickets, Youssou easily rivals today's chart celebrities and the crowned kings of international pop. The majority of fans seeking last-minute tickets were teenage kids from the suburbs, but there was also a fair smattering of adults willing to cough up 500 francs to black-market ticket touts. A huge turn-out of second-generation Senegalese immigrants, aged between 15 and 18, clamoured at the doors too. 500 francs dampened the enthusiasm of N’Diaye, a fan of hardcore rap group Secteur A, who had come from Sarcelles in the northern suburbs to see Youssou N'Dour. But he still proclaimed You to be "someone the whole continent is proud of! He's really cool and we have a maximum of respect for him." "I really wanted to see the show," N'Diaye adds, "because everyone told me it's just like it is over in Senegal, so I was interested because I've never been there myself!" Youssou, whose successful world tours and fund-raising humanitarian work have put him firmly on the musical map, confirmed his international reputation by topping the charts with his mega-hit single Seven Seconds (recorded with Neneh Cherry). The Senegalese star has built up a strong following of fans worldwide with his infectious 'world fusion' sound mixing traditional rhythms from his homeland with pop and soul influences. And these fusion hits, performed in Wolof and English during the first half of his Bercy show, certainly hit the right spot, pushing the already ecstatic crowd into a state bordering on collective hysteria. The temperature rose even further when Assia, the Maghrebin diva who is currently making it big on the French R’n'B scene, took to the stage as Youssou's first guest star and took Neneh Cherry's role on the duet Seven Seconds . Assia then went on to bring the house down with her current hit Elle est à toi , which was greeted with shouts and rapturous applause by all the teenage fans in the stadium. Led by super-talented guitarist Jimmy Mbaye, Youssou's backing band "le Super Etoile de Dakar" went on to pour out hit after hit. Then, accompanied by keyboard wizard Jean-Philippe Rykiel, the band welcomed Youssou's second guest star, Nuttea, on stage. The French raggaman/crooner whose husky vocals made Trop peu de temps such a hit, stoked the crowd's excitement still further. And the show had already been going for a full three hours when Youssou leapt back on stage to join Nuttea for a duet on Bamba. This was obviously going to be a hard act to follow, but the crowd went wild for Youssou's next duet (My Hope is in You ) with M’passi, the Franco-Congolese diva from Mel Groove (best known for her backing vocals with African collective Bisso Na Bisso). And by the time the next guest star, Koffi Olomidé, took to the stage, the crowd was in overdrive.
When Youssou, the king of 'mbalax', launched into a rousing a cappella version of Africa Unite - a song which pays tribute to Cheick Anta Diop, Kwame Nkrumah, Steve Biko and fellow freedom fighters - the crowd leapt to their feet in a standing ovation, holding their hands over their hearts. Meanwhile, a Senegalese flag unfurled from one of the grandstands and the spotlights caught a tear trailing down the cheeks of DIT COMBAT, a young reggae singer who had travelled from London on Saturday afternoon to come and cheer on "our big brother". Youssou had been encouraged to come and stage a second "Grand Bal" at Bercy by his French fans who, unable to go and see him perform at "Le Thiossane" (the nightclub he owns in Dakar) had urged him to recreate the ambience of "Le Thiossane" in Paris. The second half of Youssou's Bercy appearance was devoted to doing just that. Kicked off, rather timidly, by one of Dakar's leading female talents Ndèye Marie Ndiaye at 3 a.m., the second half of Youssou's show also featured a guest appearance from Ndiaga Mbaye (a singer to whom Youssou paid tribute on his 1997 album). Mbaye was met with a round of thunderous applause from the crowd, as were Toubabou Dior and Manga II, a pair of African wrestlers whom Youssou invited up on stage, declaring that, far from being just an ordinary sport, wrestling was an integral part of Senegalese culture. (Toubabou and Manga II did not actually entertain the crowd with an on-stage bout as planned, but their presence elicited an enthusiastic response from the crowd nevertheless!) The second half of the show was not to everyone's liking, however. Awa and her friends deserted the grandstand shortly after 3 a.m., claiming they were not "into the really traditional stuff performed in Wolof." The majority of the 1,000-strong EuropeaJudging by fans' tired but happy faces as they left Bercy in the early hours of Sunday morning, the second edition of the "Grand Bal" had been an overwhelming success. If nothing else, it certainly confirmed Youssou N'Dour as the greatest living star on the African continent and a man capable of taking his intelligent "musical crossover" to the four corners of the world.
It was Awa's father who allowed her to bring her two best French friends along to Youssou's "Grand Bal", an event which Awa's whole family have spent the past three months getting excited about. Everyone expected a strong turn-out from France's Senegalese community, but no-one expected as big a turn-out as this for the second edition of the "Grand Bal". Indeed, not even Youssou's most committed fans could have dreamt that the singer would achieve the extraordinary feat of packing 17,000 people into the "Palais Omnisports" at Bercy. Far from being a purely African audience, the 17,000-strong crowd are a veritable melting-pot of races and cultures. But Youssou's compatriots have turned out in force from the Paris region and thousands more have arrived from the provinces by car and train. Whatever their nationality, Youssou's fans appear to have one sole idea in mind: to party all night long! (Mission accomplished, judging by the thousands of tired but happy faces spotted at Gare de Lyon and Gare de Montparnasse Sunday morning at dawn!)
