Francois Klark – DREAM TOUR

In this Dream Tour segment, the alternative pop artist, Francois Clark, lets you know who he would like on his ultimate tour lineup. You can check out the feature, after the break.

8:30pm London, England. The lights in the Royal Albert hall slowly dim and silence falls heavy over a packed house. Out of nowhere the rich voice of Mercedes Sosa floods the room with an a Capella song of lament. Overwhelmed with emotion, her voice cracks ever so slightly as if to allow space for the thin beams of light that now rise from the stage to project stars onto the 85 otherworldly acoustic saucers hanging from the ceiling. The audience looks up and sees two dancers, Keone & Marie, on opposite sides of the stage suspended in mid-air, floating toward each other, descending in perfect choreographed slow motion. The opening piece reaches a climactic point as Keone & Marie reach each other. They embrace just as their feet touch the stage and the entire hall explodes into sound and colour.

‘For You’, an inspiring pop anthem drenched in pulsating world music rhythms (Slated for release in early 2018), is the song that we open the show with. The Northern Cree singers lead the opening of the song while Indigenous Canadian Powwow dancers fill the isles. The dancers perform high energy Hoop & Fancy Shawl dances with a great display of strength & pride. The band and I join the Northern Cree singers on stage to tell an epic tale of sacrifice, perseverance, and hope. By the time we reach the end of the song, production designer Misty Buckley created a full-blown tropical storm with mind-blowing special effects & stage production.

From this point on, the band and I take the audience on an unsuspecting journey exploring the human condition through songs set to soundscapes that slink between epic & intimate. Stromae (Paul Van Haver), Labrinth (Timothy McKenzie) and Cass Lowe, our music directors and production collaborators for the live show, seamlessly marry the band and I with creative electronic elements and graceful orchestral arrangements, courtesy of Hans Zimmer.

9:30 pm – The stage clears unsuspectingly and Chris Martin, Dave Matthews, my dear friend Marla Walters & I, take our seats on the dark stage to play a 3 song acoustic set – each of us lit only by a dim overhead spotlight. By the second song, the stage is bathed ever so slightly in a cold blue light. The Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra sneaks back in unnoticed while barely visible silhouettes of ballet dancers dance around us as we conclude the acoustic set with ‘Please Stay’, an emotional piano ballad (Slated for release 2018).

The song ends and the hall goes completely black. Silence lingers for a few seconds only to explode into blinding light and an intense musical reprise – Electric guitars soar over a driving synth bass. A mass choir, conducted by Eric Whitacre, attacks polyphonic harmonies with fervour while the drummer digs into the cymbals with unrelenting quarter note crashes – Not an ounce of energy is spared, and the audience is right there with us.

10:00 pm – Words won’t suffice in describing the next 15 minutes of the show. I will, however, tell you this: From where I am standing on stage, heart racing with exhilaration, I can see the warm smiles of the colourfully dressed Soweto Gospel Choir waiting in the wings, ready to join us on stage. See you on tour!

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