The Belgian singer/songwriter Stromae (Paul Van Haven) made a brief appearance in the Quartier des Spectacles this lunchtime. Arriving by Metro (good job there was not one of the regular service disruptions), he was greeted by a large crowd that had been steadily increasing around the yellow shipping container where he was due to perform at 12.30.

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 100 – 10mm – f6.3 – 1/125 sec

I caught sight of him as he exited the Place des Arts Metro station and made his way to the stage.

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 70mm – f6.3 – 1/500 sec

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 230mm – f6.3 – 1/160 sec

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 140mm – f6.3 – 1/160 sec

There was a little hicup on his entry to the platform as Stromae lost his footing on the top step, but not losing his composure he was soon thrilling the crowd with his hit – Formidable.

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 270mm – f6.3 – 1/200 sec

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 300mm – f6.3 – 1/200 sec

Stromae performs at Quartier des Spectacles
ISO 200 – 86mm – f6.3 – 1/320 sec

I read that Stromae had put out a request that people wear purple, pink and green in recognition to the colors of his latest album – Racine carrée – and hence the colored balloons, which gave me the idea of taking a silhouette of Stromae and overlaying on a colored background.

Stromae Racine carrée colors

Stromae Montréal
ISO 200 – 300mm – f5.6 – 1/800 sec

Stromae Montréal
ISO 200 – 300mm – f5.6 – 1/250 sec

Stromae has a great stage presence and some unique dance moves, that requires a lot of facial expressions 😉

Stromae dance moves

Stromae in Montreal
ISO 200 – 135mm – f6.3 – 1/320 sec

Unfortunately the party was over far too quickly after just 3 songs (Formidable, Alors on Danse and Papaoutai) and 25 minutes…But a great 25 minutes and enjoyed by the many hundreds who turned out for this lunchtime impromptu performance.

Stromae in Montreal
ISO 200 – 20mm – f5.6 1/640 sec

With so many phones recording, there are quite a few videos of Stromae’s Montreal performance up on YouTube, including his performance inside the Metro station – which unfortunately I missed.

I look forward to his return when he officially plays in Montreal in October 2014.

Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some skyline shots to share.

Have a great weekend.

– Martin

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