Tiken sets the Armada alight

For an hour and a half and in front of a massive crowd (an attendance record for the Armada), the Ivorian rasta, as usual, peppered his performance with grave and committed messages, the very ones that make the success of his militant reggae. Opening with an ambiguous "Ca va faire mal", Tiken nonetheless starts the show at a measured pace. Dressed in a large, bright tricolour bathrobe, he favours substance over form when it comes to singing Justice (without U-Roy, of course), Kuma, Plus rien ne m'étonne and l'Africain. No excessive effusion, then, until he launches into a Quitte le pouvoir that one then thinks heavy with meaning in the current context. Bingo. At the end of the song, Tiken drops: "Mr Sarkozy, if you love France, leave power." The crowd wakes up, Tiken has hit the mark.

L'Afrique doit du fric, Ayebada, the artist holds the mic out to his audience then sings Tonton d'America a cappella, before launching into a scathing Promesses bla bla. Tiken is in crescendo mode, the intensity clearly goes up a notch from the first chords of a devastating Gauche, droite, which he enjoys drawing out the better to leave the stage. Effect (and encore) guaranteed. Night has fallen, the atmosphere has not. Tiken comes back on stage and, as a preamble to Ouvrez les frontières, addresses a message to "African youth, who can live where they want, when they want". Again a cappella on Africain à Paris, Tiken insists, in front of a receptive audience. "There is a positive Africa, it is not only what they show you on TV," he proclaims, moving on to Viens voir. Tiken dances, runs, thanks his audience as "ambassadors" and explodes on a Françafrique with an explosive chorus ("Wake up!"), probably the song that best symbolises his cause. When Tiken sets sail, a second firework display, a real one this time, lights up the chiselled silhouettes of the giants of the seas. The giant, on Tuesday, was Tiken Jah Fakoly.