I also went to the Dusseldorf concert yesterday and found it a mixed experience. I've also been to Hans Zimmer's concert in Rotterdam and to Kraftwerk in Paradiso earlier this year so have some recent electronic music concert comparison.
Soundwise: I was sitting in the upper-mid ring, slighty right of the center. The sound was too loud for most of the concert, having to put my fingers on my ears to dampen the volume at times. Especially mids and highs were sometimes painfully loud. The lows such as kick drums reverberated quite a lot in the venue. Maybe the acoustics of this ice-hockey stadium aren't the most favorable. Some tracks (eg Exit) were almost a wall of deafening noise coming at you. A shame really because the volume made it difficult to really enjoy the music. Hans Zimmer's concert was much better in this respect, somewhat loud only on a few occassions. The Kraftwerk concert was soundwise the best of these three, with super warm but precise sound and the right volume.
Musicality / tracks: the tracks that sounded best were the non-electronica tracks. Especially Oxygene 17 sounded good, as well as Equinoxe 7 which was a nice version although a shame it ended quite early. I was very nice to see Jarre also play Animoog on the iPad en see him play the guitar and keytar. For me those moments were really great. I didn't like the new Oxygene 8 version that much. I would have preferred the old version. As most of the electronica tracks already were 4 x 4 beat oriented playing the old Oxygene 8 version would have given the audience a moment to recover. I also personally don't like the above and beyond remix of Zero Gravity. It's loud music meant for dancing and all we could do was sit in our chairs. It wasn't appropriate for the setting. Also, dedicating it to Edgar Froese while playing this remix (which leaves little standing of the beauty of the original track) felt off. It would have given the trakclist more well needed balance if he'd have chosen to play the more calm and downtempo original version. All in all the tracklist felt unbalanced for this type of 'sitting in chairs' concert. Way too many 4x4 dancefloor versions and too little real musical tracks. There's such a wide range of tracks to choose from, even within the electronica albums, to make the concert more fitting and balanced for a 'sitting' setting. I very much look forward to Oxygene 3 because I really liked Oxygene 17.
Visuals: The visuals were the highlight of the show, for me. I loved the stage design and 3D effects. I was there with two friends, one of which is a professional illustrator / graphic designer and he also said it was top notch visual design. I really liked the way the Equinoxe faces moved in a very natural way and how the Pet Shop Boys were visualized, as well as the round ball and earth/skull graphics. Jarre's visuals were best of the three concert's, with Hans Zimmer's visuals coming in as close second (the haunting searchlight and the thin red line were also brilliant) and Kraftwerk's visuals in third spot, sometimes very nice (especially Spacelab) but utterly boring at other times (Autobahn, The Model).
Live aspects and interaction: The old Jarre tracks seemed more live than the electronica tracks. The former also sounded better and less loud. JM had a lot of energy and that was great to see. A shame that as an audience we were not in the setting to give back that energy. I can imagine it feels frustrating for JM to play for such a quiet and calm audience while putting so much energy in it himself. Hans Zimmer's concert had better interaction with the audience, despite the venue being bigger. Hans took more time to talk to the audience with personal stories which gave that concert a more intimate feeling. Jarre's show felt more like a DJ show, in comparison. Kraftwerk is of course notorious for it's lack of interaction, so no need to add that into the mix in this respect
Comparing to other Jarre concerts I've been to (Concert for Tolerance, Atomium, Lille and Rotterdam (Oxygene 7-13), TeoTea showcase, and one of the Oxygene Live in you Living room concerts (don't remember which city (Liege/Luik maybe or Hasselt...) I liked the concert for tolerance best, followed by the Oxygene Live concert with all the old synths and live playing. This electronica concert, for me, seemed to be less centered around the musical side of things than on the visual aspects.
I bought an Oxygene t-shirt with the earth/skull on it, as the design was really nice and the t-shirts color also fit with almost everything. All the clothing apparently are full organic cotton, which is a plus. One of my friends got the Equinoxe t-shirt which, apparently, has the eyes light up in the dark.
All in all and comparing to Hans Zimmer's and Kraftwerk's concerts of this year, Hans Zimmer's was most memorable for the intimate atmosphere he created and the beautiful, virtuous live performance of the music. Kraftwerk's was memorable for the superb sound quality and choice of small characteristic venue (Paradiso), but less memorably than Hans Zimmer's because I'd already seen the same Kraftwerk show in the Evoluon in Eindhoven. Hans Zimmer's show was maybe a once in a lifetime chance to see him live because he doesn't tour that often. I'm afraid that yesterday's electronica concert is the least memorable because of the loudness and unbalanced tracklist given the seated setting. Nice to have been to, but not need to see. Despite my lackluster overall judgement, I appreciate JM's efforts in putting on a great visual spectacle and giving us his energy and new music. I would love to see him tour with the Oxygene 3 album and if he'd go to intimate venues such as Paradiso or O13 I'll surely go again.