Quebec Summer Festival: pop star on a mission

Singer Halsey was delivering an abortion plea two weeks ago at a concert in Phoenix when she noticed people leaving the venue. » I do not care. If you don’t like what I’m saying, I don’t know why you came to a Halsey show. »

• Read also: Quebec City Summer Festival: merchants jubilant

• Read also: FEQ: Patrick Watson works his magic

• Read also: [EN IMAGES] Maroon 5 at the FEQ: “Can we come back here every year?”

This tirade says it all about this pop star like no other.

If you’re thinking of silencing her or locking her in a box, move on.

« This girl is on a mission, » says Louis Bellavance, director of programming for the Festival d’été, who receives her on the Plains of Abraham stage on Monday evening.

Make your place

The artist, now 27, was discovered in 2016 through a collaboration with the Chainsmokers on the radio bomb Closer.

“It was the voice of a collaboration that was huge, but it was nothing more than that for a while. It was such a big hit that it almost worked against her. It had to find its place, its sound”, raises Mr. Bellavance.

In the process, she first made her mark in an electro-pop niche on albums Hopeless Fountain Kingdom and Maniclaunched in 2017 and 2020.

On the wave in particular of the success of the song Without MeHalsey was establishing herself among the big stars of mainstream pop when she took everyone by surprise, in 2021, by teaming up with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, of Nine Inch Nails, to record the scrapbook If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Powerbrilliant and dark foray into the world of industrial pop.

“She makes a pop that doesn’t follow a line. She is as comfortable in an electro universe as in a rock universe. It’s a free spirit who manages to speak to a category of people who are hooked on everything they do,” says Louis Bellavance.

The last of the tour

Halsey’s concert at the FEQ will be the last of her tour.

“They play in California and take a plane to make a last one in Quebec. We have already had the chance to have the beginnings or the end of the tour. There is always an extraordinary energy, ”says the festival programmer, who expects a crowd the size of the one who met Selena Gomez in 2016.

“I think we’re going to have a great performance. Plus, she’s a contestant for the show with the most pyrotechnics with Marshmello. They’re pretty much nose to nose. »

Halsey on the Plains of Abraham, Monday evening, at 9:30 p.m. The opening acts will be provided by the American group Cannons and the Canadian singer Lights.