EVANDRO LEE ANDERSON SPÍNOLA DE SOUZA – Sorocaba/SP – Brasil
HOGNE B. PETTERSEN
“I’ve created Jean-Michel Jarre and the La Défense version of his laser harp for the 25th anniversary celebration (LEGO).”
JOÃO SOLIMEO – 43 years old – São Paulo – Brasil
MÁRCIA BRITO – São Paulo – Brasil
GLENN FOLKVORD – 41 years old – Gjerdrum – Norwey
“The scary concert
25 years ago, a friend invited me to travel around France for a couple of weeks. One of the sites we went to was Mont St Michel, which would be “Mont Jean Michel” three years later. After days of French castles, picturesque villages, fromage and baguettes, the highlight of the trip was the National Day concert in Paris, staged by Jean Michel Jarre. I had become a fan the year before, thanks to Norwegian TV broadcasting Destination Docklands along with an interview, and the time had come for my first Jean Michel Jarre concert.
I had high expectations. They were all met. The concert was huge, everything was amazing, futuristic, cool, a technical and artistic direct feed into my brain. The details, the surprises, the scale, a widescreen panoramic surround cinema on fire. Jarre even conducted the weater, which was hot, electrical, buzzing, having the same warm yellow glow you see in movies from the desert. The dot to complete the i was that I had a VIP ticket. It was, however, impossible to get to the VIP area. The crowd was dense (and the day after we learned it was huge too) so I had to settle for a space a little further back. It was the best spot to view the concert from. If you want to see a whole Jarre concert, like the painting it is, see it from a bit back.
There are many memories from this concert. The slow but exciting countdown. The reorchestrated Oxygene 4. The steeldrum players. I remember many details, but, the one emotion that I still feel deep inside, is when the laser snake at the intro of Magnetic Fields 2 eyeballs me and attacks. That’s not just a memory, it’s a solid feeling even today, 25 years later. I got almost scared then, and the same shivers go down my spine when I think of it now, or rewatch the concert on video. It was euphoric, an adrenaline rush beyond intellectual analyzis of what makes a great moment.
Thank you, Jean Michel, for scaring me at your Paris La Défense concert.”
SYLVIE RÉGINA – France
MARCOS PAULO CRUZ – 35 years old – Praia Grande – Brazil
TOSTER ZIMMER – 51 years old – Laer, Germany
“Hello,
I really enjoy your facebook site dedicated to Jarre’s remarkable concert in 1990 concert, and I do have a few pictures to share as well.
The photos of the stage, on the street, the Waves-magazine and the buildings were taken by me and my brother. I hold the copyright.
We had a chance to visit the concert thanks to the KLEM, an electronic music fan club from the Netherlands which had organized a bus tour to Paris for the concert. After the concert, I wrote a few pages about the concert in Waves, a German fanzine for Electronic Music, which I co-edited at the time. I have added some photos of that fan magazine as well. During the concert, I could also pick up that special edition of Le Parisienne, which I have also scanned. One side had the article, the other had the poster of Jean-Michel and the Paris skyline. This newspaper was scanned by me, but I don’t know whether anyone else helds the copyright for this twenty year old concert special, so you must decide if you want to use it.
Even though it was hot and even though we had to wait for hours until the music began, it still remains the most remarkable concert I have ever visited, and I will never forget it as long as I live.
I’m looking forward to what your Facebook page will show and to see the other contributions.
Thanks for making the page to celebrate that day!”
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