NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
It’s been a busy year for French disco band L’Impératrice. They released their third studio album “Pulsar” last June, toured all over North America and Europe, lost their long time lead vocalist Flore Benguigui, and signed a new vocalist Maud “Louve” Ferron. The band had to postpone a number of their 2024 shows due to the change and fans have been torn between loving the new lineup vs lamenting the loss of Flore. Of course none of this is Louve’s fault but such is life in music. The back and forth is probably a bit more drama than a fun pop/disco band expects or wants to deal with. Nevertheless, the transition seems to have gone smoothly and the band is back on the road, stopping at Toronto nightclub Rebel on a cold Thursday, January 23rd.
Opening the night was dance pop band Night Tapes from London. Meeting at university, the band formed when Iiris Vesik from Estonia, Max Doohan, and Sam Richard’s began to jam together. They released their most recent EP “Assisted Memories” last year and were a pleasant surprise opening for L’Impératrice. I’m looking forward to diving into their discography.
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If you thought the members of L’Impératrice were still in turmoil from the lineup change, you’d be wrong. From the first beats of the intro, it felt like the band had not missed a step and were having a lot of fun onstage. Donning sci-fi looking costumes with a round light on their chests, they were bringing disco into the future! The audience were also into the groove and dancing up a storm. Definitely a nightclub vibe.
After the first song “Amour Ex Machina”, band founder/keyboardist Charles De Boisseguin came up, introduced Louve, and told a story from when he first came to Canada way back. During their extended set, you sometimes couldn’t tell when one song finished and the next one started, just like in a club! Whether Louve was wining or engaging with the other band members, a good time was had by all. Occasionally I would see some people in the crowd just standing there, watching, and it’s hard to figure out how the music wouldn’t have them at least tapping their feet or bobbing their heads. To each fan their own.
L’Impératrice will be touring North America through the first week of February so catch them while you can!
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