Lous and the Yakuza in tears on the Paléo stage

With the Paléo in full swing on July 22, Lous and the Yakuza took to the main stage early in the evening to a hesitant, then enthusiastic audience. In the late afternoon sunshine, the Belgian artist made her mark timidly.

After four days at the festival, Paléo fans are still going strong despite the fearsome heat on Saturday July 22. It's on the main stage that Lous and the Yakuza, Marie-Pierra Kakoma by her first name, spits out her lyrics with a dazzling flow. The audience would later learn that this was the artist's first festival main stage. With tears of emotion, she expresses, between two songs, her joy at being here, whereas a few years ago, when she was in precarious circumstances and living on the street, she dreamed of such assistance.

And yet, the audience is slow to take off. On the first few songs, it feels a little sluggish, without much curiosity. On The currency, Lous and the Yakuza, on the other hand, struggle to inhabit the stage. The virulence of the bass almost seems too much for the situation. You can tell the artist is shy and impressed, even if her face shows a great deal of concentration on the screens. Gradually, she lets loose and draws the crowd in with her bewitching voice. When the first words of’Actor, festival-goers sing along to the chorus:

You're a very good actor, but I
I'm looking for your engine, tell me
That I'm a match for you
Addicted to your smell and your voice
You're a very good actor, but I
I'm looking for your engine, tell me
That I'm a match for you
Addicted to your smell and your voice

It's when she expresses her gratitude for her audience that they seem to wake up. Has she got them by the scruff of the neck? Perhaps, but in the end, it doesn't matter: the last songs exude an energy quite different from the first. In the middle of the immensity of the main stage, the singer and musician dances around it with an infectious, ear-to-ear smile. You can feel her humility and sincerity, whether through her laughter, her facial expressions or her addresses to the audience: «You're going to make me cry, I'm sensitive!» There was no shortage of that.

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