Le Roy la Rose et le Lou[p]: Live in Drummondville, QC

Continuing our series of recaps from our first visit to the annual Festival de la Poutine in Drummondville, QC, if I am to be brutally honest, our commitment to attend was pretty much guaranteed when seeing Québecois trio Le Roy, la Rose et le Lou[p] announced as part of the artist lineup. Still recovering from their unbelievable performance in Joliette last fall (our most memorable concert in 2023), we were beyond captivated by their talents and promptly repeated the exercise upon learning of their ‘bonus’ tour finale at MTelus in Montréal just a few months ago. 

Having dropped several hints on their individual social media pages prior to the MTelus show that this temporary collaboration between Ariane Roy (le Roy), Thierry Larose (la Rose), and Lou-Adriane Cassidy (le Lou[p]) would culminate during the Francos de Montréal opening weekend (the MTelus show being a ticketed event), imagine our delight upon learning that the King, the Rose, and the Wolf were not-quite-done just yet, with a handful of QC summer festival invitations sent their way. 

Appreciating that a limited window remained to catch their explosive show, these additional dates gave us one final opportunity to get our Le Roy la Rose et le Lou[p] fix – and when factoring in a well-timed advertising campaign from this long running Drummondville festival, one that fell in line perfectly with our travel plans, made another return visit to la belle province a reality. 

Landing a Friday night mid-card slot on the Scéne Loto-Québec stage, we were naturally eager to see how the trio (and their band) would condense their regular set into the one-hour allotted spot at their disposal. As expected, the acoustic in-the-round segment that opened previous shows had to be cut, but even dropping a handful of main-set tunes, each artist would still have sufficient time to share four of their compositions before closing the show with the retro-flavored single, “Chanson thème,” that sparked this project and the live dates that followed. 

Welcomed to their predetermined spots on the stage, Ariane (vocals/guitar), Thierry (vocals/guitar), and Lou-Adriane (vocals/keyboards/guitar/percussion) were joined by their familiar seven bandmates – Odile Marmet-Rochefort (keys/glockenspiel/percussion/vocals), Vincent Gagnon (keyboards), Charles-Antoine Olivier (drums), Sam Beaulé (bass/percussion/vocals), Pierre-Emmanuel Beaudoin (drums), Dominique Plante (guitars/vocals) and Alexandre Martel (guitar/bass/vocals) – who always bring so much added depth to this spectacular live show. 

With Lou-Adriane and Ariane opening the show with plenty of raw energy, Thierry slowed the pace momentarily with “Baleine et moi (take 10),” before handing the baton to Lou-Adriane once more, who accelerated pulse rates throughout the Centre Marcel Dionne complex with a phenomenal performance of her 2019 hit single, “La pluie ne tombe jamais sur toi.” And let’s not dismiss the pause (faux ending) before the burst of guitars and synths overload the senses, Cassidy shedding her pent-up energy with nifty spinning and dance moves all over the stage. 

Having their bandmates share some front and center moments always add a nice touch – notably the triple guitar jam from Ariane, Thierry, and Dominique to close “Ce n’est pas de la chance,” and of course, the dueling guitar outro between Thierry and Alexandre during “L’ile à vingt-cinq sous” (and I love the split verses between the three leads during this number). Oh, and Odile and Ariane’s vocal harmonies that accompany Lou-Adriane’s powerful piano ballad “Ça va ça va” always results in goose bumps – accentuated even more this time around by the notable collective chorus scattered around us. 

Memorable moments were plentiful, from the choreographed ‘robot’ dance moves to commence Ariane’s hit “Kundah,” to the amazing chemistry from the two female leads during “Fille à porter.” And, of course, we cannot fail to mention the raw, unadulterated energy that explodes on stage during “Les amants de Pompéi” – Thierry’s anthem that evokes a reaction from the crowd from its opening keys to the final gesture of raising guitars and arms in air as all ten artists soak up the applause and feedback. Oh, and I must send a shout out to Thierry for sending a finger nod and smile my way as he wrapped up his final guitar solo during this tune – much appreciated, friend. 

Reminiscing here about the emotional and metaphysical highs that this live show has provided leads only – sadly – to the arrival of a merciless void as we struggle to accept the realization that this short-lived collaboration has run its course. With no further performance dates to be found, and Lou-Adriane’s plans to release her third studio album next year, thoughts of no more Le Roy la Rose et le Lou[p] euphoria shall prove tough to bear. Creating something incredibly groundbreaking in such a short space of time (that often takes years to accomplish) makes it harder still to willingly let this trio go.  

We are eternally grateful for the memories made experiencing this show in person, which we were privileged to have done so several times. Sending our best wishes to Ariane, Thierry, and Lou-Adriane as they take the next step in their individual music careers. Merci! Salut! Bon chance!  We’ll patiently await the 2025 reunion tour – how about Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Montréal, or perhaps the National Arts Centre in Ottawa (Francophone artists pack out Southam Hall with ease)? If you build it, they shall come…  If any one of these artists announce it, we shall travel... 

Set List: 

1. Oui le serpent nous guette (Lou-Adriane) 
2. Tu voulais parler (Ariane) 
3. Baleine et moi (take 10) (Thierry) 
4. La pluie ne tombe jamais sur toi (Lou-Adriane) 
5. Plein prix (Thierry) 
6. Ce n’est pas de la chance (Ariane) 
7. L’ile à vingt-cinq sous (Thierry) 
8. Entre mes jambes (Lou-Adriane) 
9. Kundah (Ariane)
10. Ça va ça va (Lou-Adriane) 
11. Fille à porter (Ariane) 
12. Les amants de Pompéi (Thierry) 
13. Chanson thème (Le Roy la Rose et le Lou[p]) 
    

Martin Noakes

The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.