Sexion D'Assaut

After a 10-year break, the legendary French rap group Sexion d’Assaut made a triumphant return to its hometown for two special concerts at the Plenitude Arena.

Le Retour des Rois

During a two-hour nonstop show, the group performed a string of their biggest hits, steeped in nostalgia, and had plenty of surprises in store for the Parisian audience. The walls of Paris La Défense Arena shook during these two shows, with a frenzied crowd in the pit singing along in unison to Sexion d’Assaut’s biggest hits.

© Marie Bouhiron

Ten years away, a full arena to welcome them back

Ten years after their first successes, the members of Sexion d’Assaut were finally back. And for a comeback of this magnitude, only one venue could match the accumulated anticipation : Plenitude Arena. Choosing this arena sent a powerful signal to an entire generation : the Parisian group that had made whole neighbourhoods vibrate was returning through the grandest door imaginable.

This return, hoped for and demanded by fans, delayed by the members’ respective solo careers, was finally confirmed. The pandemic had pushed the dates back further still, from their original September 2021 slot. So when the doors of Plenitude Arena finally opened on those two May evenings, the emotion in the room was at its peak.

A stage befitting a legend

On Plenitude Arena’s stage, Sexion d’Assaut came to deliver something real. The group rolled out a production worthy of their status : lighting rigs, giant screens, pyrotechnic effects and a staging conceived specifically around each track. In a setting as imposing as Plenitude Arena, every visual explosion took on an added dimension, colours flooding the stands, lights sweeping a pit that was electrified from the first second to the last. The venue itself, with its unmatched acoustics and spectacular scale, turned every verse into a collective moment.

23 tracks, an entire decade sung word for word

The setlist was a journey through the group’s entire discography, from their earliest gems to the anthems that have become part of French rap’s furniture. Twenty-three tracks in total, a relentless run of hits that gave the audience no time to breathe.

Among the tracks performed that night at Plenitude Arena :

• Disque d’or
• Balader
• Casquette à l’envers
• Qui t’a dit
• Ma direction

A million albums sold and an entire generation in their pocket

The Parisian group has commanded unanimous love across France for more than a decade, with over a million albums sold. And that is where the unique strength of Sexion d’Assaut lies : unlike so many others, their music has aged without a single wrinkle. Tracks like Désolé, Balader, Avant qu’elle parte, Wati by Night and Ma Direction instantly transport their audience ten years back in time.

May 14, 2022 was also the release date of Le Retour des Rois, a physical-only album sold exclusively at the concert venues on the tour. Plenitude Arena became not just the stage for a concert, but the sole point of sale for a long-awaited record, an inventive way to strengthen the bond between the group and the fans who had made the journey.

Two nights, thousands of voices, a memory that will never fade

These two evenings at Plenitude Arena proved something essential : some groups never truly leave. Sexion d’Assaut had spent years apart, each member building their own solo legend. But the moment all seven stepped onto the Plenitude Arena stage together, only one thing remained : the magic was still there, intact, perhaps even magnified by the years of waiting.

Two sold-out nights, a packed arena bathed in neon, thousands of voices screaming every chorus in unison : Plenitude Arena gave Sexion d’Assaut the setting their comeback deserved. A moment outside of time, etched forever in the history of the venue and in the hearts of everyone who was there.