Oxygene celebration in Paris, December 2007

Jean Michel Jarre: Oxygene
Paris, December 15, 2007

In the fall of 2007, the French electronica pioneer Jean Michel Jarre celebrated the 30th anniversary of his seminal album Oxygene with several projects; a unique live performance released as a 3D-DVD, a new note-for-note Master Recording using the original analogue synthesizers and released as a CD and in surround sound, and a series of 10 intimate live concerts at Paris’ Theatre Marigny. The album, released in France in 1976 and worldwide in 1977, definitely deserved these celebrations, as it not only defined the spectacular carreer of the artist, but it was also a great influence in the music world in general and for electronica especially, and was voted the most important electronic music album by Future Music readers a few years ago.

After his very contemporary March 2007 release Teo & Tea, Jarre decided it was time to get back to his roots, and decided to perform his classic album in a way it had never been performed before. Known all over the world for his baffling megaconcerts with millions of spectators, fireworks and building-sized projections, Jarre decided to go the other direction for his December concert series where the entire album would be performed completely live. He hired three supporting musicians (Dominique Perrier, Francis Rimbert and Claude Samard) because the original album was recorded with 8 layered tracks, thus one would require 2 x 4 hands to play the music on stage. The old, venerable Theatre Marigny on Champs Elysees in Paris became the location for 10 concerts, each with only 1000 people in the audience, and Jarre set up his kit (over 30 old synths from the 1970s) on the stage with the aim to perform Oxygene live from start to beginning for the first time, in a way that was not intended back in 1976 when the album was recorded, and probably not possible either.

Nothing is left to it’s own at a Jarre concert. Even this small concept offered something extra; outside the theatre, skytracker searchlights formed an arch above the theatre, signalling the location for fans from all over the world, and all ages. Inside in the foyer, the long-form ambient track Waiting for Cousteau is playing on speakers, a tradition at every Jarre concert since 1990. It relaxes people, but also creates expectations, a countdown of sorts. On flat panel screens, close-up video images of knobs and sliders of analogue synths give the audience as taste of what to expect.

And then the curtain is raised. Jarre pops out from an egg-shaped chair like a jack-in-a-box, and greets the audience, then spends several minutes explaining the eccentricity of the analogue synths, comparing them to Stradivarius violins, and his thoughts about why Oxygene is still relevant as a concept and as music; the environmental message, for one thing. He also wants to be closer to his audience, he says, because Oxygene was during it’s creation an intimate moment for him, and now it’s time to share that experience for the first time.

The concert itself started with synthesizer tuning, just like you’d hear from a symphony orchestra. For some people, the fact that you need to tune synths may be a surprise, but the old “ladies” of the 1970s could go sour simply from the heat generated by the audience in the house. Then, the first track, but the first track is not from the original album. For this anniversary project, Jarre composed four new tracks, and Prelude is an overture in the style of the album. Then the first sounds of Oxygene part I flows smoothly from the loudspeakers. Immediately it strikes me that the sounds are less polished and more crudely mixed than on the album, and that is because it’s 100% live! All (or most of) the sounds on the album are present, and no leads, chords, special sounds, pads or bass sequences seem to be missing in any of the tracks. It really sounds as if the album only had 8 layers and now they are being replicated by the 8 hands on stage, who always were busy, flying between racks of synths continuously. The live aspect is reinforced by the tuning of synths throughout the concert, the impro-style variations and at one point, the complete detuning of one synth that refused to play in tune at any point in the song. Jarre frantically worked it and attempted to play the flute lead of Oxygene part II, but the beast would simply not obey, resulting in out-of-tune sounds until the end of the track. Would Jarre be booed? No, the crowd seemed to appreciate the whimsical nature of the instruments and enjoyed the exhibition of live playing, and cheered and encouraged Jarre to keep going. The only major non-live instrument was the Digisequencer, which replaced the old Matrisequencer. The Digisequencer is a custom built sequencer that Jarre triggered patterns and rhythms off of, basically to replace a non-existant drummer, and then played leads and/or pads himself.

The tracks were faithfully rendered, but were sometimes shorter, sometimes longer than the album version. For his concerts, Jarre usually re-arranges his old songs but for this concert series the original arrangements were kept, adding only slight variatons on leads and themes whenever suitable. Some passages were not composed for traditional keyboard performance, but the four musicians pulled it off anyway, and created a complete sonic picture with keys, custom controllers, human sequencing and a wide range of playing techniques. In addition to Prelude, three Variations (named simply Variations part I - III) bridged the original tracks. The first Variation is an ambient, dreamy soundscape with abstract effects, and heavy on classic Mellotron choir sounds. This track is placed between Oxygene part III and IV. The second Variation follows Oxygene IV, and is a gentle, yet dramatic piece with Jarre performing an improvised lead on a detached ribbon controller. The third Variaiton is a sequencer based piece that follows Oxygene part V, though not in the Berlin School sense, but in the more poetic and subtle “Paris school” style. These new compositions were not just there to extend the concert, but also an exercise in composing music with purely analogue instruments without memory, and for 8 hands only.

