Planet Origo ver. 0.10e
last updated 2009-05-27 21:07 CET
After the sold-out 2008 tour in which Jarre performed his milestone album Oxygene live in small concert halls all over Europe, he decided to upgrade and upscale to arenas, and embark on his first world tour, simply called In-Doors. The first leg of the tour covers most of Europe.
The laser show was not just something to watch - the beams touched you and made you feel inside the light. Pic by Tommy Christiansen.
Multi-coloured laserbeams, laserwalls, lasersheets, laserpatterns, lasercones, etc. Pic by Tommy Christiansen.
The famous laser harp. Pic by Glenn Folkvord.
The lack of speaker stacks allowed a panoramic vista of light (sadly not possible to display here). Pic by Glenn Folkvord.
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This report is from the 8th In-Doors concert, in the Spektrum arena in Oslo, Norway, on May 13, 2009.
Jean Michel Jarre is known all over the world for his spectacular outdoor concerts that use famous buildings, city skylines and surrounding landscapes as the stage (everything from the Houston skyscrapers to the Sahara desert). He has also tackled a few other formats; in 1993 he toured stadiums in Europe, in 1997 he did his first arena tour and in 2008 he did an intimate tour all over Europe in theatres, opera houses and concert halls, including London's Royal Albert Hall. Jarre's latest project, In-Doors, is a new (for 2009) arena production and his first world your, scheduled to continue throughout 2009 and 2010.
The concept
Jarre never puts on a concert or tour if he repeats himself, and In-Doors is thus a different scale, format and concept compared to his 2008 Oxygene Live tour or his previous arena tour in 1997, and it makes sense to go and see this production even if you have seen other Jarre concerts. In-Doors is a live performance with some of Jarre's most loved songs, unlike other concerts which had a specific theme, and it's also the first time that lasers feature extensively, in spite of Jarre's reputation as a "laser-light showman". What Jarre had in mind for this production was a visual and musical concept tailored specifically for arenas, but drawing on his experience with big outdoor concerts. Obviously, the requirements and challenges of an arena concert are different than a one-off city-wide concert, but Jarre is not a generic artist. Perhaps the most visible sign of this is the invisible - there are no speaker towers! For the first time on this scale (according to Jarre), all speakers are hidden, which creates an oppourtunity for the lightning design to use the whole height and width of the stage for fluent, uninterrupted, broadly designed effects. This is the first way in which Jarre adapted his outdoor concerts to the indoors arena format, as he previously used buildings and landscapes as the canvas, with no concerns about petty things like sound distribution obscuring the view.
With a complete panoramic vista now in place, Jarre went on to design a laser and light show unlike anything he had done before (and he has done alot!). Lasers are nothing new to electronic music shows, but Jarre never really used lasers extensively and this time he decided to use them as one of two main visual elements. In-Doors employs five powerful stage lasers that cover the entire arena between them. The lasers are motorized and can be moved up and down, and this enables not only multi-coloured patterns, shapes and beams in the space above and in front of the audience, but also a very amusing effect where sheets of laserbeams descend on the audience and encapsulate them, not by just tilting the laser heads but by moving the heads to the level of the viewers. At one point, two walls of beams close in on you from the side and create a claustrophobic feeling. Jarre's idea was to immerse the audience in light and make them participants, not onlookers, which was achieved by using the speed, direction and designs of the laserbeams in an imaginative way. Many laser shows are pre-programmed and something you watch in front of you, or above you in the sky, but this time the lasers were tailored to the arena (in this case, Oslo Spektrum which is shaped like an amphitheatre)
Regular moving lights were also used, mounted not only above the stage but also on the stage itself and between the stage and the audience. It became clear from the location and usage of the lights that Jarre wanted to create a feeling of size and immersion, as the beams, floods and effects reflected the scale, space and constraints of the arena. Unlike some concert shows, which are designed to look good on TV or performed from only the stage itself, Jarre had placed lights in unusual places, and also used their individual mobility to great effect. The powerful beams were designed not only as a "visual track" to the music, but also to compliment the lasers and create a different, thicker layer than the thinner, more straightened laserbeams.
