★★★★★ Some venues feel like they’re waiting for the right musicians to unlock them. The Queen’s Hall auditorium — all warm wood, elegant height and natural resonance — is one of those spaces. On this Fringe evening it becomes a perfect home for Le Vent du Nord, whose instruments sit across the stage like a small travelling museum of Quebec’s musical heritage.
The band’s roots stretch back to Saint‑Antoine‑sur‑Richelieu in Quebec, where the group was founded in 2002 by Nicolas Boulerice, Olivier Demers, Sébastien Dufour and Frédéric Samson. Over the years the ensemble has grown and shifted, welcoming Benoit Bourque, Bernard Simard, Réjean Brunet, and in late 2017, André Brunet. Their newest member, André (Dédé) Gagné, joined in March 2024, adding fresh energy to a group already rich in tradition.
Tonight’s line‑up showcases the full breadth of their craft:
- André Brunet — vocals, fiddle, and the distinctive seated foot percussion known as podorythmie.
- Réjean Brunet — vocals, diatonic button accordion, acoustic bass, piano, jaw harp.
- Olivier Demers — fiddle, guitar, mandolin, podorythmie, vocals.
- André (Dédé) Gagné — guitar, Irish bouzouki, vocals.
- Nicolas Boulerice — vocals, hurdy‑gurdy, piano accordion, piano.
Québécois folk music is a tapestry woven from French and Celtic threads — echoes of Brittany, Normandy, Ireland and Scotland carried across centuries. Le Vent du Nord honour that lineage without ever feeling bound by it. Their sound is rooted, but never static; traditional, but never nostalgic. The rhythmic foot‑tapping, heard even from the back rows, becomes a heartbeat under the melodies — steady, earthy, and unmistakably Québécois.
The instruments themselves create a vivid soundscape. The hurdy‑gurdy’s mechanical drone cuts through the hall with a hypnotic hum; the bouzouki rings bright and clear; the accordion breathes with warmth; fiddles dance across reels and laments; guitars and piano round everything with a grounded, human pulse. It is a music that feels both ancient and immediate, carried by musicians who understand its history and its living present.
Since releasing their debut album Maudite Moisson in 2003, the band have produced a dozen more recordings. Their most recent confirmed band album is Territoires (2019), though individual members have released other projects since. Awards have followed them throughout their career: two JUNO Awards, the Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros, a Songlines Music Award, and multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards. Yet none of that quite captures what happens in the room tonight.
The audience respond with unfiltered joy — clapping, tapping, singing, and leaning forward as though pulled by the music itself. There is generosity in how the band share their stories, their humour, and their heritage. They speak about their long touring life, their influences, and the traditions they carry. It feels less like a concert and more like being welcomed into a culture.
Their Fringe performance is one stop in a long international tour running from September through February 2027, with dates across Canada, the US and the UK. But nothing on a tour list can quite convey the atmosphere of this night: five musicians, each a master of their craft, filling the Queen’s Hall with a sound that is both deeply rooted and joyfully alive.
Le Vent du Nord deliver a Fringe concert that is technically superb, emotionally uplifting, and rich with cultural depth. It is the kind of performance that lingers — in the tapping of a foot, the hum of a drone, the memory of a room full of people carried together by music.
Reviewed by Jacqueline Sharp