The phenomenal success of Youssou's second "Grand Bal" was confirmed by the crowd hanging round outside Bercy two hours into the show. Judging by the hundreds of fans trying to pick up last-minute tickets, Youssou easily rivals today's chart celebrities and the crowned kings of international pop. The majority of fans seeking last-minute tickets were teenage kids from the suburbs, but there was also a fair smattering of adults willing to cough up 500 francs to black-market ticket touts. A huge turn-out of second-generation Senegalese immigrants, aged between 15 and 18, clamoured at the doors too. 500 francs dampened the enthusiasm of N’Diaye, a fan of hardcore rap group Secteur A, who had come from Sarcelles in the northern suburbs to see Youssou N'Dour. But he still proclaimed You to be "someone the whole continent is proud of! He's really cool and we have a maximum of respect for him." "I really wanted to see the show," N'Diaye adds, "because everyone told me it's just like it is over in Senegal, so I was interested because I've never been there myself!" Youssou, whose successful world tours and fund-raising humanitarian work have put him firmly on the musical map, confirmed his international reputation by topping the charts with his mega-hit single Seven Seconds (recorded with Neneh Cherry). The Senegalese star has built up a strong following of fans worldwide with his infectious 'world fusion' sound mixing traditional rhythms from his homeland with pop and soul influences. And these fusion hits, performed in Wolof and English during the first half of his Bercy show, certainly hit the right spot, pushing the already ecstatic crowd into a state bordering on collective hysteria. The temperature rose even further when Assia, the Maghrebin diva who is currently making it big on the French R’n'B scene, took to the stage as Youssou's first guest star and took Neneh Cherry's role on the duet Seven Seconds . Assia then went on to bring the house down with her current hit Elle est à toi , which was greeted with shouts and rapturous applause by all the teenage fans in the stadium. Led by super-talented guitarist Jimmy Mbaye, Youssou's backing band "le Super Etoile de Dakar" went on to pour out hit after hit. Then, accompanied by keyboard wizard Jean-Philippe Rykiel, the band welcomed Youssou's second guest star, Nuttea, on stage. The French raggaman/crooner whose husky vocals made Trop peu de temps such a hit, stoked the crowd's excitement still further. And the show had already been going for a full three hours when Youssou leapt back on stage to join Nuttea for a duet on Bamba. This was obviously going to be a hard act to follow, but the crowd went wild for Youssou's next duet (My Hope is in You ) with M’passi, the Franco-Congolese diva from Mel Groove (best known for her backing vocals with African collective Bisso Na Bisso). And by the time the next guest star, Koffi Olomidé, took to the stage, the crowd was in overdrive.
When Youssou, the king of 'mbalax', launched into a rousing a cappella version of Africa Unite - a song which pays tribute to Cheick Anta Diop, Kwame Nkrumah, Steve Biko and fellow freedom fighters - the crowd leapt to their feet in a standing ovation, holding their hands over their hearts. Meanwhile, a Senegalese flag unfurled from one of the grandstands and the spotlights caught a tear trailing down the cheeks of DIT COMBAT, a young reggae singer who had travelled from London on Saturday afternoon to come and cheer on "our big brother". Youssou had been encouraged to come and stage a second "Grand Bal" at Bercy by his French fans who, unable to go and see him perform at "Le Thiossane" (the nightclub he owns in Dakar) had urged him to recreate the ambience of "Le Thiossane" in Paris. The second half of Youssou's Bercy appearance was devoted to doing just that. Kicked off, rather timidly, by one of Dakar's leading female talents Ndèye Marie Ndiaye at 3 a.m., the second half of Youssou's show also featured a guest appearance from Ndiaga Mbaye (a singer to whom Youssou paid tribute on his 1997 album). Mbaye was met with a round of thunderous applause from the crowd, as were Toubabou Dior and Manga II, a pair of African wrestlers whom Youssou invited up on stage, declaring that, far from being just an ordinary sport, wrestling was an integral part of Senegalese culture. (Toubabou and Manga II did not actually entertain the crowd with an on-stage bout as planned, but their presence elicited an enthusiastic response from the crowd nevertheless!) The second half of the show was not to everyone's liking, however. Awa and her friends deserted the grandstand shortly after 3 a.m., claiming they were not "into the really traditional stuff performed in Wolof." The majority of the 1,000-strong EuropeaJudging by fans' tired but happy faces as they left Bercy in the early hours of Sunday morning, the second edition of the "Grand Bal" had been an overwhelming success. If nothing else, it certainly confirmed Youssou N'Dour as the greatest living star on the African continent and a man capable of taking his intelligent "musical crossover" to the four corners of the world.
What's more, if all goes according to plan, Youssou will be back in Paris for another "Grand Bal" next year. After all, as Mickael Soumah, a star presenter on Radio-Télévision Sénégalaise, pointed out "The 'Grand Bal' has become a veritable institution. It's a fantastic showcase for Senegalese culture." Having danced away at Bercy all night ourselves, we couldn't agree more!
Alex Siewe
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