Having been consumed by all things house music since the early nineties (yes we are talking last century), much of our music devotions from previous years in our lives have all but faded from our playlists, even our most recent times whizzing around London’s roads listening to music as we do, reserved for a select few D.J.’s & their compilations. However, a small minority of artists that formed our music listening during our teens & early twenties still survive & occasionally get airplay in our ears, or while relaxing at home, Abba standing head & shoulders over a whole host of other pop bands that litter our music library & collections, although, the super Swede’s apart, there is one artist that has always been top of our tree & who is responsible for so many memories of our informative years through his music, that, for us, is very much a legend in our lifetime.
Jean-Michel Jarre has without doubt impacted on our lives in a way that few others have, not least as his “Magnetic Fields” album was the first ever non Abba purchase we made, going on to be the most played set of tunes of any record (well tape, then CD & now MP3) we have owned, a whole succession of JMJ acquisitions following similar suit, amounting to a collection that hit double figures during the eighties & remains the most represented in our comprehensive music collection. However, whilst we have revered this man & his music for close on three decades now, the one thing we have never done, is see him play live, despite there having been a number of occasions that this would or could have been possible, China would have been amazing, as would have Hong Kong, we heard Houston was incredible, Lyon fantastic & Docklands simply spectacular. But, in a casual conversation, the subject of his latest London date came up and realising that clubbing connections & friends had the same passion, the dream became a reality & we were destined to re-kindle our misspent youth years.
So, with the date arriving before we knew it and a significant one at that, 10/10/10 having significance for Jean-Michel apart from anyone else, the history of this man’s concerts marking landmark events & times, for example he was in Docklands for the millennium, Houston around the shuttle disaster (the album Rendes-Vous dedicated to the lost astronauts), he even marking the change of sovereignty with a concert in Hong Kong. So, with 10/10/10 a one-off date, it was no surprise that Mr Jarre would be playing somewhere, choosing London ending up not being that difficult a choice as he adores the city. Plus, in the O2 arena there was yet more significance, why we here you ask?, well for any JMJ fan, this would be immediately apparent from the links with his massive worldwide album success, “Oxygene”, so, all in all, this latest trip to the capital by, what we can only describe as THE master of the electronic keyboard & by our friend & liege for the night, Tom, the originator of Trance, simply was unmissable & would mark a step change in our lives for a number of reasons.
With our trip to Beyond “Tokyo” still fresh in our minds, we headed down to the London Eye on the Thames to meet up with Tom & fellow JMJ enthusiasts Dorin & Kyriacos, the four of us taking a leisurely trip up to the concert venue on the river boat (a very civilised way to travel), although missing a fifth person in our party which was disappointing to say the least (Mr Elder please note). With the journey wending us past some of the capitals best tourist sites, it wasn’t long before we arrived at the impressive destination that was the O2 Arena, standing tall in front of us as we disembarked the boat & made our way round into the massive entrance, the whole space looking both hi-tech & modern, shops & restaurants a plenty framing the main arena. Having figured out our tickets, VIP ones no less which had been arranged on our behalf by the wonderful Craig Daniels, we headed straight for the souvenir desk to grab some memento’s of this illustrious occasion before making our was up into the auditorium & the Arena proper to take our seats in the VIP box (oops we said it again) which gave us an incredible view looking right down across the stage where the legend Mr Jarre would soon be performing.
Having never visited the O2 before, we were taken a-back by the sheer size & atmosphere of the place, all this further enhanced by subtle smoke effects creating shimmering effects from the banks of lights, but moreover the background sounds that were unmistakably elements of JMJ’s “Equinox” album, the combination heightening our already overt excitement even more. So, with the lights suddenly dimming, the show was about ready to start, as the lights around the arena were dimmed leaving a two spots shinning & pointing to the far end of the arena, where Jean Michel was commencing his walk down through the crowd & towards the stage. the music building to a slow crescendo, the sounds of bells, drums & keyboard effects culminating on his leap onto the performing area with the crowd roaring as he proclaimed “…Good Evening London…”. So, the scene was now set for close on two hours of musical mastery from the energetic Mr Jarre, each & every selection of sounds sending shivers up our spins in pure delight at what we were witnessing & experiencing and from our vantage point we could literally see him flex his fingers on the keyboards he was playing, on the laser harp he was plucking & all the other instruments he was manipulating to create the unmistakable sounds of his mesmeric music.
