"I wanted to do things a bit differently this time round," announced Clerc, addressing his audience like a group of close friends, "I wanted to do a more intimate show, where there would be fewer barriers between me and you, the audience. I wanted things to be really cosy this time round, like it's just me and you alone together... ". And this is exactly what Clerc's new show is (well, nearly) - it's just him, the audience, two pianos, a couple of guitars and an accordion!

The audience certainly appeared to appreciate Clerc's new intimate approach, greeting the singer with a rapturous round of applause as soon as he arrived on stage with his two musicians. What's more, the singer had chosen to mark this symbolic turning-point in his career with a chic new look, arriving on stage dressed in elegant grey trousers, satin waistcoat and a moiré silk shirt. Clerc certainly didn't look his 51 years of age, and when he turned his charming smile on his (mainly) female audience, many a heart gave a sudden flutter.

Clerc's new concert style is a million miles away from the hi-tech mega-show he took on the road throughout the whole of last year. When he performed at the "Nuits de Champagne" evening at the Francofolies festival in la Rochelle, Clerc appeared on stage surrounded by huge amplifiers, floodlights and squealing electric guitars. The concert he gave at the Théâtre André Malraux, on the other hand, was wonderfully sleek and pared down to absolute acoustic essentials. Now that the floodlights and the special effects had gone, the emphasis shifted to the songs themselves and the smaller audience was able to concentrate on Clerc's lyrics, drinking in the poetry of every word. This new approach worked extremely well with songs such as Coeur-volcan (a ballad inspired by Clerc's trip to Argentina).

Clerc's other classics - which he presented to his audience as more of "those special moments in life" - were equally moving in the intimate, hushed atmosphere of the Théâtre André Malraux. Clerc ran through a veritable medley of his greatest hits, crooning everything from "Femmes... je vous aime" to "Partir" and "Le patineur". The enraptured audience lapped up every moment, singing along a cappella to Clerc's classic "Ce n'est rien". The acoustic version of Clerc's greatest hits proved to be a definite crowd-pleaser, and the singer's new pared-down style of presentation elevated a few of his songs, such as "Danse s'y" for instance, to the status of 'chanson' classics. The concert worked all the better as Julien had the (very bright) idea of leaving out all his material from the 80's (It must be admitted, Clerc's 80's hits were certainly commercially successful, but no-one could ever have claimed that they presented the singer at his 'artistic' best!)

Julien Performs Ferré's Legendary "20 ans"

Another of Julien's very bright ideas was to fill out his own repertoire with French 'chanson' classics from the past. Clerc's Creole-style version of Georges Brassens's "J'ai rendez-vous avec vous" was quite brilliant, while his performance of Gilbert Bécaud's famous hit "Et maintenant" proved equally successful. But two of the highlights of the show were undoubtedly Clerc's adaptations of Jacques Brel's "Quête" and Léo Ferré's little-known masterpiece "20 ans". Clerc threw himself into his rendition of "20 ans" body and soul, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and gesticulating wildly with his hands. The singer's 'physical theatre' performance was deeply moving - and, needless to say - elicited a series of emotional sighs from his audience.

Clerc also made a point of thanking his own faithful songwriting team in the course of his show, praising the work of Maurice Vallet and "my friend Etienne" (Roda-Gil). Clerc paid a special tribute to Roda-Gil, performing several of his songs including Roda-Gil's French adaptation of the popular Mexican song "Cucurucucu Paloma". (Needless to say, Clerc's performance of "Cucurucucu Paloma" was greeted by another round of thunderous applause!)

The audience were overjoyed at (re)discovering Julien Clerc intimate-style, especially when the singer moved up close to the edge of the stage and began crooning the words to "La Californie" and "Femmes, je vous aime" (for which the audience were provided with song-sheets - which, since they appeared to know every word by heart, proved absolutely superfluous!) And what could surpass the grand finale - Clerc's last rousing encore of "Jaloux de tout" before the red velvet curtain came crashing down?

What, I ask you? All I can say is the première of Julien Clerc's new show was an out-and-out success … and what's more, it could be coming soon to a venue near you, because the ever-popular Monsieur Clerc is about to embark upon an extensive tour. All I can say is, Let The Show Go On (and on and on!)