The laser harp
On stage, Jarre had set up his kit of 70 synthesizers, keyboards and assorted other instruments, to be played by himself and his three co-musicians, Claude Samard, Francis Rimbert and Dominique Perrier. The set-up was similar (but bigger) to the 2008 Oxygene Live tour, and Jarre also used his Theremin, a new portable Roland prototype AX Synth (given to him this spring ahead of its release), and his famous laserharp. To visualize how the harp is being used, Jarre pressed a foot pedal to make the harp fold in, change octaves, then fold out, as this explained how one beam could play different notes. In an arena setting, the laser harp looks amazing with its bright green beams, and even experienced fans never cease to be surprised at how futuristic and cool the instrument is. The two laser harp themes in Rendez-vous part 2 and part 3 works well with this instrument, which was revamped for this tour, and it's easy to understand how the harp is not a gimmick, but a necessary way to visualize the playing of the two themes, which are composed especially for this instrument.
Live music
As for the music, In-Doors is billed as a Greatest Hits-type concert, with highlights from most of Jarre's career being played. Many hits such as the epic Equinoxe 4, the powerful Industrial Revolution, the legendary Oxygene 4 and the crowd-pleasing Magnetic Fields 1 were played, but it strikes most people odd that tracks such as Variation 3 (which premiered in 2008 as a filler track for the Oxygene Live tour) and Oxygene 5 are included, as they are neither hits, nor typical concert pieces. They do add variation to the "pop songs" Jarre is known for, and are good for Jarre showing off his live performance skills on a Moog Liberation, but there are so many other exquisite songs many fans want to hear; Globetrotter, Arpegiator, Ethnicolor, Chronologie 4 (a definitive hit, but excluded), Oxygene 7 (would work great in this analogue synth setting), etc. Jarre's concert track lists tend to include songs that have been played frequently (for Jarre, "frequently" means once every two years), which is something the hardcore fans are griped by, but at least we got the seldomly performed Equinoxe 5 and Calypso 3 (both not in his repertoire since 1990). Jarre had also announced in his official blog that he would premiere new music during the tour, but this has yet to materialize (to be fair, the tour has just started).
What is also notable is that most of what's heard is played live, as much as four pair of hands can play. This is not a given in electronic music, especially not for Jarre, whose musicians faced immense pressure at one-off outdoor gigs in the past. In 2008 Jarre went on the road with a new live concept, and In-Doors is an expanded version (from 30 synths to 70, both analogue and digital, including an early Fairlight) that works very well. The sound was clean, dynamic and warm and the occasional error due to gear that won't work as expected or a slip of a finger is not only to be expected, but in fact a welcome feature. The live aspect of the concert is the main reason why some tracks are not played, as not all compositions and arrangements lend themselves to two or eight hands, such as the sample-based Zoolook album for example. On stage, Samard, Rimbert and Perrier are focused musicians while Jarre is more a showman, sometimes jumping up and down to get people going, or performing on unusual instruments, but definitively adding his bits (while also controlling the progress of the concert on his touch-sensitive HP flatscreen next to an old modular synth, a nice mix of old and new). Jarre later stated that this Oslo gig was the first concert where he got both the music and the lights right, and indeed it was a tight, well-run and highly professional show. Nothing else was expected.
