samedi 22 mars 2008

After Munich

Just finished the first german concert in Munich, the egg chair was perfect for Easter. I have been really impressed by the feedback and the energy of the audience. The sound balance is improving every night: the sounds of the individual instruments don't just add, they really merge, and it lets me focus on the interpretation. I really enjoy the feeling between the 4 of us on stage. Afterwards I had an exciting meeting with Dieter Doepfer, one of the only analog synthesizer manufacturers nowadays. He's a passionate man, faithful to the analog tradition with a modern approach. He offered me a very interesting sequencer called the Schaltwerk, the last production unit actually. Now heading back to Paris. See you in Brussels.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/22/2008 10 comments

A day off

Hello blog. Yesterday in Paris photo session with Viviane, interesting photographer who uses only black and white backgrounds. Bought a new book about A. Warhol writings. Just landed in Munich with musicians, Louis and Pierre; Thomas is joining us by train later on. We are going to prepare other things for the blog. I am curious to see how it goes tonight on stage. Promo and TV show this afternoon. Meeting also with people from Doepfer and Ludwig Rehberg, from EMS, both makers of great instruments.

(published on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/22/2008 8 comments

mercredi 19 mars 2008

Getting the right sound

First time tonight in Dublin that we got the right sound balance in the ear monitors, after two afternoons of exhausting rehearsals and then we played much better. I improved also a lot of things in the lighting and the scenography. We'll see how it goes in Munich. The audience was really great and warm. It is pity that Fiona could not be there. My friend Jean Louis. was there and we had really good time together. We missed Thomas; the good news is that he is coming to Munich.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 10 comments

Dublin Video

A day off in Dublin, with a stop at the pub.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 7 comments

Glasgow Video

Just a short video to show you what a race it is before and after every show.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 9 comments

Digico / Professional Digital Console

Here is the article of Digico who came at my studio last month.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 0 comments

Pro Sound News Europe / Professional Audio

My friends from Pro Sound News Europe made an article today.

Check it out here !

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 0 comments

Dublin first gig

Yesterday night was the first Dublin gig, in the National Concert Hall. Playing in this venue was like playing in a churh. People were so focused on the music and the show, it was really impressive.

It was also the first time I played in Ireland, a special country to me as Fiona my friend PA and manager is Irish. It was also a very special night yesterday as Fiona couldn't assist to the show, because she had to bury her father in Galway.

For the Encore I dedicated the song to her father. The crowd honored him lighting up their mobile phones and lighters creating a fantastic reflection in the mirror behind me.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/19/2008 14 comments

dimanche 16 mars 2008

Jarreblog is coming soon!

Hello. This is just to announce that Jarreblog.com will start very soon, and we encourage you to start subscribing right now so you don't miss out on updates.

Currently, Jean Michel just arrived in Glasgow, the first date of the tour. Things are a little bit crazy with all those instruments, but as soon as he gets everything under control, he will start providing his insight here. Mostly as text, pictures, and sometimes videos.

Stay tuned!

mardi 1 avril 2008

Concert Annoucement

I just wanted to announce that in exactly one year I will be giving a very special concert: we will play Oxygene in the Titanic! As you know, I like extraordinary places, and I find it interesting to play Oxygene in a place where oxygen is precisely so rare. We will be playing in the ship's Grand Ball room, in old-fashioned classy suits, I want to revive the dressy parties of a time where travel was still a poetic idea. When I composed Oxygene I didn't think of outer space and planets, I wanted it to be about the biosphere, and so playing it among the tunas and the octopuses will be a special moment.

Of course there are big problems, it's difficult to tune the synthesizers under water, and I need to tie my hair so it doesn't float, but I'm sure we will find a way. Alain is already learning to swim. Looking forward to it.

(posted on an analog phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/01/2008 23 comments

lundi 31 mars 2008

Very quick update

London, Royal Albert Hall, unique and impressive venue, people everywhere very receptive and warm. More details later..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/31/2008 11 comments

vendredi 28 mars 2008

When Shakespeare meets the Sex Pistols

Manchester Opera House, best venue and gig so far.

The balance was at last what I wanted, Francis was very focused, precise and with me all the time. Claude did really good impros with the choir parts and was really precise with all the bass parts with the Taurus Moog. Dominique was really inspired all the way long, great presence and amazing parts on the Mellotron strings and Voyager.

I explored new impros with " Arlette" AKS and Moog Liberation, I felt really relax on stage. Great audience, Let's hope it is a good omen for London. Playing London is always special and the Royal Albert Hall a challenge, we'll see...

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/28/2008 14 comments

Manchester Opera House

A few hours before the show. I'm trying to look like a star.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/28/2008 10 comments

The BBC article

The BBC article is up online, check it out here.

Published by Thomas on 3/28/2008 1 comments

jeudi 27 mars 2008

Interference

The concert in Birmingham went OK, except that Claude forgot to switch off his cell phone before the concert and we had a lot of interferences. We still have some work to do on stage before London. I did an interesting interview with Mario Cacciottolo from BBC web; he is writing an interesting article on BBC website, let's see if I can create a link when it's published (he is mentioning Jarreblog in the article, hope that's going to touch a lot of people). Interestingly, Mario came to my concerts at the Docklands (1988), at Paris La Defense (1990) and at Wembley stadium (1993).

After the concert I met with Jim Heinz who designed Kikaxxe, a great virtual sequencer and synthesizer. We discussed about the possibility of developping a new sequencer together. He loved the concert, he is going back to California and we said we'll keep in touch.

The Daily Telegraph ran a good review here. They compare me to a french cheese :)

(published on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/27/2008 17 comments

The past and the future

Birmingham Center:

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/27/2008 6 comments

mercredi 26 mars 2008

Crazy Musicians

Brussels had an eerie effect on the musicians...

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/26/2008 14 comments

mardi 25 mars 2008

Amsterdam

Tonight Amsterdam. We arrived by train under a crazy snow. Best venue so far: the theater looked great, with a lot of big chandeliers and red velvet, quite decadent... The audience was really into the music and the show. We had a lot of fun.

The crew is exhausted as we played in Brusssels and Amsterdam back-to-back, and they couldn't really sleep. Disassembling all the instruments, lighting, sound systems and reassembling it is a feat they accomplish everyday. Meeting with the fans after the concert is always a special moment. I finallly checked the merchandising. All the gear for sale is quite fun and very close to what I wanted. Time to head to the UK now.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/25/2008 16 comments

lundi 24 mars 2008

A long trip

Monday night, concert in Brussels went really well. The venue had an ideal size, the sound was good and the audience really warm. I have a few adjustments to do to get a better balance in my ear monitors in Amsterdam. I left Paris for 3 weeks and took a lot of stuff with me: books, music, instruments... The new book from William Gibson, "Spook Country", "Code Source" in french. An interesting author I know since "Neuromancer". He is like the Philip K. Dick or the Arthur C. Clarke of cyberspace.

Talking about Arthur C. Clarke, he died few days ago and I have been really sad about it. We became good friends along the years and all his work, especially "2001 a Space Odyssey", have been a great source of inspiration for me. I remember reading 2010, the sequel to 2001, and discovering my name in the aknowledgments saying that my music helped him write the book and I felt so honoured that I wrote him and he replied by giving me his planning for the following years. I visited him in Sri-Lanka; he explained to me the stars beyond the solar system. We spent a few nights on the roof of his house observing space through a fantastic telescope. Memories...

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/24/2008 11 comments

The audience in Munich

Impressive audience in Munich

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/24/2008 2 comments

samedi 22 mars 2008

A note about fan videos

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/22/2008 29

mercredi 9 avril 2008

Meeting people

After the concert in Berlin, I met a lot of people from the electronic music world:

Jon from Elektron, who brought me a drum machine I ordered in Copenhagen last week, the director of Neumann, the people from Memotron, who have built an extraordinary new version of the Mellotron with even some Eminent sounds in it. I took one as a spare for the one Dominique has on stage.

Also a guy from Ploytec offered me an amazing midi pedal allowing to control live any tempo variations and doing a lot of other tricks ( see ploytec.com).

Picture: At Steiners Buero, the most important store of electronic music in east Berlin. I bought a tiny drum machine for the bus..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/09/2008 12 comments

Memories of Berlin

It is always exciting to come back to Berlin where I have so many memories. I used to spend some summer holidays when I was a child, my cousin was in charge of the food in the french army. One of his sons was my age. I remember going by train from Paris, going through East Germany. We were not allowed to look through the windows, the curtains were shut. We used to go to east Berlin through the metrop and it was for us the ultimate dangerous adventure. We were playing spy games, James Bond games.

Then I came back later on for doing some music, especially to play in the Waldbuhne, a huge outdoor amphitheater, close to the old olympic stadium and built by Hitler. I remember the very strange vibes of the tunnel backstage going directly to the stadium used a lot by Hitler and Goebels to visit the athletes in 1936.

I remember the wall and its amazing grafitti, the sadness of families being cut of for years. I remember that my mom, a great resistant, stayed in Berlin after she had been in a concentration camp. She travelled back from Berlin to Paris on the roof of a train risking her life at each tunnel.

Berlin, its soul, its architecture, its museums, galleries.., is more than ever impressive today. It is one of the most important cities in the world, a city of culture- official and underground. A great city of art and music, classical and modern. One of the centers of electronic music in the world. It has been an honor to be welcomed by such an enthusiastic audience, to get a standing ovation from the Berliners who know so much about music. We could have played all night...

The Berlin concert will remain for me and the band as one of the highlights of the tour.

The Reichtag, a good venue for a concert..

Victoria Platz, I remember the Wim Wenders' movie "les ailes du désir".

Schlotz Platz, where the nazis burnt thousands of books, may 10, 1933.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/09/2008 8 comments

mardi 8 avril 2008

Berlin

The Berlin audience was electrified and amazing. We could have played one more hour. Since Stockholm, it seems that I found the right energy and attitude on stage. The music is more energetic even with some minor problems with the MemoryMoog and the RMI. It is a real honor for me and the band to get such a welcome in the town of electronic music. More to come tomorrow..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/08/2008 12 comments

dimanche 6 avril 2008

Self-portrait

Right before entering the stage in Hamburg

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/06/2008 15 comments

Tonight I'm a Hamburger

Hamburg went with the same energy as in Stockholm. The audience was great.

Dominique was specially good tonight even if we lost him for a few minutes just before going on stage.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/06/2008 4 comments

YouTube Update

It seems videos of the tour keep getting removed from YouTube. I just sent them a note:

I, Jean Michel Jarre, hereby authorise anyone to broadcast on Youtube any videos filmed during my concerts on " Oxygene in concert" tour, as long as it is a fair excerpt with the right credits which has been the case so far.

I certify that the only person able to allow or forbid these videos on Youtube is myself, being the composer of all the music, being the sole producer of the live audio and visual version, the performer and the co-publisher. I think these videos are a fair tribute to my work and contribute in a positive way to the exposure of my music.

Yours truly,

Jean Michel Jarre

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/06/2008 25 comments

samedi 5 avril 2008

Post Stockholm

Stockholm was the best by far. The venue was beautiful, an old circus transformed into a concert hall. The audience was everywhere even on the stairs and was so responding and enthusiastic. And I think I delivered my best performance so far, much more with the audience all along, more energetic. It is like if I passed on the other side of the mirror. The people are coming exclusively for the music and the feedback is really extraordinary. Something is changing in the perception of my work vis a vis the audience and vis a vis myself. I am sharing actually everything, the way I work, I compose, like inviting every one in the kitchen. It is giving me a lot of ideas for the future, for new stage projects and new music. I think being on stage will not be the same after Sweden.

After the concert, met some chinese agents inviting me for the next festival of electronic music in Shanghai. I also met the people of Clavia/Nordlead and we talked about new instruments. They all told me how much they enjoyed the concert. I met also the local promoter. He was very excited, telling me he loved the concert so much that he will bring his family next time. He said that he refused a lot of tickets and that he would like me to come back soon in a bigger venue or even outdoor..

Then we went to dinner with Jean Louis R., Benjamin, Jean Marie G. And wife Delphine, Fiona and Pierre, we had a lot of fun.

Today we spent all day in the old Stockholm where I found a terrific record shop called Pets Sounds. I found rare books about Depeche Mode, analog synthesizers by Mark Jenkins and a history of bra since the medieval age till today.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/05/2008 26 comments

vendredi 4 avril 2008

Kissing an old friend in Stockholm

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/04/2008 9 comments

jeudi 3 avril 2008

Stockholm, 3/04

Arrived in the afternoon, nice weather. In the bus for the hotel, I took the microphone to thank all the crew for all their efforts.

Then I had supper with Jean Louis, Pierre and Benjamin, a young tv director. We discussed about doing a documentary on the tour.

Before that I had had a long chat with a journalist from the Independent. He loved the concert at the RAH and wants to do a feature in the Independent on Sunday next week.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/03/2008 13 comments

mercredi 2 avril 2008

Playing in Denmark

Copenhagen went really well twice, yesterday and today, all the problems we had in London did not happen here. Talking about London, a lot of the problems came from the power system of the Royal Albert Hall , the mirror out of sync, one video projector and some lights switched off from time to time... C'est la vie and we had our revenge in Denmark.

The musicians played great , the light and staging were much tighter. Every part was more controlled and we've got 2 standing ovations.....

Yesterday night I met the people from Elektron. They created one of the most interesting drum machine and mono machine. We'll keep in touch in Berlin.

This morning I met a nice and interesting journalist from the serious danish newspaper, Politiken. He already put his article on Politiken website. Then I had a productive meeting with magnetic fields.com the danish fanclub. We have a few projects together. We'll teel you more about this soon.

Thank you to Copenhagen for such a warm welcome.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/02/2008 13 comments

Attention to german fans !!

