Eldorado: les échos de la ville was an outdoor multimedia performance and happening that took place on August 24th 2017 at Le Virage, located next to the Université de Montréal’s Campus MIL (which was still under construction at the time). The event was led and planned by Rouge Tonic in collaboration with the Laboratoire sur les récits du soi mobile, directed by Professor Simon Harel.
Eldorado is an ode to the titular 1995 movie directed by Charles Binamé and featuring Pascale Bussières, James Hyndman and Robert Brouillette, among others. The whole performance was very much inspired by the movie’s music, visuals and message. Spread out over the course of the evening, the event was split in 4 parts:
- A 20 minutes ambiant DJ set performed by myself
- A 30 minutes audiovisual performance by Rouge Tonic, with visuals from the movie edited and remixed by Fredéric Aumont-Lemire
- A 30 minutes collaborative jam with audience members
- An hour long live set from Rouge Tonic, with Sophie Quirion on back vocals
Additionally, small installations were put up all across the site with decor and furniture representing scenes from the movie, as well as a cathode-ray television playing clips from the movie in a loop. By visiting the various installations, the public could immerse itself in the very peculiar mood of the movie. The Les hommes de lettres collective (from Garbage Beauty) were also involved in the project, writing and painting quotes from the movie on various objects with their signature calligraphy.
Despite the huge scale of the project, it all came together beautifully. Charles Binamé and Pascale Bussières themselves were also generous enough to grace us with their presence at the event!
Huge thanks must be given to everyone involved in the projet: David Klis, Frédéric Aumont-Lemire, Simon Harel, Marie-Ève Bradette, Rosie Lanoue Deslandes, Daniel Milazzo, Bruno Jobin, Sophie Quirion, Félix Petit, Christian Fafard, Hubert Gendron-Blais, Les hommes de lettres, Romain Boz, Cyndi Trudel, Charles Binamé, Pascale Bussières, and everyone else I might be forgetting.
