"We're nostalgic and we want to relive it all in music": L5, Billy Crawford, Charly Nestor... the crazy success of the 90s-2000s concerts
Mathieu Faure Published on 07/17/2025 at 1:00 p.m., updated on 07/17/2025 at 1:00 p.m.
We've seen a lot of shows in our lives: Metallica, AC/DC, System of a Down, Korn, Guns N'Roses, Beyonce, Pink, Iron Maiden, NTM, and so on, but we're going to be completely transparent with you, we had a blast going back in time, for an evening on Cousteau Beach in Saint-Laurent-du-Var as part of Beach 90, to witness the return to the stage of many artists from our adolescence.
Menelik, Tragédie, Billy Crawford, L5, Las Ketchup, Corona, Allan Theo and Worlds Apart were all there, in front of a crowd that was already captivated.
"If you're here, if we're here, it's because we're nostalgic and we want to relive it all through music," says Coralie from L5, the girl group that won the first season of Popstars in 2001.
Yes, some have aged, gained weight, are approaching sixty, are less confident in their choreography or hold their notes less well. So what? No one has paid much attention.
They were happy to be on stage and the audience was thrilled to see them again, especially the English trio Worlds Apart, who came to close the show and are still very popular with female audiences.
Same old story at La Garde this ThursdayIn a world where music is consumed without moderation, perhaps with far too much ease, nostalgic evenings of this kind are a real success.
You only have to see how the crowd immediately recognized the sound of the Tragedy duo, Hey Oh , before they went on stage to understand that this music, made for fun, has stood the test of time.
Sometimes criticized in the 90s, this unique sound remains a formidable Proust madeleine. We forget everything, we sway our hips, we enjoy it.
"We'll always be amazed by this expectation and this popular success," says Tizy Bone of the band Tragédie. "We could almost not sing, as the audience knows all the words. It's gratifying, especially when we celebrate our 20th anniversary. It's a real passion, we're touched that the younger generation is here; it means we've managed to find a universal side."
Better still, all these people are enjoying this return to the forefront after a sometimes delicate turn in the 2000s, between oblivion and the label, for some, of has-been .
Billy Crawford, jubilant, chats with Tragedy and takes pictures with Worlds Apart. Menelik, who always has a knack for getting crowds going with his hit Bye Bye , is busy taking selfies.
Whether they are older or younger, these artists, once present on our television sets or in magazines like Ok Podium , are now back on stage, and for a reason as inexplicable as it is magical, it is a boundless joy to be able to attend.
The imperfect side even makes the whole thing quite touching. It could have been corny, but the magic is on the bright side and gives a touching and caring side to all these artists from our adolescence.
And those who missed the boat on Tuesday can make up for it this Thursday with a Hit Party 2000 at La Garde featuring a trio of Worlds Apart, L5, and Billy Crawford. The icing on the cake? It's free. Come on, we'll leave you alone; we have the Baby Come Back choreography to brush up on.
Hit Party 2000, this Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Place de la République, La Garde. Free.
It's quite rare for a music show hosting duo—the Hit Machine in this case—to have such a profound impact on a generation. Charly and Lulu, since that's who we're talking about, hosted the Beach 90 evening in Saint-Laurent du Var on Tuesday evening, just like in the good old days of their reign on M6.
All these artists were hosted by the duo when the show on the "little up-and-coming channel" was a must-see for promotion. Billy Crawford calls them "Charly and Loulou." There's a real sense of affection between them.
"It's always surprising to see that people respond," Charly emphasizes. "It's a paid evening, too, which means that the public took the initiative to come. It's pure joy; we should no longer be surprised that songs that are 25 or 30 years old still work; let's savor and be grateful for life. There have always been critics of songs, even in the days of Claude François or Sheila, the only thing that matters is the public's reception; they're the ones who are right."
"We're here to have fun, " Lulu continues. "When you see an audience, no matter their age, that wants to sing and dance, you know you're on the right track. Look at Las Ketchup, they'll belt out the first note of their hit song and everyone will remember the choreography."
"We were the vectors"
Acclaimed on stage by a crowd that sang a cappella of their hit "Le feu ça brûle ," Charly and Lulu are icons in spite of themselves. It's rare for a duo of presenters to be so appreciated, especially as time goes by.
"People have taste," laughs Lulu. "We were the vectors, the vehicles of an era, there was only us in this segment, otherwise there was a form of variety a bit bombastic à la Drucker. People remember us, the period, the music, the artists they liked at the time," Charly supports.
"We were ambassadors of this period, we are like a postcard that we keep preciously as a memory," concludes Lulu.
You had to see him, sharp as a fiddle, warming up for long minutes before going on stage. Allan Théo, a radiant fifty-something, had the difficult task of opening the ball. His hit, Emmène-moi , was a tidal wave in 1998 – a gold record – and still resonates in everyone's minds.
"I have the same enthusiasm as when I started, for ten years I did something else, rock, and I was kind of forced to come back to this music, he laughs, and I realized that this music made people happy and, by contamination, it made me happy too while I was in a rage with rock."
The one who recently joined the Latin movement also remembers this very particular period of the late 1990s: "I didn't realize what was happening. I was in a bubble, I wasn't necessarily in contact with the public at the beginning and then when the single went viral, I couldn't do my shopping anymore, I couldn't go to restaurants, to the cinema, then you realize that it's a form of hysteria, people lose a form of control and it fascinates me that music can do that."
Music made for letting go
While he has released a string of hits including Lola and a cover of Ricky Martin's Un, dos, tres , Allan Theo admits that the fun is still there.
"People like it because they go back to their childhood, but it's also super joyful, you can't fight it. You start singing a song, sometimes it just takes one note, and people scream, they're in heaven, it's magical. We said it was commercial music, but all the sounds from that era stayed in our memories, there was something there..."
Var-Matin