Hi to all and specially my german fans! I did an interview in Munich, the day of my first concert of the tour in Germany, and it will be broadcast very soon. here are the details:

„Capriccio“, Thursday, the 3rd of April 2008, 22.30 Uhr = 10.30 p.m., Bavarian Television (Bayerisches Fernsehen)

„Capriccio“, Sunday, the 6th of April 2008, 9.15 Uhr = 9.15 a.m., Bavarian Television (Bayerisches Fernsehen)

Also you will find here after a copy of the review of the Munich show

München, 25.03.08 / 14:57 live.biz: Top News

Standing Ovations beim Tourstart von Jean Michel Jarre

Begeisterte mit elektronischer Musik in München: Jean Michel Jarre

Beim ersten seiner insgesamt vier Deutschlandkonzerte, das am 22. März in München über die Bühne ging, erntete Jean Michel Jarre für das erstmals komplett aufgeführte "Oxygène"-Werk Standing Ovations. Die Tour wird von MCT veranstaltet, als örtlicher Veranstalter fungierte Propeller Music & Event.

Der französische Elektronikpionier und Sohn des Filmmusikkomponisten Maurice Jarre begrüßte die Zuschauer in der nicht ganz ausverkauften Philharmonie am Gasteig mit einer persönlichen Einführung in den Abend. So habe er sich erst gegen Ende 2007 kurzfristig entschieden, abseits seiner sonstigen Open-Air-Konzerte mit Millionen Zuschauern mit seinem "Oxygène"-Material auf Tour zu gehen.

Ihm zur Seite standen drei weitere Franzosen, denen die "Stradivaris der elektronischen Musik" zu Verfügung standen, wie Jarre formulierte. Denn ohne Preset-Sound oder programmierte Sequenzen spielten die vier Musiker auf Originalinstrumenten aus den 20er- bis 70er-Jahren wie etwa einem Theremin oder mehreren Moog-Synthesizern gute anderthalb Stunden alles live. Ein minimalistisches, aber effektvolles Bühnendesign unterstrich die Wirkung der Musik. Unter anderem senkte sich von der Decke ein großer Spiegel herab, sodass die Zuschauer auch die Aktionen der Musiker im Bühnenhintergrund beobachten konnten.

I'll be in Germany very soon, see you there!

Sunday 06 April Hamburg CCHI

Monday 07 April Berlin Friedrich

Tuesday 15 April Frankfurt Alte Oper

Published by Louis on 4/02/2008 7 comments

mardi 1 avril 2008

A tough day at Royal Albert Hall

After Manchester that went really well, even though the load-in has been painful for the crew, I was worried about London, for good reasons..

First, when you have a day off after a good gig it is always difficult to start again with the right energy.

Secondly, the Royal Albert Hall has a reputation of being a difficult venue, its size, its architecture, its lodges, make it difficult for staging a production made for a tour format and getting the right sound. It would require specific rehearsals that we could not have because the venue was busy until the morning of the concert.

And I was right to be worried..

As soon as I went on stage, I felt real good vibes coming from the audience, yet I knew that it was going to be tough. When I started to talk to the audience a big iron chain fell down from the ceiling at one meter from me and I could have been injured badly. Then some of my synths that have been quite stable recently started to be out of tune during the concert.

On a visual point of view, the black curtains did not close and open properly, the cyclo (the big white screen), was not tight enough and had ugly pleats, the mirror had to be so high that it became almost impossible to have it on and off at the right time and when the projections started the mirror was still visible and created some wrong reflections on the screen at the beginning of Oxygene 6..

The sound was allright at the first part but not loud enough further up.

Being meticulous on the audio and visual aspects of the concert, I felt really frustrated not being able to deliver what I wanted, particularly in this prestigious venue, even if the audience was great. The reviews have been really good since the beginning of the tour and if today they are not as positive as usual, I can only agree with them..

Right after the gig, guitarist Brian May from Queen came with Garik, a friend of his, and told me that he and Garik really enjoyed the concert which cheers me up a bit. We then had real good moment together joined by my son David who is a big fan of Brian's.

Brian told me that he recently became a doctor in astrophysics and introduced me to his friend Garik, an astronomer. He showed me amazing pictures of the huge telescope he helped to build in the Canary Islands and told me that he would like me to collaborate on a concert project over there in a near future under the banner of Unesco. I would be delighted to talk about it further and see what we could do all together. Thomas was there as well he took a lot of pictures and videos and I have to talk to him about this project.

Garik also told me that he has strange recordings of sounds of stars that he wants me to listen to. I am really curious to hear that..

Garik is born in Armenia and told me that my music was not allowed for quite a long time in his country but was in fact very popular for being a kind of symbol of evasion and freedom...

Then we went at the Royal Gardens for the aftershow party. I was joined there by my family, my wife Anne, my son Barnaby and wife Chione, my son David and dearest Ara, his girlfriend. Lots of people and friends were there, JF Cecillon and all of EMI UK, Pascal Cagni (head of Apple Europe) with his wife and the european iTunes team, Dan Waite from MTV intl , my friends Jean Louis R., J.M. Wilmotte and Nicole, Mike Mansfield and Hillary, my dear Fiona, also Louis and Thomas, the band and some of the crew, especially such talented people as Ignace d'Haese,the lighting designer, Alain Courieux and Julien Vouillon the sound engineers and the DigiCo people. We all had good time then until late in the night, followed by a day off.

(posted on a mobile phone - fingers still red hot)

jeudi 24 avril 2008

Clash Magazine

Hi to all

you will find hereafter the link of the latest interview I did for Clash Magazine

http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/jean-michel-jarre

Cheers

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/24/2008 3 comments

mercredi 23 avril 2008

Nightmares and Ola

Everything started yesterday when the truck carrying the backline equipment arrived 5 hours late because of a bad puncture. Then we finally did the sound check at 20:35, the concert starting by luck at 22:00.

And then the problems started for me.....

The MemoryMoog went out of tune, the same for the ARP; we had very little time to set up everything. I tried quickly the Moog Liberation (the portable keyboard) and it had a constant vibrato that I couldn't stop. We tried everything and eventually Patrick succeeded to make it usable.

I decided to go on stage with a maximum of energy and ready to cope with anything and..... everything happened!

First of all the Egg chair did not turn properly, the arpegiator of the MemoryMoog was blocked, the ARP was out of tune and I had to retune each of its oscillators live, one AKS had no sound, I had to switch the power off and on to make it work, I had to re-pitch the flute sound constantly all along Oxy 2, the DigiSequencer was blocked and I had to reload the sequence for Variation 2 and play something else in the meantime, the percussive sequence on Oxy 5 was hard to start and the Eminent went crazy on Oxy 13 during the encore..

But I felt Claude, Francis and Dominique really on the case full time and the audience totally with me from the beginning and it gave me the necessary energy to rage against the machines!

The Moog Liberation solo with its strange sound was probably one of the most inspired I've played since the beginning of the tour and the concert one of the most spectacular since the beginning as well.

The result was that the audience went really crazy screaming and doing the Ola at the end - we got the most animated standing ovation. ¡Viva Madrid...!

The French Ambassador in Spain and his entourage came backstage. They all said they enjoyed the concert a lot and were impressed by the excitation of the audience generally quite young. He is a very nice man with a good sense of humour quite different to your ordinary diplomat. He said there is a lot of interest in Spain for an outdoor concert of mine particularly around the theme of the environment - we must meet again soon to pursue. I also spent some time with Rodriguo Sangro from EMI, a very nice, articulate young man, who was in school with Emilie, my daughter. We'll definitely keep in touch.

I am on my way to Lisbon in the bus, I spent some time with Dominique. Janet, his wife was there in Madrid. It was so good to see her around. After difficult times, I found her in very good form and looking beautiful. She loved the show and Domnique told me that she said she received such good vibes that she felt much stronger this morning. In the end, it is what music is made for.

Then we talked with Dominique about our relationship along all these years, the fact that this tour is doing a lot to reinforce our links. He said that he was really amazed by the fact that we are sold out everywhere, with such a success. We're all feeling lucky to get such a positive feedback in the unusual genre that instrumental music is. It is, actually, what makes these concerts so unique. We then talked about future projects and the direction the music should take.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/23/2008 24 comments

mardi 22 avril 2008

Liceu, Barcelona

Monday has been a tough long day. We went directly from the airport to the venue, one of the most beautiful of the tour. The Liceu is the classical Opera house of Barcelona and has a worldwide reputation. It is like Fort Knox, you have to show your passport for going backstage, you cannot film inside the theater. Thomas, after long negotiations between Fiona and the directon of the Liceu, got the permission to film no more than 20 minutes, staying at the same position.

The stage is very deep and one of the problems was the distance between the first row and my main position.

Because of it, we had to change Oxy 13 at the end: we had to built a riser with one Eminent, replug the Andromeda, plug the Arp Omni and the new MFB synth with a small stone for wind fx (the VCS3 being too far away). I had also to be aware, throughout the show, of the distance with the audience for the Theremin and the Moog Liberation solos for instance..

The final result went well and the concert was a great success. Meeting again with the spanish audience was really exciting. Then I had dinner with my Mum who travelled to join us - she was in good form, considering her age.

Outside the theater a lot of fans were waiting for signatures and photos..

Lunes fue un dia difícil. Fuimos directamente del aeropuerto al sitio del concierto, un de los mas guapos del tour. El Liceu es como Fort Knox: tienes que mostrar to documentación para entrar backstage, no puedes filmar dentro del teatro. Después de negociaciones sin fin con Fiona y el director del Liceu, Tomás obtuvo permisión de rodar 20 minutos de película, no más, quedándose en el mismo lugar.

El escenario es muy profondo, y uno de los problemas es la distancia desde mi posición y el público. Por eso, tuvimos que cambiar el final Oxy 13. Construimos un riser con uno de los Eminent, el Andromeda, el Arp Omni y enchufamos el nuevo MFB sintetizador con una Small Stone para el efecto de viento, el VCS3 siendo demasiado lejos. También tuvo que pensar en la distancia con el público para el Theremin y los solos de Moog Liberación, por ejemplo.

El resulto final fue bueno, y el concierto fue un éxito. El encuentro con el público español fue excitante, pues comí con mi mamá que había venido - estaba bien, considerando su edad. Fuera nos esperaban muchos fans para firmas y fotos.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/22/2008 19 comments

Week-end in Paris

Just a quick break before Southern Europe.

On friday night, I went to see "Sacred Monsters", a modern ballet with Sylvie Guillem and Ashram Khan. Sylvie is always extraordinary in the way she defines the space around her as soon as she moves. This time, on top of it, she speaks and she is funny and witty. Ashram Khan, signing also the choregraphy is all right but not at her level. Then I went backstage with Gilles her nice husband, to say hello. I met Phillip Sheppard, the composer who did a real good score, mixing classical music with a string trio, a fantastic percussionist and indian music with a pakistenese singer musician and another belgian female singer, making all kinds of sounds with her voice. He told me that" Concerts in China" gave him the desire to become a composer.

Then Saturday I had to find a MFB synth 2, the small german synth, in order to play the white noise part in Oxygene 13 because the VCS3 is too far away at the Colyseum. Actually, because of the unusual distance between the first row and my main position, I need to play the encore more upfront with a proper instruments set-up.

Then I watched" Shine A Light", the Scorcese Movie on the Rolling Stones.

I found Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronny very moving and impressive. Old pirates with untarnished innocence, Mick and Keith being incredibly fit and delivering a great performance. I have been a bit disapointed though by M. Scorcese's work. The audience in front of the stage looked fake. Mick was right, complaining about the numbers of cameras,18 in a theater like Marigny. So apart not missing one moment of what is going on which is the least of things,, it looks like a TV show and the mood doesn' t match the sweat, the fun and the rough energy of the boys. If I was not particularly impressed by the duet with Jack White, it really works with Cristina Aguilera, such a great voice..

One of the best moments is the duet with Buddy Guy. What he is doing with his guitar and voice is so simple but so unique that for a moment the Stones are becoming his backing musicians! That's probably why Keith offers him his own guitar at the end of the song..

Then I went to the Theatre de la Ville to see " Good Bye Umbrella" by and with James Thierre, Charlie Chaplin's grandson. He is a pure genius. Everybody must see him. He his a poet, an acrobat, a clown, an actor , a director, an author, a musician. His shows are completly unique and magic... impossible to describe. This show is what any artist would dream to express: the purity of a child, the absurdity of life with the control and the talent to serve true unique creativity..

Barcelona today. It is going to be a tough, long day after 3 days off. We'll see...

My mum is also coming tonight and I am glad to see her.

(patiently posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/22/2008 9 comments

vendredi 18 avril 2008

Pictures from Luxemburg

Sound check at the Rockhall, Luxemburg.

Phil, one hour before the show.

The Band.

Morricone wouldn't do better.

My new hat.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/18/2008 20 comments

jeudi 17 avril 2008

Fiat Luxemburg

Travelling from Frankfurt to Luxemburg by bus. Lots of fun. We saw excerpts of films which Francis R. filmed through the years. Today a making of about the stadium tour in 1993, Europe in concert. Funny and moving to see all of us through this mad mega tour.. More tomorrow.

In case he forgets..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/17/2008 4 comments

mercredi 16 avril 2008

Frankfurters

After 2 days off, I was a bit worried about the crew being a bit out of focus, and I was right. The sound was for me not loud enough and the light was not really in time. The audience did not seem to notice and reacted very well. More tomorrow from the bus on the way to Luxemburg.

Francis, cool in Frankfurt.

Claude, focused in Frankfurt.

Dominique, dandy in Frankfurt.

AKS keyboard und Opera de Frankfurt.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/16/2008 10 comments

lundi 14 avril 2008

Tribute

Hello, this is Thomas. Jean Michel is having a well-deserved day off, and he asked me to share a story with you. Fiona is Jean Michel's assistant, spokesperson, problem-solver and best friend. She has been working with him for over 20 years, and her dream during all those years was to have him perform in Ireland, her homeland. Most unfortunately, when this finally happened at the beginning of the tour, her father had just passed away, and she buried him in Galway the very same day Jean Michel was playing in Dublin. He improvised a little tribute, and the audience followed. Louis happened to be filming at that moment. Please share our sympathy to Fiona and her family.

Published by Thomas on 4/14/2008 14 comments

samedi 12 avril 2008

Oslo Motion

Saturday night in Oslo was hot. For the first time the audience stood up the last 12 minutes of the show on all Oxygene 12. We have all that on film. What really makes me crazy is that nobody lit up the crowd properly as I asked during the sound check. Anyway I think David Perrier, the cameraman did a great job on stage. Actually I introduced him as a member of the band at the beginning of the concert explaining we choosed Oslo for making the documentary about the tour and when he came in the follow spot, continuing filming, all the audience applauded him like a special guest! It was really funny. Then he became like an invisible black animal. He was everywhere at the right time. I think he'll get some good footage. We all had fun, Dominique was jumping everywhere, at one stage he even suddenly appeared in Francis' zone . The audience again was one of the best even if Francis and myself had few tuning problems.

