Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum

[Kanta]

Hmmm, another short video:


, the theremin seems quite powerful in this video (or could be JMJ).

[Nico_Noyau]

WOAAAAAAAAAAH it rowks
Thanks for the video, JMJ is awesome on that one !

[b.blues]

Hi all, this is the first chance I have had to post since attending the concert last night.
I will try not to spoil anything for those of you who have yet to see it.

Tracklist:-
Oxygene 1-6 with subltle re-arrangements of the variation tracks.
Oxygene 12&13.
Ok so here goes...

Having lived in Glasgow all my life I had never been to the Concert Hall.
It is a lovely venue and Jarres team put it to great use.
The staging was very close to ALL seating areas.
I walked in to the strains of cousteau and got my first view of the LIYLR set up.
I could see the outlines of all the synths and some led's glittering away in the dark.
I found my seat and with seconds to spare the lights dimmed.
The audience roared in anticipation. Where was he?
His entrance is very unusual, but none the less effective for it.
He begins with a warm thank you and greeting followed by and explanation of his "old ladies". He also asks us to expect some surprises from these unpredictable instruments.
Tuning up:- I LOVE this bit. In 16 years of musical endeavours, never has tuning an instrument been entertaining. This is sublime. As it turns out, some of the tracks are extended further to facilitate more of this tuning on the fly. Expect more of this in the upcoming events.
The sound is warm, powerful and very pure. Its soothing to your ears especially when compared to ANY rock concert you attend where the drum kit makes you wince.
I'm not going to pretend that it was perfect. No actually, it was from an artistic statement point of view. The mistakes were great too. There was NO PLAYBACK. One more time for the serial doubters. NO PLAYBACK. His playing was better than LIYLR and the whole piece sounds more "played in".
There was some clicking and popping coming from the "old ladies" (love that term) but that too added a certain something to the performance.
My girlfriend loved it, she too recognised the unique sound of these instruments and agreed that todays digital sanitized sounds are somewhat boring in comparison.
The crowd just lapped it up. He came out 3 TIMES for applause and shook peoples hands. He seemed genuinely moved and surprised by the Glasgow support.
I could go on and on for several pages and I'm sure bits of it will come back to me as the days go on.
he said he would see us again soon. He said that 11 years ago. this time, I really, really hope he means it.
Regards,
Joseph-John.

[GeeJee]

Wow that video is amazing.

Thanks for your report J.J.

[b.blues]

I also would advise anybody to stay behind after the show and go up to the stage to catch a glimpse of the set up. I guarantee you will never get to see such a collection of analogue gear. I spent 10 mins just gazing at the instruments thinking "They have been going since before I was born".
The whole project is amazing.
P.S
A few people from my work who only have a passing interest in JMJ went to the gig and were dissapointed coz there "Weren't any lasers like at Destination Docklands".
It's a shame he can't shake off that tired old "Son et lumiere" image.
I'd take a gig like last nights anytime over Paris La Defense. Not that paris 1990 wasn't great, it was. Only, that was then, this is now.
This tour is solely about the music. I had commented at the time of 7-13 that it'd be great to see him just on his own in a small venue with his synths.
Last night, my dream came true.

[Jakob BC]

@b.blues - thanks for the review. Nice to hear that atleast some thought it was great. Some expects a more traditional Jarre show, like they haven't spotted what this tour actually is about.

[ralf]

Jean Michel Jarre
Oxygene 30th Anniversary Opening Night
Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Sunday March 16th, 2008

Taper: Andre's Music Club
Source: Centre Circle Seating > Zoom H2 Rear (120 Degree) Internal Mics; 44.1kHz 16bit Stereo WAV
Transfer: SD Card Transfer > Sound Forge 8 > Sony Wave Hammer > Waves Q10 Eq > Flac
Duration: 1h 37'02"

Recorded on the opening night of Jarre's Oxygene 30th Anniversary Tour. It was an incredible performance focused on the music but with just enough spectacle to ensure it remained entertaining for those of us in the audience that weren't familiar with the serial numbers on his VCS3's!

The recording's complete, including all the little glitches that made the performance unique on the night.

The levels had to be adjusted afterwards in Sound Forge as I wasn't able to adjust them "in the field" as I didn't want to distrub the enjoyment of those around me. I just picked a low gain setting and left it there; the actual volume wasn't excessive in the venue either, so as a result there's a bit of hiss but not too much. If anyone feels inclined to clean it up with some broadband noise reduction please feel free.