The visual side of any Jarre concert is important. Known for his extravagant high-tech outdoor spectaculars, expectations were high for what he would offer in terms of visuals this time, although it had been made known that the concert would be a musical event rather than a visual feast. As the whole idea of the concert was simplicity and intimacy, the visual effects were toned down this time. During the first few tracks, a stage-wide bar (about a foot high) was slowly lowered from the ceiling, changing colours from red and white to purple and yellow. About one third into the concert, a huge stage-sized mirror is lowered and placed above the musicians, at a 45 degree angle, so we could see exactly what was going on from a bird perspective! These two simple special effects were accompanied by a seemingly basic set of lights, but they were used with extreme precision, using rotation, strobes, colour changes and shapes in a very innovative manner. At one point, the lights created an effect similar to the one you get when watching 3D movies without those funky red and green glasses. As Jarre had recently released his Oxygene “Live in your living room” concert with actual 3D video (funky glasses included), this was a nice hint to the updated version. Towards the end of the concert, the new Oxygene skull 3D animation is shown (in 2D) on the stage’s back screen, and for the final track Oxygene Part XII (from the 1997 seven album Oxygene 7-13) the circle of life video is projected on the backdrop screen. Visually speaking, the concert was low-key but Jarre had wanted the effects to take second seat behind the music, and he also had devised effects that enhanced the feeling of space and reflection, which I think was accomplished with elegance. The visual space was a nod to the layers and transparency of the music, and the reflection was a nod to how the listeners are encouraged to reflect on current issues that Oxygene represented both then and now. Jarre is often about minimalism, contrary to popular belief, and this concert proved he does not depend on eyecandy to please an audience.

The real star of the concert was not Jean Michel Jarre, but the vintage instruments, as he pointed out (between the lines). No less than 33 instruments were present on stage; most of them were classic analogue synths from the 70s, such as VCS3, ARP 2500 and 2600, MiniMoog, Moog Modular 55, the organ Eminent 310, and RMI Harmonic. Many of the synths were duplicated, and some of them were quadrupled, as they could not be pre-programmed. If a different sound were needed, the musicians simply had to use a second or third synth, unless there were sufficient time to rewire. Additionally, pedals such as the Smallstone (four) and Electric Mistress were used to achieve that classic, floating, dreamy Jarre sound. Other special instruments were the Theremin, a Doepfer ribbon controller, and for one song, the heavy Moog Liberation portable synth. The three supporting musicians were placed in their booths behind Jarre, who was busy in the front booth and sometimes had to hurry between two synths as they needed his hands. I was worrying that he would trip in the wires and tear down a rack of indispensable hardware!

And what about the audience? The crowd was a mixed party, with a large portion of foreigners from all over Europe, and possibly other continents as well. Jarre actually acknowledged the presence of long distance travellers, naming Holland, Poland and Norway as some of the countries represented in the theatre. During Jarre’s introduction, one female fan shouted “I love you, Jean Michel” and Jarre replied, with a dry smile; “me too”. In return, the onlookers, who more than ever before also were listeners, responded with honest enthusiasm to each track. During the entire concert, Jarre never spoke between the tracks (since they are all connected, and one don’t want chitchat between them), and he had a serious and focused expression on his face. Sometimes he looked up from the synths to see the audience’s reaction, and sometimes he looked around, planning his next move and checking the buttons of another analogue box. In spite the lack of verbal communication with the audience during the performance, there was still an almost tangible connection between Jarre and the fans, as both parties got immersed into the music.

One might wonder what the creator of the megaconcert spectacle sees in a small Parisian theatre as the location for his Oxygene anniversary. Jarre was never really about oversized outdoor concerts. From the beginning, Jarre wanted to escape from the traditional format of rock and pop concerts, and now he continues that idea by performing his music in a theatre that usually presents great literary classics. Jarre stages his concerts in places that have no business staging concerts, wether it’s a mud field in Denmark, an urban futuristic environment or an ancient world heritage site. More intimate than an arena and more classy than a club, the Theatre Marigny was an ideal location for the live performance of Oxygene. Also, choosing to downplay the emphasis on visual effects and focus on the music was in line with a serious theatre’s tradition of content over whizbang. Jarre prefers to explore different ways to perform and present music, and while a Parisian main street indoor theatre is not as exotic as the remote desert of Sahara where he played to thousands of people in 2006, it’s not a typical concert location for any artist. The format was thus different and new, but also ideal for a this intimate event, and worthy of a classic album. Jarre chose to play his “stage version” of Oxygene in one location, for several nights, just like you do with stage plays. With real people and real working synths on the stage, it was indeed more like a stage play than a high-tech, remote, invading, surrounding mega production. By making it all simple, Jean Michel Jarre once again managed to create a unique night and a unique series of 10 small concerts for his faithful fans, who showed their appreciation by demanding Jarre and his musicians back on stage three times, with standing ovations.