Every night some details are improved and it would be great to do a final date in Paris and/or Lyon, the concert being so different now than in Marigny, we'll see, it is probably too late...

Mr. and Mrs. Pelamourgues, the most sexy couple on the tour.

A tiny man facing big machines.

Our power station.

Dominique, almost ready for action...

Julie Noyat, our tour manager is great. Everybody loves her. Tonight, she saves our lives by getting the expresso machine back from the bottom of the truck, ready to go to Francfort.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/12/2008 20 comments

Slo

Arrived in Oslo, O snow, Oslo.no.

A city I always liked with snow or with sun (today it was with the sun), a web-city, punk, rock, electro, ecolo...

We chose to start the film about the tour here. Benjamin is the director and David Perrier is behind the camera.

All the crew knows David who filmed the documentary in Egypt and in China. He will be on stage with us tomorrow night. I am going to bed now because we start shooting early in the morning..

Waiting for my luggage with other well dressed passengers at Oslo Airport.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/12/2008 9 comments

vendredi 11 avril 2008

Country side, it is good to visit such a place and to play in this small town with the same energy than if it was New-York, Paris or London. It is what we did and we've been rewarded by an enthusiastic and sincere audience.

When french artists, if any, played Skive last time, I don't know, but we all had the feeling that we were carrying a bit of our french soul here tonight.

Talking about the french presence, we are always astonished by the absence, most of the tIme, of french diplomats during these concerts, not necessarily for us, but for them, it's even becoming a joke.

Not taking the opportunity of a strong presence of french artists and technicians making big headlines in the national press and not using it in their own interest is crazy and a big mistake, because it is also their job.

Ironically, we have regularly the presence of foreign diplomats or national political figures.

In all cases, along the road, that does not change anything for us..

The musicians, Dominique, Francis and Claude are really great as artists and friends. After all these years I am still discovering them. They are so different and like in any good band so complementary. I would say that the fifth and sixth members of the band are Julien Vouillon on stage and Alain Courieux behind the console in the hall every night, our two sound engineers, great pros and humam beings. I know that we can go and play on the moon and they will deliver the best possible sound...

Good night.

Francis during the sound check, Berlin

Aarus, in front of the new Digico console, Alain Courieux and Julien Voillon, 2 dear friends and talented sound engineers doing a great sound every night. See http://prosoundnewseurope.com/index.php?option=com

Bananas, flowers and Dominique.

With Ras Bolding, one of the heads of the danish fan club, magneticfields.dk

Artist attacked by an army of suitcases in a tiny lift.

Is Hannibal Lecter on stage tonight? No it's Patrick tuning the ARP in the dark..

Skive, Concert Hall

(published on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/11/2008 9 comments

jeudi 10 avril 2008

Aarus, and other double-A

Aarus, second biggest city in Denmark went great also. It seems that we have fun on stage with the band. The energy is there...

Being in Jutland again, we remembered Aalborg, the fantastic concert in a windmill field which ended under the rain. Good memories..

Aarus Concert Hall, one hour before the show

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/10/

mercredi 25 juin 2008

Message to the world

Today I just want to share this with you...

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/25/2008 18 comments

mercredi 18 juin 2008

Back from Tenerife

Canary Islands are not only a famous destination for getting sun and drinking beer, it has also amongst the most extraordinary landscapes in the world. After La Palma and its amazing observatory, we went yesterday to Teide, the other observatory with solar telescopes, at around 3000m. of altitude.

It looks like a martian village.

The natural park around is also extraordinary, made of tortured rocks red, brown and black. If La Palma observatory looked like a friendly moon, this place seems to belong to a distant planet out from our solar system. They filmed here part of the Empire Strikes Back and Planet of Apes. Another stunning place for a concert.

We discussed with the local government about the unique opportunity to put together such a project for their country. We left the following morning after having discussed different ideas for the concert with Gary. I am also keeping the contact, obviously, with Brian May while he is very busy with the starting of the new Queen world tour. This journey has been very inspiring for the coming music and concerts projects.

Gary, me and the clouds

Mirror to the sky

R2D2's father

Inside the dome

Trying to repair

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/18/2008 27 comments

mercredi 11 juin 2008

Tenerife

I am in the Canary Islands for a concert project for 2009, the U.N. Year for Astronomy, with Brian May, former guitarist of Queen and now an astrophysician.

Today we visited the site where the biggest telescope has just been built, with Doctor Garik Israelian, an Astrophysician like Brian.

He is currently making some research on acoustic Astronomy and on the sounds produced by the stars.

He asked me to create a concert with Brian May at the Observatory of the Canary Islands, a unique place above the clouds.

(Photo from Flickr - JMJ didn't send his own yet)

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/11/2008 28 comments

lundi 9 juin 2008

Introducing new old ladies

Original Syntar and ARP Quadra

CRUMAR Multiman S and brown Moog Liberation

Roland CR-8000

Ace Tone Rythm Ace

ARP ProSoloist (thanks to JC), MFB and a rare Eminent Solina

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/09/2008 12 comments

dimanche 8 juin 2008

Elephant Man

(This text is a video transcript)

It's been quite a few days since I didn't give any news on the blog. I've been pretty busy and I'm going back to the blogger's life step by step in the next few days. I've been very busy with Unesco, I spent two days last week as a moderator for the annual sessions of the ambassadors. I would like to welcome a new ambassador, Pr Jean Malaurie. He's a brilliant man, an ethnologist specialised in the arctic world. We discussed the possibility of doing a concert near the North Pole or maybe in the northern part of Iceland, and we're talking about this taking place within the next two or three years.

I've been to a very interesting exhibition by Ara Starck. She's Philippe Starck's daughter and she's holding an exhibit in Paris, based on a kind of oil painting but with a very strange process, something like a moving oil painting. As you move your head around, the expression of the faces evolves.

Also I've been very busy choosing and finding new analog instruments, and we'll attach some photos of them. Through the internet, through different people in Europe and America, I found very rare and special analog synthesizers and I'm going to use them for my next musical project, which I'm going to start actually this very afternoon. It's composed of an ARP Quadra, a Solina, a very rare portable keyboard called the Syntar, developed more or less at the same time as the Moog Liberation, a Crumar, an Italian string and brass, and also a Roland CR-8000 drum machine. I was looking for this drum machine for quite a while and I finally found it in Amsterdam. So all these instruments are gathered at home, and I'm about to start a new project based on those, plus some other existing instruments I have in the studio as well.

So that's it for now, I'm off to lunch with Thomas and Pierre now, at the Palais de Tokyo, where we saw a rather unusual exhibition with a roaring name, "Superdome", so we would think that it's going to be very spectacular. Actually, it's composed of five artists, some of them interesting, some of them less so, and there is a surprise on the blog with a picture of an elephant which you will see below this. See you later!

I'm getting better at kung-fu!

Stocking up on art books

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/08/2008 16 comments

dimanche 18 mai 2008

End of chapter 1

After a few days off, here I am again..

The tour is over and I am still amazed by the audience we had. I really would like to thank some of the people who have made all this possible.

First of all Francis, Claude and Dominique, the 3 talented musicians sharing the stage with me . Through this tour we became even closer friends than before. We are all complementary, Francis is my memory, he knows all the parts of all songs I did, a great musician, he is also very creative and can save any situation. Dominique is a poet, he is outside of any system, as easily as he can forget his shoes, he can bring tears to your eyes with an impro... Claude is a rock with imagination. I trust him entirely. I know that we could play on the moon and he will get everything under control. Crazy and precise.

Thanks to my dear manager Fiona "my little sister", always in control on all fronts. We have been through so many adventures all around the planet together. She always has been there to solve everything. Thanks also to her new assistant Louis who did a real good job and welcome to the family.

Thanks to Thomas Alsina, such a multi-talented person.Through the years, I feel priviledged to have become his friend. We have done so many things together. He can do almost everything from inventing any new software for 3D film, video fx or electronic music, to deciding 2 hours before a concert to film it in timelapse, to pilot a jet, being a specialist of mangas, computers, Kabuki, bicycles, Opera and silly jokes.

Thanks to Patrick Pelamourgues, like his wife Marie Laure, always in good mood, able to fix anything, anywhere, anytime.

Thank you also to Alain, Mary-Jo and Romain Bilowus, CPM and all the crew for their dedication.

Thank you also to Paul Charles, my agent who put this tour together so quickly.

But more than anything, I would like to thank all of you who have been part of these fantastic audiences, especially you who are following my work for a long time.

Thank you to all of you who have travelled, sometimes with difficulty, to attend 3, 4, 5 or even 10 of the concerts. I feel truly honoured by your dedication and your support and be sure that it means a lot to me...

I am going to continue this blog as much as I can for you.

I have done a lot of things since I came back.

These past few days I have been chasing some analog instruments which I need for some new tracks and for the future on stage. I found a second Moog Liberation and a very rare portable keyboard, the Syntar.

I also went to 2 different exhibitions:

One important retrospective on Louise Bourgeois which I found much less exciting that the one at the Modern Tate in London.

The other one, "Traces du Sacre", also at the Centre Pompidou Museum, is about the relationship between Art and the Sacred, mapping the Sacred in Modern Art.

This is a great idea and to confront in the same room in this perspective, Goya and Damien Hirst, Kandinsky and Bruce Nauman is exciting and ambitious, but the presentation is not clear enough and we can regret the absence of some artists like Pollock ( the dripping period) or Salvador Dali.

Having said that, it is interesting to go and have a look anyway...

I am reading at the moment "My True Story" a very special autobiography on and by David Lynch and I really like it. I also went to see " Iron Man" which I quite enjoyed, my favourite adaptation of the Marvel's Super Heroes Stories so far.

I am now thinking about future projects, the next tour, worldwide this time, and lots of other projects which I'll explain in more detail soon.

Reminds me of someone...

Bruce Nauman, "Traces du Sacré"

Louise Bourgeois

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/18/2008 29 comments

jeudi 1 mai 2008

Salamanca

World Heritage of UNESCO, the city of Salamanca is one of the most beautiful cities of the tour. Full of magnificent cathedrals, churches and monuments entirely restored, the spanish city where you have the most students. So the audience was quite young for the concert.

The concert started really well. I think Oxygene 1 has been the best so far, with a lot of emotions, the flute chorus in Oxy 2

and Variation 1 as well. But some problems started in Oxygene 4, we had no minipops in our ears for almost 1 minute. and it was very dificult to keep the tempo. At the beginning of Oxygene 5 , no sound came out from Domino's Eminent. Luc, the backliner crawled until Dominique's position to try to fix it, but still nothing happened. In the meantime I was trying to buy us some time improvising with Arlette on the AKS and various FX. When I saw that it was becoming too long, I decided to start the RMI sequence on the DigiSequencer, but it started at the wrong tempo far too fast. It was too late to change it and then Francis had to play the Bass part at a crazy speed, 140 instead of 96 bpm. I had also to deliver the fastest chorus on the moog liberation of the tour; I shortened it because I thought that Francis was about to explode..

Then It went like that until the end of the gig with a lot of continual crazy things happening. It actually did not come from the band or myself but from the mixing desks. I hope everything will be OK for Zurich!

We will have a lot of work during the sound check on saturday afternoon. It should be OK.

Having said that I tried to deliver the best possible performance and not changing my attitude on stage. The result is that the audience appreciated it and we had a really good response from the audience.

Thank you Salamanca. We'll come back soon.

At 2:00 am we left by bus, the driver was really sick and he dropped us at 4:45 at Madrid airport where we waited almost 3 hours to catch a plane to Paris. At Charles de Gaulle airport, I forgot one of my suitcase and I am still waiting for it.

Good night everyone...

Cathedral of Salamanca built in 1238, amazing..

Eggman with sunglasses.

Load out after the concert, en route to Zurich. Thank you to the crew, you've been great!

Patrick playing a solo on my jamón ibérico bought in town. My favourite..

2:00AM, waiting in front of the wrong hotel in Salamanca..

UEVES 1 MAYO DE 2008

Salamanca en espanol

Patrimonio mundial de la UNESCO, la ciudad de Salamanca es una de las más bonitas de la gira. Llena de magníficas catedrales, iglesias y monumentos completamente restaurados. Es la ciudad española con más estudiantes así que el público del concierto era bastante joven.

El espectáculo comenzó muy bien. Creo que la interpretación de Oxygene 1 ha sido la mejor hasta la fecha, llena de emociones. El coro de la flauta en Oxy 2

y en la Variation 1 también fueron magníficos. Empezamos a tener algunos problemas en Oxygene 4, no nos llegaban los minipops a nuestros oidos durante casi 1 minuto y fue muy difícil mantener el tempo. Al comienzo de Oxygene 5, el Eminent de Domino no emitía ningún sonido. Luc, el ayudante, tuvo que arrastrarse hasta la posición de Dominique para intentar arreglarlo, pero no hubo manera. Entre tanto yo intentaba ganar tiempo improvisando con Arlette en el AKS y varios FX. Cuando vi que la reparación se alargaba demasiado, decidí empezar con la secuencia del RMI en el DigiSequencer, pero comenzó con el tempo equivocado, demasiado rápido. Era muy tarde para cambiarla y entonces Francis tuvo que tocar la parte del bajo a una velocidad de locura, a 140 en vez de a 96 bpm. Por mi parte, tuve que interpretar los coros en el moog liberation más rápidos de la gira; Hube de abreviar porque pensé que Francis iba a explotar...

A partir de ahí y hasta el final del espectáculo, siguieron sucediendo muchas cosas extrañas. Desde luego la responsabilidad no fue de los músicos o mía sino de las mesas de mezcla. ¡Espero que todo mejore en Zurich!.

Vamos a tener mucho trabajo en la prueba de sonido el sábado por la tarde. Debería ir bien.

Dicho esto, intenté ofrecer la mejor de las actuaciones posibles y no cambiar mi actitud en el escenario. El resultado fue que el público lo agradeció y tuvimos una muy buena respuesta de los presentes.

