A mischievious sense of humour

Crawley seems an unusually English place for French-Canadian musicians to perform.

However, within the confines of the outdoor marquee at the Hawth, Le Vent Du Nord never felt out of place, creating their own world with their formidable and fiery brand of folk.

The band consists of four musicians from Quebec - Nicolas Boulerice (piano, hurdy-gurdy), Simon Beaudry (guitar), Olivier Demers (fiddle, percussion) and Réjean Brunet (accordion) – who sing entirely in French.

Instead of going through the laborious process of translating each song, the group let the audience experience the music with very few interruptions. Although, one song, Le coeur de ma mere, came with a comical explanation of the gruesome tale behind the lyrics.

It was a wise decision to focus on the music, even if the French was difficult to follow for most. The accomplished performers offered an extraordinary an evening of intense, soulful and often emotionally affecting folk, which was very well received.

Olivier Demers was particularly impressive, providing the rhythm for the entire show with his feet while playing fiddle brilliantly at the same time.

Nicolas Boulerice also offered a memorable introduction to the strange, haunting sound of the hurdy-gurdy – sorry, vielle à roue – with a marvelous solo performance.

Overall, it was a lively and fun-filled evening from a likeable band. They clearly enjoyed every minute, getting lost in the music but never falling out of sync with each other. The musicians’ sense of humour was a little odd but went down well thanks to their natural charm.

Their attempt at getting the audience to sing along didn’t work brilliantly, with some of the lyrics too complicated for a non-Francophone to sing properly. However, after experiencing the band’s mischievous sense of humour, the mishap had a pre-planned feel to it and was possibly an intentional prank on the audience.

In any case, the audience’s applause at the end resulted in a fantastic encore, bringing an enjoyable and dynamic night of culture to a close with panache.