While reading a recent JMJ blog entry, I noticed that he might as well be tended to judge the success of a concert by how willing those attending it were to applaud not only at the end of pieces but also to clap their hands enthusiastically during the performance. And for me this conflicts with the way I see it. If one is to perform a concert for a seated audience, one may well expect that the performance will be treated academically. This was the case when he performed in China in the early 1980s (and he then talked of the same experience), too. If Jarre is to expect the crowd to behave enthusiastically like they do in rock concerts, no problem with that - beer mixed with spirits or another recipe for boisterous behaviour - but then we can no longer continue talking about concepts like sound canvases. Getting in a mood requires a certain level of abstraction and getting in tune, as it were, with music. I think Oxygene demands paying all of one's attention to it. No place for clapping along the pieces.
What do you think of this? Please do not forget to explain your point.
P.S.
I posted it here because none of the sections above this had room for this discussion - I didn't want this matter to interfere with important questions such as about drinks JMJ prefers, or where he keeps his money.
Blah Blah Cafe, the Jean-Michel Jarre forum
