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Youssou N'Tour
On the Road with the Senegalese Star
Paris
30/06/2004 -
Friday, 21 May. One o'clock in the morning – time to leave Dakar for a new series of adventures! I'm off to Paris for my fourth "Grand Bal." The Grand Bal's become a major event for the Senegalese community in France these days. They turn out to the show in force because they know they're going to have a good time with me and my band, the Super Etoile. What's more, the fun goes on all night long! What I try and do with the "Grand Bal" is create the same atmosphere as in my Dakar nightclub, Le Thiossane. It's like transporting Le Thiossane to Paris for one night and recreating the club at the venue where I made my European debut. I played at Bercy for a month, you know. That was back in '85 with Jacques Higelin and Mory Kante.
When I arrive in Paris, I drop off my things at my place at 9.30, then fall into bed and sleep until 2. Then it's time for action. Off to Studio + to rehearse for the show tomorrow with my guest stars, Rokia Traoré, Jacob Desvarieux and Jocelyne Beroard. I met Rokia when we did a remix of La cour des grands, which was the World Cup anthem in 98; we recorded a special version for Mali. But I'd never realised just how big a hit the song had become in France. It's incredible!
Saturday, 22 May. The big day! Get to Bercy at 4 in the afternoon to do a series of soundchecks with the musicians, but there's a whole bunch of journalists and reporters from Senegalese TV waiting for me to do a press conference. That means the soundchecks don't actually happen until 6.30. I finally get to hook up with my staff from Dakar who I've invited along as a special end-of-year treat. The stage at Bercy is really amazing. There's this gigantic screen which relays images from seven video cameras set up at different angles around the stage. There's always a problem when you play big stadium venues like Bercy and that is making sure people can see you OK. I think the problem's solved this year, though. I wanted to offer fans maximum visibility this time round!
I kick off the show with a blast from the past, playing Live TV, a number from the 80s which still seems to go down pretty well. I'm up on stage 4 hours non-stop and there are no unexpected hitches whatsoever – not like last year when I split my trousers halfway through the show! It's a bit of a marathon performance, but I'm used to long shows. Finally get home at 5 in the morning, feeling completely wiped out, and fall straight into bed.
Sunday, 23 May. Sunday night we round up the entire team and hit the town. We do the black clubs on the Parisscene, dropping into Le Titan and L’Alizée. My percussionist, Mbaye Diaye Faye, is doing a show at Le Titan and we have a great time in the audience, watching him up on stage fooling around and playing the clown. Finally get home to bed at 8 o'clock in the morning!
Tuesday, 25 May. Bid farewell to my mates in the Super Etoile. They're flying back home to Dakar. As for me, I'm taking a plane on my own, flying out to Fez to première my new album, Egypte. When I touch down in Fez I get to meet my new group for the first time. They've been in town since yesterday and the idea is we're going to have three solid days of rehearsal together. The rehearsals take place at the local town hall. It's weird because we're rehearsing a show that hasn't really taken shape on stage yet. And the weirdest thing is that me and the group have both done the songs before when we recorded the album, but I did it in my studio in Dakar and they were over in Cairo. This is the first time we've actually hooked up together and been properly introduced!
The group's made up of fourteen Egyptian musicians and five Senegalese guys – the only person we all know is my arranger Fathy Salama. The rehear
Saturday, 29 May. Another big day! I'm feeling really nervous about doing the show – I haven't suffered from stage fright like this for at least ten years! It's because this project I've been working on for so long is about to finally see the light of day. The album's been in gestation for a good six years now. I originally intended to release the album just in Senegal and bring it out for Ramadan. But everyone kept going on at me, telling me I absolutely had to release it worldwide, so I finally gave in.
Mrs Wade, our President, was there in the audience for the première of Egypte. And I paid my respects to her during the show, apologising for the fact that I'd stood her up the night before. I hadn't been able to make it to a reception she was giving, because I'd been busy with rehearsals. Sufis and Moroccan Mourides turned up to the Fez concert in force. Dressed in my performance costume – my white 'boubou' – I was up on stage for an hour and a half. The show was pretty intense and when I finally went off stage at the end, I was screaming like a madman, "I'm free, I'm free!" The pressure of the première was over. There were a few people in the audience who looked a bit phased, though. They obviously hadn't known I was doing the Egypte album – they thought they were going to see an mbalax concert. So there were a few disappointed faces by the end of the show! But, hey, that's no problem!
