Nantes (AFP)
Tri Yann bids farewell to 50 years on the stage on Saturday in Nantes, putting an end to an exceptionally long career for this group which has given Breton music a large audience.
During this final stage performance, the Trois Jean (who are in fact eight on stage) have planned to invite former members and friends, such as singer Bleunwenn and her group Vindotalé.
"We end with joy and a kind of sharing", smiles Jean Chocun, 72, one of the founding members, while acknowledging: "We will also have wet eyes."
Initially scheduled for March 28, 2020, and already full for months, this last concert in front of 2,000 fans at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes has been repeatedly postponed due to the health crisis.
"I'm afraid to think about the last notes we're going to play," says Jean Chocun.
"It's going to be difficult, of course. When we see people crying in front of us, it takes us along", adds the musician who can be heard on guitar, banjo or mandolin.
It was he who convinced his associates Jean-Paul Corbineau, 73, and Jean-Louis Jossic, 74, that it was time to hang up.
“Physically, there is a moment when you have to be reasonable,” he slips.
The members of Tri Yann - (from L to R) Jean-Paul Corbineau, Jean-Louis Jossic and Jean Chocun - pose on December 4, 2019 in Savenay, near Nantes Loic VENANCE AFP / Archives
For the last dates of this "Kenavo Tour", Jean-Louis Jossic was also afraid "to do half the concert seated", according to Mr. Chocun.
Reached by "a neurological problem", the lead singer of Tri Yann, known for his bleached blond hair in firecracker, suffers from pain in the arms and legs.
"An armchair is planned for him but he ultimately uses it very little", carried "by the adrenaline and the energy of the stage", says Jean Chocun.
- A tour started in 1970 -
This final Nantes show marks the end of a tour started in December 1970 in Plouharnel (Morbihan).
The three young men, who are not yet called Tri Yann, then sing the "Pastourelle de Saint Julien Maraichine" in front of a handful of friends.
Jean-Paul Corbineau is a buyer for a supermarket in Nantes, Jean Chocun administrative assistant at Compagnie Générale Transatlantique and Jean-Louis Jossic professor of history and geography.
They string together the Breton balls and are quickly called the "Tri Yann an Naoned" (the "Three Jean de Nantes" in Breton).
The members of Tri Yann - (from L to R) Jean Chocun, Jean-Paul Corbineau and Jean-Louis Jossic - pose on December 4, 2019 in Lavau-sur-Loire, near Nantes Loic VENANCE AFP / Archives
Fans of Bob Dylan or Hugues Auffray, they strive to bring Breton and Celtic music out of its ghetto, to "make it something more popular, more open", in the words of Jean-Paul Corbineau, guitarist and singer, in an interview with AFP in 2020.
Their first album sold out in a few hours and, in 1972, they performed at the Olympia, opening for Juliette Gréco, then became professional musicians the following year.
- The Beaten Jacques Brothers -
After rather acoustic albums, mixing covers of traditional songs and personal compositions, Tri Yann begins a more rock turn which remains one of his distinctive signs.
With more than 3 million albums sold, concerts at the Zénith, Bercy, and even at the Stade de France, the fame of the Tri Yann is well established.
They sang in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Tunisia, Georgia, Louisiana as well as in Quebec and Wales.
In France, they broke the Frères Jacques longevity record.
“It's only the Rolling Stones that we don't beat!” Jokes Jean Chocun.
If the scene is over, the group still has projects in progress, such as an album on the history of Brittany told through songs.
For the rest, Jean Chocun will devote his free time to shore fishing, Jean-Louis Jossic intends to publish his tales and Jean-Paul Corbineau wants to travel in France and abroad.
© 2021 AFP