Gracias Salamanca. Volveremos pronto.

A las dos de la madrugada salimos en autobús, el conductor estaba muy enfermo y nos dejó en el aeropuerto de Madrid a las 4:45 am donde esperamos casi 3 horas para coger el avión a París. En el aeropuerto Charles de Gaulle, olvidé una de mis maletas y aún estoy esperándola.

Buenas noches a todos...

Catedral de Salamanca construida en 1238, increíble..

Hombre-huevo con gafas.

Cargando después del concierto, camino a Zurich. Gracias al personal, ¡sois magníficos!

Patrick tocando un solo con mi jamón ibérico comprado en la ciudad. Mi favorito..

A las 2:00 de la madrugada, esperando en frente del hotel equivocado en Salamanca..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/01/2008 16 comments

mercredi 30 avril 2008

Service Note

Hello, this is Thomas. This is the 50th message, congratulations Jean Michel, you did it!

I just wanted to warn you of possible hiccups, as I'm off for two weeks in deep Asia. Louis will act as the JMJ relay, but it might take a few days to iron it out. For those who wonder, JMJ sends the text to me and Louis by mail or MMS, and we correct the typos, blend in his images, and post.

Talking about mistakes, shameful apologies to the fans in Valladolid for slaughtering your beautiful language: I hadn't spoken spanish for 20 years, and minutes before the show, the production announced there was no interpret. I hope that didn't spoil the show.

Published by Thomas on 4/30/2008 2 comments

lundi 28 avril 2008

Day off in Porto

Today, we finished the shooting of the documentary in Porto. We had quite a good time visiting the caves of Sandeman Porto. Then we left Porto by bus for a 7 hours trip with the band. We had fun with Francis playing Stylophone and Tenory-on.

Zorro drinks with an artist.

The film crew: Benjamin, director, and David, cameraman.

First bootleg edition of the blog, published in the bus by Dominique "Gutemberg" Perrier.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/28/2008 11 comments

Porto

Arrived in Porto late in the afternoon. We started the sound check at 18:45. The temperature dropped down and the ARP was as usual uncontrolable when we don't have the right heat.. Apart from that the concert went well with an overexcited crowd. We filmed a lot of things today, first of all, in the bus for a long interview while we were going from Lisbon to Porto. Then Benjamin and David intervied Claude and Dominique. Then they interviewed Phil, the executive producer, Alain Courieux, the sound engineer FOH and Julien Vouillon, sound engineer monitors. Last day of shooting tomorrow, good night.

Coliseu in the 40's.

One hour before the concert.

Electro-Lama

Filming each other with Dominique.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/28/2008 15 comments

samedi 26 avril 2008

Between a circus and an opera house, the Colyseum is a magnificient venue made for a central stage or a traditional one.

Yesterday was the National Day. So doing a concert that night was even more special. It was also my first concert in Portugal. The temperature was over 30 degrees. So, for all these reasons the ambiance was really hot. We had no technical problems with the instruments, and I think the music we delivered was one of the best. David Perrier filmed everything like in Oslo, but with different angles. Tomorrow, we play Porto in the same kind of venue. We go there by bus in the afternoon..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 4/26/2008 12 comments

jeudi 24 avril 2008

Valladolid, 2:00 AM

Great audience, very enthusiastic, the theater was quite modern but nice.

I still had to fight with the memorymoog and the ARP 2600 but the energy was there again. We are now in the bus ready to go to Lisbon. Waiting for the drivers. The 3 busses are on the parking. We are charging the small helicopters bought in Oslo for an attack against bus 2 where the sound and light crew is sleeping. More news on the issue of the fight tomorrow.

We are supposed to arrive in Lisbon around noon..

Good night......

(posted on a mobile phone)

jeudi 6 novembre 2008

Photos from Milano

Published by Thomas on 11/06/2008 13 comments

Photos from Rome

Published by Thomas on 11/06/2008 12 comments

jeudi 16 octobre 2008

New products!

It's time to unveil "JM JARRE TECHNOLOGIES" something JMJ has been working on secretly for several years now:

AeroSystem and AeroFrame.

AeroSystem is a great-looking hi-fi system/ iPod speaker base, with a strikingly original all-glass design, and an amazing precise, warm, powerful sound. Since it stands alone, it can fit anywhere in a room, and it projects a spectacular stereo soundscape through its two sound projectors.

AeroFrame is an elegant digital picture frame with a twist: it has a rechargeable battery, so you can lift it from its base to show pictures to friends on the sofa.

Aerosystem and Aeroframe are the first products of a brand new range of unique audio/visual concepts, affordable and of very high quality. The website is in french, as the initial launch is only in France at the moment. The entire range will be available in other territories in the near future. Apologies to the rest of you, please be patient.

Jean Michel Jarre will soon come back to you all to tell you more.

Published by Thomas on 10/16/2008 10 comments

mercredi 15 octobre 2008

Message from Jean Michel Jarre management : RE DVD Houston

WE REALISE HOW MUCH YOU WERE ALL LOOKING FORWARD TO THE HOUSTON CONCERT BEING AVAILABLE ON DVD, HOWEVER THE UPCOMING RELEASE BY FRANCIS DREYFUS MUSIC HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

DUE TO THE EVIDENT POOR QUALITY OF THE FILM, WHICH HAS NOT BEEN RESTORED OR UPGRADED TO TODAY'S DIGITAL STANDARDS, NOR AT ALL TO A LEVEL OF A PRODUCT THAT JEAN MICHEL JARRE COULD BE ARTISTICALLY SATISFIED WITH, THE DVD, AS F.D.M. PLANNED TO RELEASE IT, WOULD HAVE DONE MORE HARM THAN JUSTICE TO WHAT REMAINS A MILESTONE EVENT.

A MERE DVD COPY OF THE VHS FORMAT, WHERE THE ORIGINAL IMAGES AND SOUND ARE FAR FROM OPTIMUM, WHERE NO BONUS NOR EXTRAS ARE PROPOSED, WITH ARTWORK THAT LACKED PUNCH...WOULD HAVE LED TO A LESS THAN MEDIOCRE PRODUCT SOLD AT NORMAL PRICE.

MOREOVER, IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERLINE THAT JEAN MICHEL JARRE WAS NOT CONSULTED OR INFORMED OF THE RELEASE BY F.D.M., THIS IN ITSELF IS SUFFICIENT TO OPPOSE IT.

AS YOU KNOW, JEAN MICHEL JARRE TAKES TOO MUCH PRIDE IN HIS WORK AND CARE IN HIS CREATION, TO ALLOW IT, AND YOU, TO BE EXPLOITED, WITHOUT THE NECESSARY INVESTMENT OF OFFERING THE BEST STANDARD POSSIBLE.

WE THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR CONTINOUS SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING, ESPECIALLY IN THIS CASE.

AERO PRODUCTIONS

Published by Louis on 10/15/2008 15 comments

mercredi 8 octobre 2008

Interview

While Jean Michel is pretty busy, here is a link to an interview he gave at the paris music show. The interviewer is from LAG, who crafted all the custom-made instruments of Jean Michel's early concerts. They ran into each other, and since he was conducting artist interviews, they hit it off and improvised, which explains why the journalist has no prepared list of questions. Of course it's in french, but Nico kindly provided an english translation in the comments for this post.

Video Here

Published by Thomas on 10/08/2008 9 comments

mardi 30 septembre 2008

Photos from Beijing

We're starting to get a decent photobase on Fotonauts (the wikipedia of photos), and soon you will all be able to contribute, once they open up their system. Here are a few more behind-the-scenes photos from Beijing, in 2004.

Published by Thomas on 9/30/2008 9 comments

jeudi 25 septembre 2008

JMJ is on Fotonauts!

While JMJ rests a bit, we started uploading photos to Fotonauts. Soon you'll be able to add your own pictures, rate, comment and organize them collectively. In the meantime, some pictures from Marigny.

Published by Thomas on 9/25/2008 10 comments

lundi 4 août 2008

Fwd: new and def : blog 04-08-08

Some news before going on vacation for a few days .

In July, I went back to the Canary Islands . The Concert project is progressing well. I'll tell you more about this project soon.

I spent some time with Daniel Troberg from Elektron, exploring the machinedrum. Few days ago, I have got a very nice surprise from Daniel and all the Elektron team.

I received as a present for my birthday (in advance ..!), a special version of the monomachine ,specially prepared for me with a Diploma from Elektron for my contribution in electronic music world wide.

It is an extraordinary instrument and such a generous mark of appreciation coming from a brand, which has already marked our times in the synthesizers world.

It was like Christmas and I spent the whole week-end playing with it..

I also spent some time with the new Analog factory experience from Arturia. It is a good instrument to work in the "analog way" with your lap top. We are supposed to meet with Frederic Brun ( the founder of Arturia) beginning of september.

I also found in Amsterdam through JC, 2 Eminents 310 and a very rare Eminent 510 (same as the 310 but with longer keyboards). Patrick is restoring them at the Studio and it is going to be very useful for the next tour.

I am also currently working on a new tour concept for 2009.

Last thursday, I had lunch with Mark Teissier du Cros, one of the founder of Record Makers originally with Air,a very good french record label (Sebastien Tellier, Turzi...). We had some good time and I felt that we are on the same wave length on a lot of things. We said that we should meet with Sebastien sometime in September. He also told me about the next Turzi project..

I watched Wall-E, the movie, which I really enjoyed. The animation and the whole concept are great. The sound design is brilliant and certainly makes fifty percent of the emotional aspect of the characters..

I also watched "Let's get lost" the Bruce Weber movie on Chet Baker. I really liked it, even if after all I am not sure about what Bruce Weber wants to say.

But I really liked it because Chet Baker belongs to my personal recollections.

During the last world-war, my mom used to be a great active member in the french Resistance against the nazis.She went into a deportation camp, she escaped, she is been caught 3 times by the Gestapo...and once in jail she met Mimi Ricard, another resistant who became a great friend of her.

After the war, Mimi Ricard opened " Le Chat qui pêche" (the fishing cat), which became

the most influential jazz-club in Paris,welcoming Don Cherry, Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, Chet Baker...

Then, when I was a child, I used to go with my mother to visit Mimi at the club during week-ends. During the afternoon I was hanging around in the bar listening to these great musicians, ignoring who they were at the time.

Amongst them, my favourite was Chet Baker and I remember that for my 10th birthday, Chet, sat me on the upright piano and played in front of me, so close, that I can still feel the blow of his trumpet on my chest, writing these lines.

This is why the unique sound of Chet's trumpet is part of the tones of my life...

Have a good time in august..

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 8/04/2008 72 comments

mardi 1 juillet 2008

Cover Guys

I just heard the Equinoxe 7 extended cover version by rfoshaug on You Tube and I really enjoyed it.

By the way, be sure that nobody will try to take out your dedicated work again..

Thank you all.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 7/01/2008 48 comments

lundi 30 juin 2008

Rebel with a Hammer

Yesterday night, I went to a Demolition Party. A crazy idea from two friends: Alex, the owner of Le Royal Monceau Hotel in Paris and Phillipe Starck, the famous designer/ architect.

It was a total surrealistic event « à la Marcel Duchamp ». The Hotel was falling apart and Alex asked Starck to redo it. Then they decided to throw a big party and to allow every guest to destroy walls, doors and more or less everything, with a hammer or any other instrument. At the same time you had art performances in various rooms, mini concerts, DJs and lots of other things. It was overcrowded, mad and quite fun..

Today, I spent some time with Stephanie, my sister, who is a talented scenograph for Theater and TV. We visited Penningen, the Art school where she studied, to watch the projects which every student has to achieve at the end of the fifth year. Some of them were just brilliant.

Then I went back home where I spent the rest of the evening experimenting with the Tenori-on, an fun new instrument from Yamaha.

An army of destroyers.

Ara Starck, my son David, me, Philippe Starck and his wife Jasmine.

An exhausted destroyer.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/30/2008 11 comments

Attack, Decay, Sustain

I feel priviledged to have so many interesting people following my work, having attended to so many concerts all around the world for a long time. Thanks to all of you.

I recently spent some time with some of them, notably Mark G (the first founder of the U.K. Fan club, before Duncan Walls took the reins ) and the people from magneticfields.dk to discuss about revamping my website: Jacob Gunness, Claus Lundholm, dear Signe Zacchi and Ras Bolding, Henrik Gilvad and everybody. Thomas Alsina and the Aero team, Fiona Commins and Louis Hallonet were there as well. I really enjoyed the discussion. Through the years, we have established a good link far beyond the usual "Artist / Fans" one..

Actually, these days, I consider the core of fans much more as part of a club of people sharing the same values, tastes..etc and it is along this mindset that I would like to develop the web site in the future. We exchanged a lot of ideas to improve it, starting from the fact that I have never been really satisfied by my websites so far, being often designed by record companies mainly based on direct marketing around the current album, as is the case for a lot of artists. I really want to change that..

We are thinking about many things, i'll let you know..

This week, I also met M. Matsura, Director General of UNESCO and Vice Director Marcio Barbosa to discuss the Concert in Canary islands in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy. The project should happen under the banner of UNESCO and involve a lot of different sectors, quite exciting....

M. Matsura suggested that I should be "Special" UNESCO Ambassador for the International Year of Astronomy.. I contacted Garik Israelian and Brian May to let them know about all this. Both of them were very happy about the news,

(Brian is currently very busy with the Mandela Concert in London with Queen. He actually should be on stage at the moment...)

This concert related to Space and the stars is a great and unique project for me and obviously I'll keep you posted.

I do think it is time to re-evaluate our link with space.

Like I was saying on stage during the last tour, our vision of the future has changed. In the the 60's, everybody had a rather innocent view of it, full of hopes and dreams. 2001 was ahead of us, the Arthur C. Clarke's novel and the Stanley Kubrick's movie managed to create a rather epic vision of the future and influenced an entire generation, and for the first and the last time so far, a man walked on the Moon...

Today, 2001 is behind us, it is as if Sci-Fi and our vision of the future was behind us. We have much narrower and somber feelings about the next century. Our vision and hopes have shrunk: Are we going to survive on our polluted planet?...etc.