After the show go back to the hotel and do a series of non-stop interviews. Finally leave the hotel at 3 in the morning to head to the airport and fly back to Dakar. Don't want to miss the big wrestling match I'm supposed to be attending tomorrow!
Tuesday, 1June. Even when I'm back in Dakar, the promotion for Egypte goes on. The album's due out next week and I have to do a whole series of phone interviews with European journalists, talking about the making of it all. I have to admit, it's less stressful doing interviews from the comfort of your own home rather than in impersonal hotel rooms where I seem to spend six months of the year!
Wednesday, 2 June. The Ebony Festival kicks off in two days' time and today I'm going along to give them a hand with promotion. I'm going to Demba Diop stadium to record a TV ad which is supposed to encourage "street people" to come along to the shows on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, the ad doesn't end up on the air because the concert organisers fail to get together with RTS (Radio Télévision Sénégalaise) to discuss the finer details!
Thursday, 3 June. Spend two hours in the office at Xippi,* going through all the mail that's been piling up on my desk for weeks. Sign cheques and sort out various other papers. In the evening, around 10, I hop on the last boat to Gorée to rehearse for the Ebony show. The festival kicks off tomorrow. Spend a good hour rehearsing with the "Orchestre national" and then catch the 11.10 boat home.
Friday, 4 June. Decide to go along and do a show at Le Thiossane after I've performed at the Ebony Festival at the weekend. Spend the afternoon recording TV ads, then catch the 7 o'clock boat to Gorée. I always sit in the co-pilot's seat up front. That way I'm sure of getting a bit of peace. There's a brilliant atmosphere up on stage Friday night and we end up finishing the concert with a mega-jam with Jimmy Cliff, Diam’s, Makoma and the others. We all jam together on Africa Unite, a Bob Marley song we never even had time to rehearse! On the way back to Dakar, I get stuck in a huge queue at the jetty and this Congolese guy comes up and starts telling me what a big fan he is. Then he starts singing in Lingala and everyone's clapping along. Time for another impromptu part
Saturday, 5 June. Should have gone to my daughter's end-of-year fête at school this afternoon, but I'm all in. Spend the afternoon resting up at home before the big stadium show tonight. Get to the stadium around 10.30 and decide to stay hidden away in a bus so I can watch what's happening up on stage undisturbed. Midnight – time for me to go on! I do an mbalax set lasting exactly one hour. But I'm playing to a stadium that's three quarters empty – hardly surprising given the way the organisers have gone about the promotion! I've never played to such an empty stadium in my life. No hanging around after the show, I'm straight off to Le Thiossane, where I get up on stage and play until 4 in the morning. The club's absolutely packed out and I get whistled and booed by the crowd because I'm over an hour late. No-one knows I've come straight from a stadium show!
Sunday, 6 June. Spend a nice relaxed afternoon with my family, then go along to the stadium in Gorée around 8 in the evening. Sit on the lawn with a hat pulled down over my face so no-one recognises me and watch sets by Ralph Thamar, MC Solaar, Alpha Blondy and my sister-in-law, Viviane. No-one bothers me. This is the first time in my career that I've been able to just sit quietly as part of an audience in Dakar without anyone coming up to me. But then, halfway through the Baaba Maal concert someone spots me. A fan rushes up, grabs my hat and makes off with it through the crowd – and the soldiers on security duty have to wade into the crowd and get me out. It's not always easy to enjoy a moment's peace and quiet!
Youssou N’Dour kicked off his North American tour in Ottawa. The tour includes dates in Washington (1 July), Atlanta (3 July), Montreal (10 & 11 July), Los Angeles (14 July) and San Francisco (18 July). Then it's back to Canada for a concert in Calgary on 25 July.
Pierre René-Worms
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