With Dorin & Kyriacos having decided to venture further round to get a better “full on” view of the stage, we, together with Tom & a handful of others around were more than pleased with a view of the man in action, downward multi spots illuminating JMJ & his support artists as they played out renditions of classics like Equinox V, Magnetic Fields II, & Oxygene II, even going as far too include Rendez-vous II which we had literally pre-empted with a cursory comment to our liege Tom, “…I wonder whether he will play Rendez-vous?…”With our lofty VIP position & placing allowing us to look across the whole expanse of the arena, not only was the concentrated lighting & other effects of the stage, mesmerising, but the constant camera flashes around lit up like shimmering stars, as our star & legend Jean-Michel continued to wow, not least when yet more amazing memories of years gone by flashed before our eyes as tracks “Apregiator”, “Orient Express” “Souvenir Of China” and then the incredible “Laser Harp” , left us breathless & emotional, even Tom like us, holding back the tears, as we saw the magnificence of incredible piece of equipment on full show, the green beams being struck with incredible precision to create that unique resonance for which JMJ has become famous for.
Now we were completely glued to the action in front of us, the stage set right in our sights, the never-ending multicoloured lighting flashing on the banks of musical equipment & artists supporting the great man, who continued to stand out proud, his insatiable energy showing through as he bounded between instruments with athletic ease, occasionally rousing the massive audience with his clapping, but in reality with the majority seemingly JMJ officinal’s, recognising each & every track as they were selected. And such was the depth of his choices, ranging right across his discography, from “Equinox”, through “Revolutions”, “Magnetic Fields” to “Zoolook” & “Oxygene” past “Rendez-Vous” & even elements of “Chronologie” not to mention “Concerts In China” it was all there, even extracts from his live concerts across the years, all making for a simply stunning show that we didn’t want to end. But as all great things do, the show was coming to an end, the time having flew from the minute we took our seat to the curtain call of JMJ’s performance, although as he & his team took their bows & departed, it was clear the crowd wanted more and the veteran concert appearance & experience of Tom immediately came to bear, there was going to be an encore, “Oxygene IV no less, although not before he had given a final speech on stage, calling for the audience to beam the show across the globe via their phones, which they did with dramatic effect, the whole of the O2 lighting up with tiny flashes from their devices making for one of those magical moments which, to be honest, the whole evening had been full of.
However, the ultimate end to this colossal concert could only be probably THE most recognisable record that Mr Jarre had been responsible for and very appropriate for the venue he was playing in to, as “Oxygene 4” was played out in scintillating style, the twist of the live performance giving the record the edge it needed & leaving us in complete admiration of the star of this spectacular show, JMJ eventually gracing his exit & leaving us to gather ourselves as the lights came up & we were returned to that “Equinox” inspired atmospheric music. And as we left our treasured VIP place & the fantastic feel that this incredible individual & his small yet terrific team had sunk us into for a hypnotic couple of hours, there was nothing else on our lips as we reflected on so many magical moments with both Tom & the people around us as we waited for our river charge back to the normality of Vauxhall, a far cry from the magical world of the legend in our lifetime, the fabulous Frenchman Jean Michel Jarre.
Finding the words to describe just how amazing this concert was would never do justice to the atmosphere that was created & the magical mesmerism of Mr Jarre’s music. Listening as we have over the years to all of his albums which remain as fresh as they did on the first hearing, now pail in significance to the heights achieved by this exceptional live experience. Capturing as much as we could in both still pictures & videos, while rekindling some of those magical moments also only give a snapshot & a tiny picture of just how special this whole evening was and we cannot fault one moment of the whole night, from the minute we left home on our Jarre journey, until we returned. The company we held couldn’t have been better, so in recognition of that fact, we devote this review to our companions Dorin & Kyriacos, but especially to our liege & now close friend Tom, who is every bit a Jarre fan like us (more so in some ways) and without whom, this whole trip would not have been possible. But our final words have to go to the man himself, Jean Michel Jarre, for us the best way to end saying that J stands for joyous, M stands for magnificent & J stands for jubilant, although there should surely be a L there too, standing simply for legend. (DISCO MATT)