Also, I didn't want to delay uploading this, so I haven't prepared any artwork; again, if anyone would like to oblige please go right ahead.

Here's the track list:


01 - Jarre's Spoken Introduction
02 - Tuning
03 - Prelude
04 - Oxygene I
05 - Oxygene II
06 - Oxygene III
07 - Variation I
08 - Oxygene IV
09 - Variation II
10 - Oxygene V
11 - Variation III
12 - Oxygene VI
13 - Variation IV
14 - Oxygene VII
15 - Encore Applause
16 - Oxygene XIII

This recording is made available free - NEVER pay for this recording. Support the artist by going along to one of the shows on the rest of the tour - I can personally testify that it's well worth it. And buy his recordings and DVDS - especially Oxygene: Live In Your Living Room if you don't already have it. It's great.

Okay, that's everything. Enjoy!

AMC.

[jp8000]

Thanks for the review

Too bad, that I'm not going to see him in concert

(tuning the instruments sounds interesting, for example)

[Kanta]

Thanks Joseph-John for your excellent review. A very nice read. I will try and take your advice about staying behind to admire the set up at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. But the RAH is gonna be a bit of a hardship, as there will be a lot of number of fans in attendance. It’s gonna be major busy.

, I am so excited. The days cannot come fast enough for me.

Jean Michel Jarre, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
by Stuart Morrison

Oxygene was, perhaps, the most influential electronic album of all time.

While it owed much to earlier works by the likes of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk, it captured the public's imagination like no other, selling by the proverbial bucket-load. So it was no surprise to find the concert hall sold out for this, the first date of French composer Jean Michel Jarre's European tour, celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the album's international release.

Emerging on to a stage that resembled a car boot sale in an electronics factory, Jarre, explained that he had decided completely to re-record the album, using only the original instruments and to tour on the same basis.
advertisement

To that end, he explained, he had decided to play smaller venues so that "you could have an intimate experience with my vintage instruments". With Frances Rimbert, Claude Samard and Dominique Perrier taking up their stations to the rear of the stage, Jarre and his team produced a stunning rendition of the entire album, from the first swish to the final bleep.

Nothing sounds more like an analogue synthesiser than, well, an analogue synthesiser, and to let us have an even more intimate experience, a huge panel of mirrors was lowered from the lighting rig, angled in such a way as to let us see just who was playing what.

With his three colleagues working madly at what looked like a giant telephone exchange, Jarre produced an astonishing range of sounds from his bank of keyboards and, splendidly, a theremin.

The ageing electronics survived to the end, as did their operators, and after a solo encore of Oxygene 13, Jarre left to a rapturous standing ovation.

Source.

More controversy
by Ken Smith

FRENCH composer Jean Michel Jarre began his European tour at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall at the weekend with tickets priced at up to £50 a pop.

Reader Dan Fagan from Coatbridge tells us that, although the concert was mesmerising, some folk thought it perhaps brief, and ended abruptly. In fact, Dan heard a woman further along the row ask at the end: "Is that it?"

Her partner replied: "Perhaps being French he disnae understand the term encore'."

Source.

[Jakob BC]

Thanks for posting ralf and Kanta

[Finaero]

But where's the recording itself?

Thanks anyhow

[Kanta]

You’re welcome Jakob.

I can’t believe that woman said, “Is that it?” It’s not the length of a concert that matters but the music itself.

[Finaero]

I guess that depends on if you're a fan or not. I probably would have reconsidered going to see him in Sweden if it had been just a 20-minute gig

[Kanta]

I don't think I have ever heard a concert that lasted for 20 minutes. If JMJ played a concert closer to where I live, I would go even if it lasted 10 minutes.

[JeromeTV]

Jean Michel Jarre
Oxygene 30th Anniversary Opening Night
Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
Sunday March 16th, 2008

Taper: Andre's Music Club
Source: Centre Circle Seating > Zoom H2 Rear (120 Degree) Internal Mics; 44.1kHz 16bit Stereo WAV
Transfer: SD Card Transfer > Sound Forge 8 > Sony Wave Hammer > Waves Q10 Eq > Flac
Duration: 1h 37'02"

which torrentsite did you find that ?