Serge Lama and his memories of Geneva

Loris S. Musumeci and Jonas Follonier

The Théâtre du Léman played host to a debutant on December 19 and 20. Or at least an artist who was happy to let himself be considered as such by the name of the tour: «Je débute». Le Regard Libre was present at this poetic moment. Impressions.

A limping body strides across the stage. And then the light falls on a man's face, with features aged by nostalgia. And yet, despite his legs already appearing to be in pain, and the lines of time gone by drawn on his forehead, this is a powerful figure. From his very first smile, Serge Lama already conveys the vivacity and tenderness he has acquired at the cost of the same nostalgia, and the death of his wife a week before the release of his latest album.

His greetings to the audience are warm, while maintaining the sobriety that has always been the hallmark of the pale black man. He immediately introduces his musicians, for each of whom he adds a word of praise. The singer finds himself with just nine accompanists, including two backing singers. The atmosphere on stage is almost family-like. It reveals the necessary collaboration between its members. Serge Lama is one with his seven instrumentalists and two backing singers.

The interpreter

The artist launches into an intimate repertoire from his latest album: Where have our dreams gone. To achieve this, it is essential to establish a bond of trust with the viewer. However, all self-revelation has its limits. A mask preserves his modesty, allowing him to reveal himself only to the extent he chooses. Like a veiled woman, he wears his long hair slicked back. Above his nose, his pencilled eyes outline his personality. Underneath, a moustache and goatee give him the air of an ancient poet or oriental prophet. The clothes complete the facial mask: black, except for the wine-red hue of one of the two jackets on show.

In his messenger costume, Serge Lama sings of a man's life, his thoughts, the words to attribute to the most banal feelings of everyday life. The way he delivers the words is not the same as an Aznavour at his most lyrical, or a rockier Johnny. While retaining a totally personal style in the vocal form he gives to the consonants, the diction is to some extent similar to that of Jacques Brel in his most rebellious and profound songs. The syllables exposed to the listener's ears are perfectly distinct, even cut, and very hard. In this way, they have the capacity to imprint themselves on the spectator, who becomes immersed in them.

A decor that leaves room for the spoken word

All the more so as the entire atmosphere of the room enhances the text. Dark and light, it focuses attention on the words, one by one, precisely. Thus, under the spotlights that illuminate the instrumentalists, Serge Lama sings the Letter to my son«Cueillons des cerises pour la commune / Et pour les rêves de Jaurès» («Let's pick cherries for the commune / And for the dreams of Jaurès»). The pronunciation of «commune» and "Jaurès" is so acute that it also seems part of the decor. The visual mood is more tragic with Lightning bolts and revolvers, song from his 2012 album, The poet's walk.

At the back, to lighten the ambient darkness, light effects and image broadcasts. This is the rather average point of the concert in its somewhat kitsch, especially when it came to projected images. Nevertheless, there are moments when the lights added majesty to the chansonnier Lama. «L'Algérie / Ecrasée par l'azur / C'était une aventure / D'dont je ne voulais pas» (Algeria / crushed by the azure / It was an adventure / I didn't want«), and an orange light spurts from the back, taking the listener back to the desert: »Avec ou sans fusil / Ça reste un beau pays / L'Algérie" (With or without a rifle / It's still a beautiful country / Algeria). Or for Red balloons, with a scarlet glow across the entire backdrop.

As for the images, they really touch the viewer when they relate directly to the performer. As an opener, see Serge Lama's debut under the notes of I'm just starting out, the tour's namesake, expresses the stage fright that remains after a career spanning over fifty years. «Despite my hero status / If tomorrow they say in the papers / That it was the fight of too many / I'll say / I'm just starting out». And let's not forget the portrait of his friend, his master, for the famous song that still exudes the same ardour.

Memories

In The memory, the sublime music of which was composed by Calogero, photographs of little Serge take us back in time to his childhood. We see him with his family, who didn't always know how to love him. «We go forward with our souls upside down / In search of our hearts of yesterday / Where are they in our past / The pebbles of Little Thumb / There's this star in the night / That leaves us alone but glows / It's sorrow without a future / It's penniless / The memory / The memory».»

In Bordeaux, is still about childhood. Sweet in spite of everything: «Dad used to take me cycling / To the Cours Saint-Louis school / The sound of the wheels made me happy / When I hugged him / I loved this operetta dad / This music and velvet dad / My mother was always worried / Was it anxiety or love?»

And the audience's own memories also feature in the performance, which brought a smile to everyone's face: The little women of Pigalle with its «Et j'suis content, j'suis content, j'suis content, j'suis content / J'suis cocu, mais content». Or the one that struck a chord with everyone, I'm sick,just after the artist had apologized to the audience for several cracked ribs, which brought tears to his eyes as he left the stage. Lama gave his all; Geneva will remember him.

Write to the authors: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com / jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © twicopy.org