Tangible light
What was missing from the concert was a video backdrop. In the past, even with his smaller indoor concerts, Jarre has always used video projections or backdrop effects, but for this production the backdrop was either a black back cloth, or a white one hoisted up in front of the black background. Only during one track, Oxygene 12, did the lights form patterns on the backdrop. This limited use of the background area probably surprised a few fans, but with the concept Jarre had in mind, it really made sense to leave the video out. He specifically wanted to avoid the feeling of watching TV, or the feeling of static space between the stage and the audience. By using the lights and lasers in a way that made them feel almost tangible, something you almost could feel on your body and not something that was just being "over there", the overall experience became much less static and more physical. More alive, more here and now, than any HD video projection can achieve. On several tracks, the lights were aimed directly at you and so much in-your-face that it would not even be possible to see anything on a video wall. Another thing I realized when watching the concert, is that the black backdrop created a feeling of endless space behind the stage, just like at many of Jarre's outdoor concerts. If the backdrop had been a video wall of some kind, you would have seen everything which was there, but with this minimalist illusion, Jarre was able to evoke the sense of more room. Yet another way of creating a show for arenas with an outdoor feeling - this would not work in a TV production, in a concert hall or a club gig.
Retro-futuristic
How does the tour fit in with Jarre's other concert projects then? This reporter is an experienced Jarre concert goer, and even if In-Doors (at least this first leg of the tour) is different from most arena productions, it's not Jarre at his creative peak. While several aspects are new and well conceived, Jarre has in the past offered surprises and details that raised a concert from great to awesome. This time, perhaps due to wanting to tour the world, the concept seems a little stripped. The 1997 tour is the closest project to In-Doors and back then Jarre had moving light-worms, video projections, animated graphics, a landscape-shaped stage and puppets that descended from the ceiling, in addition to choreographed lights. Even the very stripped down 2008 tour made clever use of a gigantic mirror. Yes, the lasershow of In-Doors was impressive but it wasn't a surprise, and I know Jarre can push his envelope one step further. Nevertheless, In-Doors is one of the biggest electronic music concerts you will see in 2009 and 2010, and it's also a classic type of show, with pure music and pure visual effects, almost like those old laser shows of the past, but updated with the latest technology. The concert did feel a bit retro, but in a futuristic way.
Again, as Jarre has done a few times before, with In-Doors he demonstrates how he is not the megalomaniac he is reputed to be, but is able to combine the minimalistic with the extravagant, and that's a rare quality these days, when concert productions usually are incredibly high-tech, saturated and slick.
In-Doors is great fun - it is not a great work of art but it's pure fun with mountains of synths and lasers everywhere, something you should treat yourself to. If you are a gearhead, laser fan or a Jarre follower, In-Doors is perhaps your only chance to see Jarre live, especially if you live outside Europe, and should not be missed.
Musicians on stage: Jean Michel Jarre, Francis Rimbert, Claude Samard, Dominique Perrier.
Track list:
Industrial Revolution 2
Magnetic Fields 1
Equinoxe 7
Oxygene 2 (with extended intro)
Rendez-vous 3
Oxygene 12
Souvenir of China
Magnetic Fields 2
Oxygene 5
Variation 3
Equinoxe 4
Equinoxe 5
Chronologie 6
Chronologie 2
Encore:
Oxygene 4
Calypso 3
Rendez-vous 2
Second encore:
Industrial Revolution 2
Gearlist
Jarre's stage kit is a travelling museum of electronic instruments: EMS Synthi A (x4), VCS3 (x2), ARP 2600 (x2), Roland Jupiter 8, Eminent 310U organ (x3), Roland D-50 (x2), Elka Synthex (x2), Minimoog D (x4), Roland JD-800 (x2), Korg PE-2000 PolyEnsemble, Roland SPD-S, Nord Lead 3, Memorymoog (x2), Boss RC20XL LoopStation pedals (x3), Roland HandSonic drum pad, Minimoog Voyager, RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, Dave Smith MoPho, Roland AX Synth, Roland JP-4, Haken Continuum Fingerboard controller, Roland Juno-106, Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus, Roland V-Drums pads with TD-20 sound module (x several), Moog Taurus with bass pedals, Moog 55 modular, MacBeth M5N, ARP 2500, Moog Liberation, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Fairlight CMI, Roland TR 909 and TR 808, Korg PS 3200, Moog Source, Roland S760, Synthar, Theremin, laser harp, accordeon, and others! In total, around 70 synthesizers, keyboards, modules, controllers and other instruments were used.
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