It is probably time to consider our planet in a different context, it is probably time to listen to Astronomers and Astrophysicists, to tell our children how great it can be to get a better understanding of Earth exploring, watching and listening at the Universe.

It is the reason why the International year of Astronomy is important and the reason why this concert is exciting.

I then met Mark Richmond, in charge of the "Sustainable Development Decade" at UNESCO. He asked me how I could help promoting his program. I told him that in my humble opinion, the main difficulty is to make people understand what it means and the first step should be to find a simple and clear definition for it. I mentioned this exercise we had at the University: trying to resume a book or an idea in one page, one paragraph, one sentence, one word. What could it be for "sustainable development?

I also gave the exemple of this great speech this young girl did at United Nations ( see my 24-06-08 blog post). Chidlren have a natural respect and an instinctive strong link with Nature, but it seems to decrease, if not disappear, as soon as we become adults.

First of all, instead of complaining, giving lessons and feeling guilty, we should send a clear message with simple words and remedies. Mostly everybody today is keen on doing something, but when we're told that we have to "save the planet", it is suddenly a bit too big for an individual's shoulders, and daunting. We need a bunch of simple acts which anybody could do easily every day, every week...

I also suggested to launch on You Tube a big video competition. I could create, for instance a 2-minute piece of music on which anyone could express one positive idea about the environment, in any way, film, photos, animation...

Mark Richmond said he is going to work with his team on few bullet points in order to clarify the term "sustainable development" and was very positive about the You tube idea, saying that it could be linked with the World Conference they hold in Bonn next year.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/30/2008 13 comments

jeudi 26 juin 2008

La crème de la crème

I have been pretty busy the past few days.

I spent quite a lot of time last week with the european and french Apple teams at the occasion of the opening of their new

offices in central Paris. It has been an opportunity to discuss future projects with the music, photo and video teams at Apple and with my friend Thomas Alsina, who works in their R&D.

I also had a great time with Pascal Cagni, head of Apple Europe, Africa, Middle East and others. I like his clear vision of new media technology, his intuition for new ideas, his open mind.. a brilliant and nice human being... We also spent some time with Thomas, exploring cameras and new lenses that I would like to use for a special project involving new music with photos and videos on the net.

That same week, by coincidence, I met various people involved in copyright issues, piracy, etc.

First, I have been invited by the U.S. Embassy to discuss the future of music and visual art forms on internet, the future of copyrights and authors rights in the context of multimedia works... At lunch time, I had some good time with Nicolas Seydoux, a great figure in the french and international film industry.

Then I met with John Kennedy, President of the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) who asked me to become spokesman for the artists in Brussells, like 5 years ago, to try to explain to european policy makers that musicians are not simple content providers and that music like anything else, more than anything, has a special value and deserve specific care ...

And finally I met with my dear friends from SACEM, the French Authors Rights Society, its President Bernard Miyet, Louis Dirringer and Laurence Bony to discuss about this project of law for protecting music on internet...

I did not sleep much because I also made a lot of music during the nights.

Claude Samard sent me an interesting link on the new guitar by Moog Music. I listened to the new "Christophe", the new "Coldplay "and the new "Sigur Ross " and I like all of them for differenf reasons..

samedi 22 novembre 2008

Encounters in Moscow

Friday morning, Serafima the PR from TCI, the local production company, arrived at the hotel with a huge bag of newspapers and magazines, saying that we have terrific reviews everywhere about the concert in Moscow and St. Petersburgh, an excellent way of starting the day.

Then I met Konstantin, the musician who performed "Jarre planet", a tribute around my albums at the Academy of Science last monday. His wife Irina is a soprano, and they are both talented and sweet people. Later on I met the Minister of Culture of Russia and we discussed about some project for next year..

Friday night is everywhere warmer than monday night and it is also true in Moscow where the 2nd concert has been quite different. Even though I got some problems with my flanger pedal on the RMI, I had much more energy and feedback from the audience. People were standing and dancing in the alleys in the end, in spite of the security, which is apparently quite unusual at the Kremlin Theatre.

A lots of people were there, russian musicians, artists, friends, fans....

I met backstage with the US ambassador's wife Jocelyn Beyrle, a very pleasant and nice woman. Her husband John had to go after the concert to meet with Gorbatchev. They have been good friends of Claude for quite a while.. Everybody seemed to enjoy the concert.

Then, invited by Ed, the local promoter trom TCI, we all went for dinner to one of the trendy clubs in town, very eighties.. At one stage in the night someone told me that some guys were at the door of the club with some russian synthesizers they wanted to give me. I thought it was a joke.. Chris and Claude went out to check what was happening and actually they found two very nice guys. So I went and met Rustem and Igor who offered me (all packed!), 1 Polyvox and 1 Allussia, two great vintage analog russian synthesizers.

They told me that, since they were kids, I have been such a source of inspiration that Rustem decided to collect analog synthesizers. I was so excited and really moved by such generous gifts that I decided to go to their place to see their collection the next day (today). This morning Rustem and Igor picked us up at the hotel and we went with Claude to Rustem appt. just outside Moscow.

His place is just great, funky decoration with a large picture of Robert Moog in a golden frame in the corridor and a large room full of extraordinary russian and western analog synthesizers. His wife had prepared delicious cakes with wine and we had real good times listening and talking about all these wonders... They said they could not believe that one day I would visit their place..

We did some photos and I promised to keep the contact. Thank you Rustem (and Igor) for your generosity and dedication..

Then I went with Serafima and Pierre to visit my friend Olga in charge of the modern art museum of photography of Moscow.

She is actually THE specialist of russian photography in Moscow.

She was coming back from New-York were she has an exhibition. She is such a brilliant and excentric character. She was in the middle of the huge gallery introducing her new exhibition about russian rock artist Tsoi, preparing her next one, an extraordinary exhibition about Soljenitsine, being at the same time filmed for a film-documentary and having on top of it, our meeting together..

I needed to see her because I wanted some photos from Rotchenko, the most influential russian photographer of all times and also some informations about russian archives on different topics such as space, cosmos, architecture, technology in the 20th century, fashion, optical and atomic experimentations, etc... As usual, Olga has been great, she gave me a portfolio selected by Rotchenko's family (she is very close to them) and various useful books... We said that we'll meet again in december when she comes to Paris.

I would like to thank Ed, Serafima and everybody at TCI who worked so hard to make this russian week a total success.

Claude stays in the loop

Dominique checking the PR

Call me ??? ?????? ????

Robert Moog in golden frame

With Rustem (left) and Igor (right)

Russian synth, close-up

Claude carrying the russian synthesizers

Chris and Fiona grooving under the snow...

Fiona, Chris and Ed, dinner party

Dear Janet, Dominique's wife, Claude and Domino, after show en route for dinner.

No joking with bodyguards

With US ambassador's wife Mrs. Jocelyn Beyrle.

Pierre and Fiona in my dressing room after sound check and before discussing future plans with Chris and James.

Claude being searched at the airport

I am in the plane on my way to Riga, besides me, a girl is reading a russian novel on an e-book...

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/22/2008 15 comments

jeudi 20 novembre 2008

The Red Arrow

St. Petersburg was great. The sound mixed by Alain Courieux (the front-of-house sound engineer) was amazing. The audience was really hot in spite of the security guys being quite heavy each time somebody started dancing or moving too much. We left right after the gig to go back to Moscow.

On the way to the Railway station, we crossed the city and admired its fantastic buildings beautifully lit and under the snow. So many different styles of architectures make you understand that Peter the Great commissioned a lot of different architects, french, italian, german, swedish, spanish... to make Europe consider Russia as a civilised country at last.

So St. Petersburg conceived artificially, became with time one of the most beautiful town.

Then we arrived at the station.

The Red Arrow:

The Red Arrow is the legendary train that the bolsheviks used to go from St. Petersburgh to Moscow.

It is an amazing train all red of course, with real bed rooms in first class. They are playing the St. Petersburg anthem at the departure and the Moscow one at the arrival.

I am in the train now. A rather scary woman is insisting that I choose amongst 4 types of meat and sausages which she will bring over to me at 6AM precise. After having tried to explain to the dragon lady that I really want to sleep, I had to give up in the end and she will bring me this strange mix in the middle of the night..

The decor of the train is really great. Each cabin looks like a small granny's bed room. Everything is beige and red. Through the window you can see the russian countryside by night, covered with snow under the moonlight, like in Doctor Zhivago's movie.

The restaurant is also quite decadent, very 30's, where you can eat from sausage to caviar and drink all kinds of possible Vodkas...

At six o'clock, dragon lady is knocking at my door with a military enthusiasm. Fortunately, she does not force me to eat what she left.

We arrived later in the morning and we left Moscow station while they were playing the city anthem..

Today is a day off for everybody. I had a few meetings near the red square and dinner with friends at Petrovitch, a cool place totally decorated in Soviet Union style. A rockabilly band was playing live some classics of the 50's and 60's sounding like a Tarantino soundtrack..

Tomorrow is showday, the 2nd Moscow concert at the Kremlin.

Good night!

Smolny Cathedral

Thanks to all the fans waiting in the snow after the concert

Saint Petersburg Hall

Self portrait in the St Petersburg Hall

The corridor of the Red Arrow

My bedroom

Very posh

The restaurant

The Red Arrow and the dragon lady (not our dear danish friend!)

The Arts Square

New russian food product with soviet-style packaging

The KGB building

Petrovitch Restaurant

Crossing the Red Square in russian winter

(posted on a mobile phone with cold fingers)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/20/2008 22 comments

mercredi 19 novembre 2008

Cafe-Kremlin

The first Moscow concert has been special. Probably the best one technically and musically speaking and the the audience was the one of a monday night at the Kremlin! Very nice and warm but probably impressed by the place.. I had to explain even more here than anywhere else that the concert had nothing to do with what I have done few years ago outdoor. Then I did a lot of TV shows and interviews. I really like russian people, rational but crazy, subtle and strong, articulate and fun, exuberant and secret.

I am on my way to St. Petersburg under the snow...

Aeroflot, my next album

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/19/2008 11 comments

mardi 18 novembre 2008

Jean Michel Jarre awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by the Russian Academy of Sciences

Following the steps of Margaret Thatcher, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and a few others, french musician Jean Michel Jarre was decorated «for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of music as a culture and his commitment to protecting the environment ».

The official ceremony took place in an amphitheater at the Moscow Faculty of Sciences. The Rector bestowed the honor and the uniform upon Jean Michel Jarre before students and members of the russian press and TV. A short tribute concert was then played by the university orchestra and choir.

The distinction was granted to Jean Michel Jarre during his stay in Russia, where he is to perform two concerts at the Kremlin Palace, and another one in St. Petersburg.

Published by Thomas on 11/18/2008 27 comments

dimanche 16 novembre 2008

To Moscow and beyond

I am in the plane on my way to Moscow for a russian week. Lots of things to do.. Very curious to see how the city has changed since last time I was there.

Conspirators...

Fashion victim

Technophile

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/16/2008 7 comments

vendredi 14 novembre 2008

From Budapest to Prague

Budapest was the biggest venue of the tour and also the one I worried the most about, for good reasons.. We had a great audience standing behind a seated area in front of the stage, creating a difficult way to communicate with the fans.. For the audience further away, we had to use video screens on the sides for close ups for the first time and Thomas tried his best to get decent shots in spite of a light not designed for cameras. We also had a notable delay between the sound and the video, a bit disturbing for the sync on keyboards or percussions.

The previous day, walking in the streets of Budapest, in a small pedestrian area, I stumbled upon a hungarian musician playing a quite extraordinary instrument looking like a flying saucer. I spent some time listening to the quite unusual music he was doing and I asked him to join our band on stage the following day to play along on Variation 1. The result in the concert was probably the best moment of the show. His name is Norbert Pavel and his instrument is named a "Hang".

Prague yesterday night was probably the best gig of the last 2 weeks. Even though the venue was again very big, with around 10 000 people, the audience was amazing and came down to the front of the stage. The sound and the screens were really good this time, I had no problems with the instruments and we delivered a great energy. Playing in the Czech Republic, having been so well received in the much darker times of Tchekoslovakia, means a lot to me. After the gig everybody was quite excited which is good to end the first part of the tour. Next step Moscow on monday.

Thank you all, I have been really moved by all your messages in the blog..

Passing the border at 2AM in the space bus

There's something grandiose about roads

Alone at the deserted toll plaza

Our backup in case power fails on stage

Using the force in Prague Budapest (sorry)

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/14/2008 20 comments

lundi 10 novembre 2008

Bus lightyear

On the way to Budapest in the tour bus, I am writing these few lines while everybody is sleeping. I love travelling in the bus. It's comfortable and fun with the musicians, Chris, Louis, Pierre..etc.

These days you can go around the world through the web, yet travelling like this, reminds you of real distance and how life is in Europe outside cities, a mix of beauty and desolation..

Bucharest was warm and sunny, charming people, warm audience, we played well and I broke my moog drum hitting it too strong..

I am going to sleep now. Good night.

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/10/2008 26 comments

dimanche 9 novembre 2008

On the road again

Dear all,

Here I am again on the blog. I have been pretty busy since my last message. After the success of the concerts last spring, we started the second leg of the tour because of the demand in different countries. I remember that Oxygene received such a warm feedback from all Eastern Europe. During the Soviet Union times this music was considered somehow as a symbol of freedom... evasion... sounds travelling beyond borders... This is why it was meaningful for me to bring this new Oxygene project in this part of the world.

After Roma which had the freshness of a premiere and Milano which has been really great in its fantastic Arcimboldi Theater, with a great audience (I love Milano!), we started to play in Eastern Europe. Because of the demand, the "problem" is that a concert which I designed for an intimate italian type of theater has to be performed in much bigger arenas. Ljubljiana, Slovenia in a basket-ball arena went very well and the energy was there even if I had a serious problem with the digisequencer before the show. The audience was realy warm and great.

Yesterday night we played in Belgrade in an even bigger arena (10 000 persons). We had to add sound and extra screens which I don't really like for this "analog" project. The concert because of its size and being a saturday night was crazy and "rock'n roll", as the audience was really hot.

This tour is a unique experience. Yesterday for instance, the concert started with a solo sequence of mine very minimalist in a total silence and ended with 10 000 people standing and dancing. It is really moving for me to feel such respect and understanding for a music sometimes quite experimental apart from the more popular songs.

