In mid-November, Mr. Pokora, 38, won his sixteenth trophy at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes. Awarded in the category of best French-speaking tour, the Strasbourg resident still had it bad, because the result was announced on the sly, during the credits. “It’s as if the category had not existed. We ask an audience to mobilize for a month, people wait and then we announce it to them like that,” he later regretted on the set of “Télématin”.
Because the live, that’s what makes the artist tick, as he told us on the phone. And it should last a long time…
What does this “Epicentre Tour”, which accompanies the release of your ninth album, look like?
We pulled out all the stops, we want to celebrate these twenty years as it should be. There are a little more than fifteen of us on stage. I wanted pyrotechnics, dancing, games with the screens. I really did everything necessary for people to be amazed. And I built the show so that the audience felt really invested from the beginning. That they’re not just sitting there watching a big, cold show. I built a scene with a step forward, it allows us to really share all these emotions very closely.
Can we say that the stage is more important to you than the albums?
Completely. For me, the studio has always been an excuse to go on stage. Now, I admit that I have less fun in the studio. Because I’m so excited to go on tour that I think about it a lot. When we compose, I always try to have songs that allow me to balance my setlist.
In twenty years, has anything changed in your way of experiencing a tour?
I’m preparing myself much better physically than at the start. Everything seems simpler to me today than 15 years ago. It’s paradoxical, but I’m putting all the odds on my side. The cardio is there, the experience too. And I know how to manage my breathing better, etc. Outside, I save more. I stay calm, I watch movies, I take naps. Before, I traveled on the bus with everyone. Now I don’t do it anymore because I know I’ll be talking and laughing all day. For the voice, it’s complicated at the end of the week otherwise.
Since you started, have you had any role models for longevity?
I think of Patrick Bruel, who has always been a kind of big brother to me. He’s someone I’ve observed a lot, I’ve tried to learn from his way of running his boat. He also started early, although I started a little younger than him. There aren’t fifty of us in this situation… Otherwise, there was Johnny, who started at 17 and who lasted for decades. Apart from a low around forty, it has always been very high. He loved putting on a show, he was inspired by the Americans… Obviously, I watched him a lot too.
You set foot in the theater and the cinema. In twenty years, will we still find you in concert?
The song will always be a part of me. And I will tour again, whether in large or small venues. It’s like an inner flame. Between two albums, I’m itching. Same when I go to concerts. I want to be on stage, I want to hear the clamor, I want to see people’s eyes shine, I want to release all this energy that is in me. To leave too soon would be to abandon those who have carried me all this time.
In any case, if someone asks me today, I see myself choosing the moment of my exit. As long as it follows physically, I will be there. I don’t want people to see me diminished one day.
> Friday, December 1, at the Palais Nikaïa in Nice. From 49 to 89 euros. Rens. nikaia.fr
> Saturday December 2, at the Zénith in Toulon. From 49 to 89 euros. Rens. zenith-toulon.com
At home in the South
When we ask Mr. Pokora to say all the good things he thinks about the Côte d’Azur and the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, he doesn’t have to wait long…
“I have been coming to the region since I was little. We went here for the holidays, I had uncles and aunts who lived in Cannes. That’s where I learned to swim.
“Every summer, I come for at least 2 weeks”
With my parents, we also went to Gassin in the summer. A few years ago, I ended up buying a house in Sainte-Maxime. Since then, every summer, I have come for at least two weeks. But in general, we are closer to the full month of relaxation. I enjoy the food, the beautiful beaches, the clear water, the proximity to other cool cities, etc. It’s true that it’s a truly magnificent region! »