Thanks to everybody!

And now we are in the bus on the road to Bucharest, a 12 hours trip on a rather bumpy road. I am the only one apparently to have slept rather well..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Me, trying to get in the bus.

The Belgrade arena

Tour manager Chris Rowley and fellow veteran Theremin

Patrick and Glenn during sound check

Francis and Dominique having a private lunch in Belgrade

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/09/2008

vendredi 5 décembre 2008

Finale in Warsaw

The last concert was planned to be in Warsaw, especially because of what happened in Gdansk. I really wanted to share something special with the polish audience and I have not been disappointed.

The Torwar Theater had an ideal size for the production. It was absolutely packed. As I said, usually monday night's gigs are not the most lively, but for the last concert of the tour, the polish audience was like a a saturday night one.

I went on stage from the back of the theater and immediately, I felt it was going to be great. The warmth, the energy, the excitement of being together again was there like in the Docks of Gdansk! I went on stage. Dominique, Claude and Francis were all in good shape and I knew we were going to have a good time. All the crew was focused and I felt that every one wanted to give to me and to everyone in the hall a good show.

And I had a real good time. Oxygene 1 and 2 sounded right and I got the feeling that it will be great until the end... I loved Dominique's bass in Oxygene 4 and Claude and Francis were great in Oxygene 5 and Variation 3. I had a lot of fun with the Moog Liberation solo and I think I delivered one of the best choruses of the tour.. The audience (and us) became really hot during Oxygene 12. Oxygene 13 was a pure moment of shared emotions with the audience.

There is a tradition that for the last concert strange things happen to the artist on stage.. For the Encore, Francis went to Dominque's area and coverd his keyboards with paper, then he disapeared under the Eminent, just when i was supposed to look at him for a cue. While they were playing, Claude and especially Dominique filmed everything with one hand on their mobile phones..

Then at the end, I asked all the crew to come on stage, including accountants, truck drivers... just every one being involved in the tour. It was for me the best way to thank them and tell everybody how much I appreciate the amount of work, talent and dedication they showed. I even went down and left the stage to join the polish audience to applaud all the family...

Truck drivers had real hard times particularly in Russia and on the way to Riga driving all night in the snow through the mountains, so that all the equipment could be ready the next evening for the next show...

The crew after the load-out had to sleep in the bus, and be ready in the morning for the next load-in in another city...etc.

Chris Rowley and James Monkman did really great , organising everything, always cool and relax even with the day-to-day pressure.

Patrick Pelamourgues and Jean Paul took care of all the precious instruments day after day.

The sound team: Alain Courieux, Julien Vouillon, Vincent, Arno, Jean-Claude.. all did great, the sound was amazing with smiles..!

Ignace de Haese, Glen and all the lighting crew were always on the case to deliver a fantastic light.

All the Arpège team and the rest of the team did their best every night to deliver the best possible show.

A special mention to Thomas Alsina who stayed always connected and so helpful in spite of his other activities.

Pierre Garnier for his eye and ears..!

Dear Edith Napias and Michel Geiss for all the reasons they know...

Dear Fiona who managed the all project perfectly as usual with the help of Louis.

And Paul Charles, the secret agent who worked hard behind the curtain...

Thank you all for having contributed to make this tour a success on a human, artistic and business point of view.

Thank you also to all the bloggers / readers on the web, from all over the world, who followed the adventure and for your interesting, fun and clever comments valuable to me.

Thank you particularly to everyone in the audience in the way you have welcome us, for your unique feedback and for your interest in my work.

It is the best reward in my life.

I LOVE YOU ALL, RENDEZ VOUS NEXT YEAR .... MERRY CHRISTMAS !

All the crew on stage for a deserved round of applause

The audience in the mirror

It's raining on stage..

Francis playing the synth dialog in Oxygene 12

The Torwar theater's structures

Playing the AKS noise in Oxygene 2

With Piotr, breathing some Oxygene..

I never get enough Oxygene!

Dominique prefers water..

Patrick Pelamourgues, packing up the synthesizers for the last time in the tour

Vincent from the sound team, exhausted but happy

In the audience, applauding the crew

Dominique filming the photographer during Oxygene 4..

Standing audience during the Encore

Oxygene 13 with the mirror down

Last bow

Receiving such energy from the audience

Dominique's familiar silhouette

A great audience

Even the Theremin is impressed..

Dear James Monkman, so kind and so focused

Claude imitating a hedgehog

Focused during sound check

Sound engineer Julien Vouillon celebrating

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 12/05/2008 39 comments

dimanche 30 novembre 2008

Slovakia

Clearly you could tell that Slovakia was waiting for these concerts for a long time.. Everywhere you could feel people having big expectations about our presence and giving us such a warm welcome.

A reception was organised on monday morning at the city hall of Bratislava to meet with the Mayor and all the media. Then we had a walk, sunny but cold, with the group in the old city, a beautiful area partly destroyed by Napoleon, who clearly has not done only good things in this part of Europe, and which since has been rebuilt.

Hard times for James and the crew for loading in and out, the local production being obviously not used to that kind of production.. The Bratislava Hall was probably the most bizarre of the tour, with more seats on the sides than in the front, a low ceiling, clearly made for basket-ball rather than for concerts.

At showtime, the hall was packed, people were everywhere, even standing in the alleys. The mood was as hot as it was freezing cold outside. I was not even able to perform my entrance from the back of the arena. Every inch was occupied.

The crowd responded as soon as the concert started. The energy was high, like the temperature. We ended sweaty and excited with a continuous standing ovation on the 4 last songs..

Fred, the interpreter, got a sore throat, lost his voice and asked his wife Yvetta to replace him at the last minute. Instantly nicknamed "the voiceless interpreter", Fred brought us to his restaurant, "a french creperie" where we had delicious pancakes and cider. We had a good time with the musicians, Fred, Yvetta, Milan the head of the slovakian fan club who invested a lot of time and energy for the concerts, Richard a business man who took few days of his time to be my driver.

They explained us what my music represented to them. It has always been a symbol of evasion and dream about the outside world. Even until the late 80's, they had to climb on the mountain nearby to get and record my music on cassettes from austrian radio stations! It was really moving to listen to them. So close to us, those people suffered so much, they could be put in jail for years just for writing, listening or reading forbidden things.

It suddenly takes a different dimension to play in such a country.

Richard said to a journalist, after the concert "I know now, why I am born"! Even if it is a little overly dramatic, it means a lot to seize how Important it is for western artists to spend some time in this great country..

The following day, we flew to Kosice, the 2nd town of Slovakia, near the Ukranian border. The venue was bigger, more civilised and still packed. Saturday night in Kosice was probably even hotter than the previous evening. We were really into it and had great fun on stage in front of a fantastic audience. It was difficult to leave the stage.

Our voiceless interpreter had to be replaced by his wife one more time. We went back for dinner at the hotel where Fred having slightly recovered his voice taught the local cook how to make pancakes for us. In the meantime I tried to improve my slovakian.

Thanks to everybody in Slovakia for such a great time, especially thank you to Milan, Fred, Yvetta and Richard.

Oxygene 12

The beast..

Feeling the wind of Bratislava

With a local celebrity..

Contemplating the town hall

Red Square, Kosice..

Claude smiling at his pancakes

Dominique's familiar silhouette in Kosice

Great audience

In the arena at Kosice..

Space Domino

Dominique after landing in Kosice

With Yvetta and Fred, eating..

..crêpes flambées!

The Bratislava Arena, wide but not deep..

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/30/2008 24 comments

mercredi 26 novembre 2008

Planet Vilnius

Thank you for your interesting comments. Some of them are fun/clever and full of information...

The concert in Vilnius was probably one of the best so far. No technical problem except a mobile phone buzz, in my ear-monitors from time to time, really disturbing. You can tell at once, when a venue works or not for a project and this one had the right proportions and vibes.

The audience was one of the warmest and I really would like to come back for a next project.

I am still impressed to see such a feedback for a rather difficult project in fact, because apart from three or four popular songs, the rest of the concert is rather experimental.. And the audience is reacting like in a rock concert. It is a real encouragement for the next project, being more ambitious on a production point of view.

Vilnius is a nice little town much more "central Europe" than Riga in its architecture.

Being in the same hotel as the rest of the crew, I organised a drink for everybody to let them know how much I appreciate their energy and dedication to make this tour as smooth as possible. Everybody is doing their job in a good mood, with the feeling of being part of the same family.

On top of it our french and our brits are going well together, a good omen for next year..

We also had a session with the musicians discussing next year projects and with James to talk about potential stage design for the future. I met with Nick H. who organised most of our shows in eastern Europe, and supervised the local promoters. He has a serious experience of the region including Russia. He's a very interesting british guy, living in Istambul, speaking lots of different languages, including fluent french. We travelled together. He organised concerts this year for Bjork, Kraftwerk and few other interesting acts. We talked about the music industry and the touring situation in eastern Europe. He also just finished his own movie in Paris. Looking forward seing him again..

With the Vilnius audience standing after Oxygene 4

A nap for the crew after sound check

Production manager, dear James Monkman, in front of the Vilnius arena.

Vilnius arena just before falling down!

(posted on a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/26/2008 30 comments

lundi 24 novembre 2008

A sunday in Riga

In the plane from Riga to Vilnius after another exciting concert in spite of a violent snow storm outside. Few minor problems with my gear, yet the sound was really good in the hall thanks to Alain Courieux. But Julien fought all evening with the mix in our ear-monitors to get it right.. The audience was really into it. Being a young country, Latvia ("Lettonie" in french) is eager for new ideas and Oxygene seems to represent for them also, a symbol of freedom...

Earlier on we had lunch with Girts, the local promoter, a charming guy. We went in the Theater restaurant, a rather cool place in the old town, with him, Thomas and Pierre. The snow was everywhere and was giving some magic to the area.

Girts explained how special Latvia is, a small country squeezed between Germany and Russia, being independant from Germany only since 90 years ago, and then being under Soviet Union influence soon after independance. They have only been living as a free country for 20 years.. They are much closer to Germans and Scandinavians than to Russians.

During the war this situation created a lot of tragedies, such as families with two brother soldiers, one in the german army, the other one in the russian army..

Living in a such a young country everything is new for them. From extremely poor they became suddenly rather wealthy and for instance they don't know how to cope with the current crisis, not only practically but psychologically, experiencing the danger of capitalism just when they started getting a taste of it..

The Town is beautiful a mix of french art nouveau architecture with more coloured buildings, reminding also some areas of San Francisco under the snow..

A peaceful moment..

One more thing, thank you for all your comments about the russian week.

By the way, when I used the word "terrific" about the russian reviews on the concert, that was not negative!! In english, "terrific" means "excellent" as well as "terrible"... And actually all the reviews about Moscow and St. Peterburgh were really good...

Arena Riga, sideways

Our great truck drivers. Come what may, every night they drive the old ladies around while we sleep..

March of the Penguins..

Warm audience

Up...

and down...

Green Dominique

Blogging yet staying warm..

Art Nouveau, Riga style

Not so nouveau

Today I'm Žana Mišela Ža-ra

Even M&Ms stay warm here

(posted from a mobile phone)

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 11/24/2008 25 comments

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Jean Michel Jarre

Jean-Michel Jarre "fait voir" sa musique à Bercy

Le Monde

- 26 mars 2010

- 26 mars 2010

Si, depuis la fin des années 1970, Jean-Michel Jarre a joué devant des foules immenses - son record : Moscou, en 1997, devant 3,5 millions de spectateurs - ...

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extrait de Google - 3/2010

Jean Michel Jarre

Le Figaro

- 22 mars 2010

- 22 mars 2010

Jean-Michel Jarre a connu une première carrière de parolier, au début des années 1970. On lui doit quelques magnifiques textes, notamment pour Christophe ...

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extrait de Google - 3/2010

Jean-Michel Jarre, retour vers le futur

Le Figaro

- 19 mars 2010

- 19 mars 2010

Et si Jean-Michel Jarre, un des Français les plus connus dans le monde, était un homme somme toute assez méconnu ? Célébré pour ses son et lumière ...

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extrait de Google - 3/2010

Jean-Michel Jarre, on the road

Gala

- 28 mars 2010

- 28 mars 2010

Jean-Michel Jarre: Très heureux. A un moment où beaucoup d'artistes de ma génération font leurs adieux à la scène, moi j'entame une tournée de débutant. ...

extrait de Google - 3/2010

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Jean Michel Jarre on Fotopedia

Jarrelinks

* Jm Jarre Technologies

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* JarreUK relaunched!

* My partners for Aero Technologies

* Jarre collaborative photobase

* Great fan info site

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Blog Archive

* ? 2010 (11)

o ? mars (10)

+ Nantes, Marseille, Nice, three different shows

+ First French show in Bordeaux

+ Manheim, Adios Germany

+ Munich, 2:00 AM

+ Adagio

+ Intimist Bamberg

+ Great audience in Leipzig

+ A night in Stuttgart

+ End of First Week

+ Road Movie

o ? janvier (1)

+ 2010

* ? 2009 (16)

o ? juin (3)

+ La vie après World Tour partie 1 - Français

+ Life after LEG 1 - English

+ Zurich, the last of leg One

o ? mai (11)

+ Unexpected Koblenz

+ Magic Brussels

+ Storm in Amsterdam

+ The UK Week

+ Malmö, the fast city

+ Flash back

+ A few photos

+ Scandinavian ellipsis

+ After Malmö

+ Tuning the show

+ World Tour kicks off

o ? mars (1)

+ Germany concert

o ? janvier (1)

+ Jean Michel Jarre "IN-DOORS" World Tour 2009-2010

* ? 2008 (83)

o ? décembre (3)

+ "Hanging" out in Budapest

+ Photos from the tour

+ Finale in Warsaw

o ? novembre (13)

+ Slovakia

+ Planet Vilnius

+ A sunday in Riga

+ Encounters in Moscow

+ The Red Arrow

+ Cafe-Kremlin

+ Jean Michel Jarre awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by ...

+ To Moscow and beyond

+ From Budapest to Prague

+ Bus lightyear

+ On the road again

+ Photos from Milano

+ Photos from Rome

o ? octobre (3)

+ New products!

+ Message from Jean Michel Jarre management : RE DVD...

+ Interview

o ? septembre (2)

+ Photos from Beijing

+ JMJ is on Fotonauts!

o ? août (1)

+ Fwd: new and def : blog 04-08-08

o ? juillet (1)

+ Cover Guys

o ? juin (8)

o ? mai (2)

o ? avril (30)

o ? mars (20)

Authors

* Louis

* Thomas

* Jean Michel Jarre

lundi 25 mai 2009

The UK Week

It started in Glasgow, a very unusual venue indeed. We knew from the start that it would be the most difficult one: too small for our production, impossible to get the PA behind the screen and all our lighting equipment. Despite all this we had a warm welcome from the Scots and it was technically a good warm up before London.

LONDON

Even though the audience was good at the Royal Albert Hall last year, I was not entirely satisfied. Too many technical problems and the RAH is always a difficult venue. So the crew, the band and I were really longing for this gig.

I love Wembley Arena, I had already played there and despite its age compared to the O2 arena, the sound and the mood there is great.. We had a serious sound and light check and even if everybody was apparently cool, you could feel the energy growing all day long, no question of missing that one.

Ignace d'Haese our lighting designer came over specially for the concert and we spent two hours checking and cleaning every song. I tuned with Hugo the pace and the textures of the lasers. Then we had a two-hour sound check. You could tell that the sound was amazing already. I rehearsed especially all my solos. The Laser Harp was ok, like the accordion, the moog liberation and the chorus in Fin de Siècle.

I went on stage like on a boxing ring, and instantly I felt it was going to be great. The audience was really hot, the sound was perfect, the light and lasers amazing. Such an energy was coming from the stage and the audience that the whole building was vibrating with the subwoofers and you had such a space in the mix that the audience and ourselves were immersed in a storm of sounds and lights..

I dedicated Oxygene 4 to London because it is where everything started for me, when one evening Radio 1 played the entire album, Oxygene became an instant hit everywhere.. Then I dedicated the next song in the Encore, Fin de Siècle, to my father. It is a song I composed in London after having met him there after many years. I have been moved by the audience which suddenly sat down in a religious silence. Thanks to you all.

The after-show party was great, everybody was very enthusiastic about the show.

My son Barnaby, his wife Chione and their boys Roman and Gabriel were there too. It was so great to see the boys dancing and staring at the stage all along the concert.

The following morning, on Saturday we left London for Manchester by bus. We were stuck for several hours in a huge traffic jam. We arrived very late at the venue and we had the shortest sound check of the tour by far: just a few minutes.

Lots of things went wrong on stage, but apparently nobody really noticed and the audience was great.

Pierre said in our ear monitors that we should do a second Encore, which we did.

This afternoon we arrived in Birmingham, driving all the way long. We had such a great weather, summer-like. We had a lot of fun in the bus, we took some photos for Paris Match. We climbed on the roof of the bus to get some sun. Then I spent some time in my room playing on the Korg PA500, finding new ideas..

I really enjoyed the show tonight, I had a lot of fun on stage with Dominique, Francis and Claude. The audience was receptive and everybody ended the concert dancing and raving....

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/25/2009 42 comments

mardi 19 mai 2009

Malmö, the fast city

Published by Thomas on 5/19/2009 17 comments

dimanche 17 mai 2009

Flash back

Flying back to Paris before the british gigs next week, I am thinking about these past few days. The concert in Helsinki yesterday night was with Oslo, probably the best one so far. The audience was great and enthusiastic, the sound. really impressive and I gave a lot ot energy on stage. Theremin, accordion, AX-S solos went well. Laser harp on Rendez Vous 3 was great but it suddenly froze in Rendez Vous 2 for unknown reasons.. The mood was so hot that we did a second encore with a reprise of Oxygène 4. Later we did a screening of the film of the show at the hotel to adjust the lights and lasers for next week.

The show changed so much since the beginning. It is much more consistent now.

So many things happened and already really good memories. Thomas stayed with us for a week. He did so many things, time lapse shots, films, photos. He is also bringing so much to the all atmosphere of the tour day after day.

My daughter Emilie and her daughter Madeleine came to see me in Denmark and the three of us had a real good time together.

On each leg of the tour finding new keyboards or synths becomes a ritual! This time I found in Malmö an Ion Alesis quite rare and handy and a Korg PA 500 for having fun in the bus.

Claude as usual is buying the most unusual stuff from Bear paws to Gravadlaks..

Next stop Glasgow on Wednesday, then London on Friday...

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/17/2009 25 comments

samedi 16 mai 2009

A few photos

Finally some pictures from the tour, click on the cities for the specific concerts.

Published by Thomas on 5/16/2009 7 comments

Scandinavian ellipsis

In the plane on the way to Helsinki..

Finally the concert in Oslo started sounding and looking close to my expectations. There is something special with this venue, the audience (who was really great that night, many thanks to them) is really close to the stage, and it gives a feeling of proximity quite unique. In addition you don't have these far too strict regulations like in Sweden for lasers, so the audience could be truly immersed in the waves of light.

In Stockholm, yesterday the sound was really good but lasers pointed a bit too high. I am now starting to control the laser harp rather well, but maybe I should make a few intentional mistakes for people to really understand that it is live!!

I am really enjoying the touch of the AX-Synth, the prototype that Roland Europe kindly got me before its July release for the solo in Fin de Siecle. I think this instrument sounds really great. We had to cover it in black for lighting reasons, I know that Roland Japan is preparing a special version for me to fit the project. I really appreciate.

Talking about instruments, after the gig in Stockholm, with Dominique, Claude and Francis we met all the team from Clavia. We had a good time talking about new ideas for future projects. We were also impressed by the Nord Electro 3 and the Nordwave, which we really would have to get for the next leg of the tour, specially for America and Australia.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to playing Helsinki. I like this city. The Railway Station is a great piece of architecture. During the cold war, the Russians, who were not allowed to come to the West, were coming from Moscow, just to spend some time and money in the restaurant of the station transformed in a casino where they could play blackjack, roulette..etc. And then going back home by the next train. You can still imagine KGB spies being around..

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/16/2009 19 comments

lundi 11 mai 2009

After Malmö

Hi everybody, the concert in Malmö is over now, and it went rather well.

It's a strange venue, brand new, very high, and it's actually the second concert there, the first one being by Bob Dylan. The sound is interesting in the venue, it was quite all right.. We had problems with regulations for the lasers in Sweden, and particularly here, as we had to aim the lasers above the highest row of people in the balcony. So the lasers stayed quite high tonight, and we couldn't render all the effects I wanted.

Apart from that, it's work in progress, and I think each concert brings a little more confidence to the crew and the musicians. I'm looking forward to the next concert tomorrow in Gothenberg.

Good night!

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/11/2009 30 comments

dimanche 10 mai 2009

Tuning the show

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/10/2009 23 comments

lundi 4 mai 2009

World Tour kicks off

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/04/2009 52 comments

mardi 3 mars 2009

Germany concert

Hello

just to let you know that there is a new concert in Germany on the 28th of May 2009 in Koblenz

28/05/09 - Koblenz, Germany - Sporthalle Oberwerth

Time: 21:00 - Tickets: € 49/59/70/80

HOTLINE: 0180/5001812 (14CENT PRO MIN/ MOBILFUNKPREISE KÖNNEN ABWEICHEN)

www.noisenow.de - www.bonnticket.de

Tickets On Sale Now - www.eventim.de

See you soon Germany !!

Published by Louis on 3/03/2009 70 comments

jeudi 22 janvier 2009

Jean Michel Jarre "IN-DOORS" World Tour 2009-2010

Jean Michel Jarre is back on tour with a brand new production !

"IN-DOORS" World Tour 2009-2010 will start in May in Europe and will continue around the world as of September 2009 (update will follow soon).

Jean Michel Jarre est de retour sur scène avec une toute nouvelle production !

"IN-DOORS" World Tour 2009-2010 débutera au mois de Mai en Europe et continuera autour du monde dès Septembre 2009 (Plus d'informations prochainement).

Box office info

04/05/09 - Debrecen, Hungary - Fo"nix Csarnok (Phoenix Hall)

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: HUF

Tickets On Sale - http://www.ticketpro.hu/events.php?event=233

05/05/09 - Ostrava, Czech Republic - CEZ Arena

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: CZK

Tickets On Sale http://www.ticketpro.cz/jnp/

06/05/09 - Wroclaw, Poland - Hala Stulecia (Centennial Hall)

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: Zloty 175/195

Tickets On Sale - www.livenation.pl

08/05/09 - Aarhus, Denmark - Atletion - NRGi Arena

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: Kr 595/695/795

Tickets On Sale - www.billetnet.dk

09/05/09 - Herning, Denmark - MCH Messecenter Herning

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: Kr 550/750/775/975

Tickets On Sale - www.billetnet.dk

11/05/09 - Malmo, Sweden - Malmo Arena

Time: 19:30 - Tickets: SEK 470/570

Tickets On Sale - www.ticnet.se

12/05/09 - Goteborg, Sweden - Scandinavium

Time: 19:30 - Tickets: SEK 470/570

Tickets On Sale - www.ticnet.se

13/05/09 - Oslo, Norway - Oslo Spektrum

Time: 19:30 - Tickets: NOK 450/550

Tickets On Sale - www.billettservice.no

14/05/09 - Stockholm, Sweden - Hovet (The Court)

Time: 19:30 - Tickets: SEK 570/670

Tickets On Sale - www.ticnet.se

16/05/09 - Helsinki, Finland - Hartwall Areena (Helsinki Arena)

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: € 68.70/73.70/78.70

Tickets On Sale - www.lippupalvelu.fi

20/05/09 - Glasgow, Scotland - SECC - Clyde Auditorium

Time: 19:00 - Tickets: £40/£50

Tickets On Sale - www.secctickets.com & www.seetickets.com

22/05/09 - London, England - Wembley Arena

Time: 19:00 - Tickets: £45

Tickets On Sale - www.ticketmaster.co.uk & www.seetickets.com

23/05/09 - Manchester, England - Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: £43.50

Tickets On Sale - www.ticketmaster.co.uk

24/05/09 - Birmingham, England - National Indoor Arena (NIA)

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: £43.50

Tickets On Sale - www.seetickets.com

26/05/09 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Heineken Music Hall

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: € 59/64/69

Tickets On Sale - www.livenation.nl

27/05/09 - Brussels, Belgium - Vorst Nationaal (Forest National)

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: € 50/55/60/65/75

Tickets On Sale - www.sherpa.be

30/05/09 - Zurich, Switzerland - Hallenstadion

Time: 20:00 - Tickets: CHF 77/88/99/110/130

Tickets On Sale - www.hallenstadion.ch

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon !

Published by Louis on 1/22/2009 96 comments

dimanche 14 décembre 2008

"Hanging" out in Budapest

Some images of that musician Jean Michel invited on stage in Budapest, along with his strange melodic drum.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 12/14/2008 54 comments

mardi 9 décembre 2008

Photos from the tour

Just to let you know we updated the Concerts page with a best-of selection of the whole tour.

Published by Thomas on 12/09/2008 13 comments

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samedi 13 mars 2010

Intimist Bamberg

Probably the smallest venue of the tour but one of the best sound so far.. All my choruses with the Moog Liberation and the AX-S sounded really great and the bass and drum sounds were quite precise. Everyday it seems that we are progressing by doing solid sounchecks where I check every track, sound-wise and visual-wise.

Christine Ferreyra has done really good photos soon published on the blog...

Tomorrow, en route to Munich... Good night..

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/13/2010 7 comments

jeudi 11 mars 2010

Great audience in Leipzig

It is a privilege to play the city of Bach.. After a perfect sound check and some adjustments that I wanted to make with Olivier and Ansar for the Lights and Lasers, the concert started on time. Everybody was in a good mood. The photographer, Christine Ferreyra, arrived today. She has done amongst the best photos of the previous concerts and it is great to have her around for a few days..

The concert went rather well, with good energy on stage, I got a few problems with my in-ear monitors, and Francis had MIDI issues on his Synthex right in the middle of RV2, despite that the audience was really grooving up until the end.

Tomorrow, I would like to add some new video on Oxygene 4 which I originally planned..

I decided to add new tracks (apart from the Adagio I am playing at the Statistics moment) after March because I really want to focus on the sound, performance and visuals first. Fans will have quite a few surprises during the year anyway.

By the way, thank you for your great comments since the beginning of this leg of the 2010 tour, I really appreciate, and I'm trying my best to improve the show night after night.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/11/2010 12 comments

mercredi 10 mars 2010

A night in Stuttgart

After two days off, I came back to Germany by train with my friend the musician/producer/dj Joachim Garraud. We spent a lot of time talking new instruments, new plug-ins, tours, new media and future projects... It is always a rare pleasure to spend some time with Joachim.

Then I arrived in Stuttgart for soundcheck. I met Eric Mandel from the french sunday paper JDD, a nice guy with who we talked about the tour and lots of other things.

Stuttgart has a reputation of being quite austere like some cities of south Germany, but it is not necessarily true. Tonight I had a good time on stage and for a tuesday night quite a warm audience. The concert went rather well and we seemed to have now found a consistent level of energy..

Next stage Leipzig..

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/10/2010 11 comments

dimanche 7 mars 2010

End of First Week

Yesterday was the fifth concert of the 2010 Tour, after general rehearsals in Belgium which went quite well considering the amount of work done.

I worked a lot on this project to get closer to what I have been having in mind for quite a while. First of all, I rearranged existing tracks for the instruments the four of us use on stage. I also spent time on the mix with Alain Courieux to get every part of the music we play as clear and precise as possible, and with Julien and Vincent to get the best possible sound in our ear monitors, an essential ingredient to play in the most natural way. Then we worked hard with Cedric Courieux and Arno to adjust our new L acoustics PA system for each venue. I did practice quite a lot as well, especially the new Theremin part and my various solos. All that was previously rehearsed in the studio with the musicians Claude Samard, Francis Rimbert and Dominique Perrier. I really wanted that, beyond the technical aspect of the music, every one would express every emotion in each track, our eight hands playing with the same feel.

The other endeavour for this 2010 project was also to design a scenography which could convey the magic of my outdoor concerts, with each song building its own visual world. With Ignace d' Haese, the lighting director, we drafted specific color schemes for the cyclo behind us and I asked him to consider the instrument on the stage like "actors" in a play.. I also made the decision to include video backdrops but to avoid any directly narrative content so that the music should let every one create their own story in their mind. With Hugo and Ansar, the Laser team, we improved the laser harp and thought through ways to use the laser on stage and in space with a 3D approach. That gives the feeling of total immersion into the show for the audience, and will come in handy when we film the concert in 3D in Strasbourg and Liege.

Once we put the last touch to the music in my studio in France, I could focus on the scenography in Belgium. For the first time I decided to inject some live video throughout a few songs, to share some close-ups with the audience, as the way we are playing the instruments is sometimes quite "special". All the live feeds are intentionally in black and white to match the vintage look of the analog synthesizers and to provide a better contrast with the high-tech look of the scenography. Peter is doing an excellent job catching the best angles of the performance. To that effect, we put eight cameras on stage, including a mini cam on my glasses to give a dynamic first-person point of view.

The last general rehearsal went rather well which is quite unusual.. Then we left Belgium for Katowice in Poland, by bus. In fact, I asked Chris Rowley our great production manager to travel as much as we can by bus. In these days where the sense of geography and distances is becoming more abstract because of planes and communication technologies, it is a great experience to go through each continent by road.. And I just love the community spirit and those moments we share with the musicians, Chris, Pierre, Louis or Fiona, drinking sake, discussing future shows or making music..

The first concert in Katowice was exciting because of the Polish audience, always warm and so special to me. Technically, we had all possible problems. It was difficult to install the whole production in time, then something went wrong in Julien's console and suddenly the mix we had on stage was awful. It was a nightmare to play with such a mess in our ears. We knew from the beginning that this hall was the most difficult of the tour... But again, the audience was great and gave us the energy to fight.

During the day off, we decided to visit Auschwitz, which is only 20km away from Katowice. I thought a lot about my Mum, a great figure in the french resistance. She was caught three times by the Germans, and was sent to Ravensbruck, another horrible deportation camp. Everything has been said about the camps, but when you actually see one for yourself, it is beyond all description. The most striking thing to me is to measure the ability of some human beings to be as systematically, massively and madly destructive. It is something that every teenager should see. You feel so sick afterwards.. Thank you Mum for having taught me tolerance after all you have been through.

Then, we set off to begin the German part of the tour to Braunschweig. This second gig went much better, more or less at the level of the general rehearsals.

Hamburg was the first large city, with a lot of media presence, plus my agent Paul Charles and Gerard Drouot, the french promoter.. It was much tighter this time, the show starts to sound the way I want, still some visual glitches to improve. I think that Paul and Gerard understood what I am aiming for with this project..

We left for Berlin, always challenging and difficult like every capital in the world. Not only is it the capital of classical and electronic music, but it has also been the heart of european culture for centuries.. It is always something to play Berlin.

Fortunately, the concert went really well, the audience was so great, a mixture of young musicians, people closing their eyes to focus on the sound, girls dancing, others taking pictures. They were all so enthusiastic, it was a huge encouragement for all of us..

Yesterday night was Oberhausen.. I think for the first time, we delivered what I had in mind, all week we have made the few necessary adjustments on stage and visually and the result was an incredible feedback from the crowd. Everybody stood up for the last 45 minutes, and we delivered such an energy on stage that everyone went really crazy.

I hope we can keep this level of quality next week and maybe even improve it. Then when I will feel we "have" the show, I shall be able to introduce some new songs, but first we need every one in the crew to become in total control and confidence...

Next step Stuttgart.. Stay tuned.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/07/2010 19 comments

mardi 2 mars 2010

Road Movie

It is now a ritual, Saturday night we boarded "our" bus and took possession of our cabins like passengers of a steamship. By the time we were done making ourselves at home, the lights of Antwerp were gone and we were cruising eastward towards Katowice, and it felt as if the previous tour had never stopped. Claude is dozing in his front seat, Francis probably fell asleep watching a movie at the back, Chris and Dominique explored the kitchen for some sake and went to bed. As to me I am enjoying the hypnotic highway from my room. For a whole month we will live in this ship in apnea from the world, emerging every morning in a new city so different from the others. We're a circus and Europe is our playground.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 3/02/2010 35 comments

jeudi 7 janvier 2010

2010

2010 is off to a great start. Not that 2009 was bad, but 2010 is one step above.. After the 2009 tour ended, I wanted to evolve the concept a bit, to give a new meaning to the music, moving moods, bright and somber passages.. It will be quite different, and quite special. The new tracklisting is really powerful now, and I have been working with Marie-Jeanne, Thomas and Ignace to give it the visual force it deserves. There is still a lot of work, but we have a solid base, a solid team and fresh energy after the holidays. The promotion has already started, and I'm glad we have some interesting press articles.

The new concept also gave me inspiration for new tracks that I want to try, refine and sharpen during the tour, with a new album in mind later this year.. That and a few other surprises..

Another exciting change in 2010 is 3D. As you know I have been experimenting with 3D concerts for over a decade, so I'm observing with curiosity how Avatar is changing the movie industry. It is like the beginning of 5.1 for sound: sweat, pain but a whole new opportunity. I am working on a special 3D project linked to the 2010 concerts..

I hope 2010 will be as thrilling for you as it is for me. Thanks for all your kind comments, and happy new year to you all. Specially to you, yes, you.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 1/07/2010 63 comments

mardi 9 juin 2009

La vie après World Tour partie 1 - Français

Merci à tous et à toutes pour votre soutien et vos excellentes réactions aux concerts partout en Europe qui m'ont beaucoup touché. C'est un réel encouragement pour moi à continuer et à améliorer la prochaine étape.

De retour chez moi et en studio, j'ai été occupé ces derniers jours par le débriefing de la première partie de la tournée.

Si je suis plutôt satisfait de certains aspects des concerts, le son incroyable d'Alain Courieux, les K1 de Heil Acoustics, les lasers de Hugo, l'organisation et la Production, je voudrai néanmoins faire évoluer la tracklist, les parties complètement improvisées comme «Variation 3», des nouveaux morceaux, certains effets visuels, etc.

Je considère de toute façon depuis le départ ce World Tour comme un terrain d'expériences et comme un projet qui devrait constamment évoluer, tout au long des deux années qui viennent. J'ai beaucoup d'idées à ce sujet...

La prochaine partie du World Tour sera bien sûr un prolongement de la première mais sera définitivement différente, avec peut-être même un nouveau titre!

J'ai aussi travaillé sur mon nouveau site Web. Là aussi, il y a encore beaucoup à améliorer. Mon ambition est de faire de ce site une vraie plate forme de communication interactive entre nous.. J'ai d'ailleurs enregistré aujourd'hui deux vidéos, une en français et une en anglais, commentant l'ouverture de ce nouveau jeanmicheljarre.com.

Cette semaine, j'ai prévu différentes projections des films des concerts tournés à Wembley, Manchester, Bruxelles et Zurich pour me rendre compte du son et de l'enchaînement de la scénographie.

Après avoir discuté avec notre agent à Londres, très enthousiaste après avoir assisté au concert de Wembley, de nombreuses dates de concerts vont être annoncées dans un avenir proche, à commencer par les dates françaises.

On travaille aussi sur une nouvelle affiche..

A très bientôt.

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/09/2009 44 comments

Life after LEG 1 - English

Back home and in the studio, I have been busy debriefing the first part of the tour.

Although I have been really pleased by your feedback and some aspects of the concerts, I really would like to improve

a few things both in the visual and in the tracklisting. I like to see this World Tour project as a work in progress. I have a lot of new ideas, which I am going to develop this summer, bringing new songs and new visual effects...

LEG 2 will be inspired by LEG 1 but will also be definitely different...

I have worked also on my new web site. Again there is a lot I want to improve. Today I recorded two videos, one in french and one in english, to explain how I envision this new website and my expectations regarding it..

This week l have scheduled screenings of the Wembley, Manchester, Brussels and Zurich gigs in order to check the sound and the visuals. Afterwards l'll have various meetings with Ignace, Alain Courieux, Chris, James, Fiona, Louis and Pierre to discuss ways to improve everything...

After having discussed with the agent, a lot of dates are about to be announced in the near future, starting by the french dates. We are working also on a different poster..

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/09/2009 27 comments

mardi 2 juin 2009

Zurich, the last of leg One

Zurich, one of my favourite hall. The black one! Such great vibes.. Sunny everywhere outside and inside... This one was the last one of In-Doors part 1. We were all very excited.

First of all, I would like to thank all the Fans. I feel very lucky having you as fans, you've been great all along. It is a true feeling of warmth and an encouragement to try to do better for you in the first place. You are giving me strength and energy to go on...

This concert was special. I really wanted it to be a tribute also to all the crew:

The sound team with Alain Courieux and all his delightful family, the fifth member of the band did a wonderful job, with his son Cedric and Arno, who is part of the belgium crew as well!!

Thanks to Vincent the sixth member of the band, doing the mix in our ears.. to Alex and co....

As usual my dear Patrick did a fantastic job with "Alex 2" at the backline and so much more.

The laser team became part of the gang as well with Hugo Bunk, Peter and Co.. They did such a brilliant work.

Thanks to our tour manager Chris Rowley who organised this tour in a perfect way. Thanks Chris for the good vibes, cups of sake, smiles, energy making our life so easy in an invisible and magical way.

Thanks to our production manager James Monkman for taking care day after day of everything on site with such elegance.

Thanks to my friend Pierre "Herr Garnier", for his eye and his ears..

Thanks to Fiona, my little sister, for being such a good manager.

Thanks to Louis being so reliable and to Thomas for so many different reasons.

Thank you again Ignace, Glenn (with two "n"!) and all the EML team for the unique lighting....

Thanks to Arpege for giving me the opportunity to get such an incredible sound.

Thank you to Christian Heil for your amazing K-1 PA system.

Thanks to Digico for their support.

Thanks Jeroen and everybody at Roland Central Europe and Roland Japan for your trust in my work.

Thanks to Jemma and all the catering team for such a great food, an important ingredient to a successful tour. Thank you to all the truck and bus drivers who drove us across Europe. Thank you Paul Charles for what you did and thank you Neil Warnock for what you are doing and will achieve....

Thanks to Edith for taking care of me.

Thanks to everybody at LD publicity for their great job.

At last, thank you Dominique, Claude and Francis sharing the stage with me with such talent.

See you soon...

With Fiona

With Pierre

With Glennnn

Jemma, Queen of Catering

Two Dominique, One Fiona

Cool Francis in our elegant dressing room

Egyptian sound check in Zurich

The venue in Zurich

In-doors Mafia

Enjoying the catering

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 6/02/2009 23 comments

vendredi 29 mai 2009

Unexpected Koblenz

We arrived quite late in Koblenz in one of the most unusual venue of the tour: the roof is half glass and then we had daylight until 9:45. So we did the soundcheck between 7 and 8 and we started the concert at 9:35pm in a rather gloomy light. I was able to see all the people in the audience, it was so strange..

Again the magic was there like yesterday. It seems now that we have achieved a certain level of control of the songs technically. We can really improvise and play around the themes. The German audience and the fans were really great and we had a real good time on stage. Everything went well, the new AX-Synth is a bit brighter and seems to sound better than the initial prototype.

The laser harp worked well, not like in Brussels where I had a real problem in Rendez-Vous 2. Indeed yesterday, right in the middle of the laser harp part, it froze, the harp went crazy and sent all the MIDI notes at the same time to the Synthex. Patrick leaped on stage like a rocket to switch it off then on and reprogram the sound. I tried again, but the harp was still crazy, I then rushed at the Synthex to play the rest of the theme directly on the keyboard, but the sound was uncontrollable. The audience followed everything and applauded, which I did appreciate...

Tonight, as I said, everything was OK. At least this accident definitely convinced all those who still thought the laser harp was not a real live-performance instrument...

The Theremin in Koblenz

An unusual venue

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/29/2009 13 comments

Magic Brussels

After London, Brussels was also a place where I wanted to deliver even more than elsewhere a real good show.

Half of the crew is from Belgium: the lighting designer, my friend Ignace d'Haese, his right hand man Glen Mollemans and all the EML team. The french promoter's team, and lots of other friends were around as well.

My friend, Jeroen Raveloot, one of the heads of Roland Central Europe was also there. We had dinner together at the catering before the concert. He brought me a black AX synth specially customised for me by Roland Japan. Apparently they are having a lot of requests for the AXsynth in black since Keyboard Mag US showed me on stage with the prototype that Patrick covered in black for lighting reasons. I am goimg to try the new one tonight in Koblenz then...

The Brussels concert has been magic. The sound was amazing, the light was unique. The all belgium team wanted to do their best in their capital and it worked.. I was really excited on stage and we all had a real good time: after four songs my shirt was totally wet and the whole venue was on fire.. I felt a real fusion with the audience. We are now in control of the show and I can be cool on stage and enjoying what is going on.

The last 30 mn. all the audience was standing, dancing and raving.. Great moments. The feedback after the show was excellent and very encouraging for the future..

With the new AX-Synth

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/29/2009 7 comments

Storm in Amsterdam

We joined my wife Anne in the Amsterdam airport. She was arriving from Paris at the same time as us from Birmingham. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and enjoying the vibes of such a lovely city. Fiona was coming as well, back from Ireland.

In the evening started one of the biggest storm I have seen for a while. Fantastic lightnings lighting the all town.

... quite Wagnerian.

The venue did not allow us to get the full cyclo but the acoustic is probably the best so far. Everybody was in a very good mood, the concert was cool and easy with a nice audience. I had a problem with the laser harp in RV2 and I had to unblock the midi of the Synthex and going back to the harp for the end of the song..

After the show, I met Armin Van Buren. He told me he was a great fan of mine and that my music inspired him to become a musician! I felt really honored coming from one of the 2 or 3 best DJ in the world. We discussed about how my music has influenced trance music, which is so huge all over the world, except in France where we are more electro. I definitely feel part of that trance family. Armin is also a great human being and we promised to each other to keep the contact and to collaborate on one project, one of these days..

With Amin Van Buren

Telling secrets to Francis and Dominique

Published by Jean Michel Jarre on 5/29/2009 15 comments

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