Jean Michel Jarre concert review - Oxygene Tour

The concert I wrote about in the previous post was my second Jean Michel Jarre concert experience. The first was in 2008 November, called Oxygene Tour when he played the whole album from its first sounds to its last noises and additionally a few from Oxygene 7-13, and as a bonus, Oxygene 4 again. All of the songs were played on the original analogue instruments. That concert was slightly better than this World Tour - maybe just because that was my first experience or because I'm fond of Oxygene. I remember as the sound was better, though we were standing in front of the stage not too far, in a very good place.

There he played Oxygene 12 and besides Oxygene 2 (of course) it was my favourite period of the concert. In living version it's much better than on the album, and that song got a perfect video-mix playing behind the stage: fastened motions of nature (like flowers blossom and animal corpses get rotten), shots of animals, turbulences... it is wonderful. It totally matches to the music. So when I heard it at World Tour, I was very glad and it became one of my favourite moments of the two hour experience.

The other amazing thing was a speciality which was played only here, in Hungary. As JMJ told us, he was walking in the city and heard a street musician and he invited him to his concert. The result became awesome: an improvisative song by the hang drum and the concert devices. It had a very special atmosphere, watch it below.

Oxygene 12:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xSzn7tpEhg

Jean Michel Jarre and Norbert Pável:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc5ToA4GK0w

Jean Michel Jarre concert review - World Tour

One of the stages of his World Tour was Budapest, so tonight I saw the concert. JMJ said that it had been the first concert since his mother died so he dedicated it to her. It was powerful, really.

Surprisingly he didn't play any song from Téo & Téa or Metamorphoses, the songs concentrated on Equinoxe, Oxygène, and Rendez-vous - which isn't problem at all, I think. We got everything which is connected to his shows: laser harp, theremin, endless number of synthesizers - and a spectacular light show. No, this word is too small. It was shocking. The lights were showering the audience, making unexisting planes and surfaces in the air, in a great rhythym to the music - which, was very "large" sometimes. I dare to say too large, and too vivid, but as my thoughts kept rolling by during the concert, I felt it's right. He's French. Kraftwerk is German. You can see the differences in the way of their playing but it's totally all right. They were my absolute favourites in the secondary school fan-years so the concert was also nostalgic for me. Two hours of sounds, sounds which you hear and think they belong to him. It's fantastic. He created sounds and new atmosphere. I read an article few years ago where he was asked that You are often said to be the father of electronic music, what do you think? And he responded, I must be only the father of my child. But he really made something new.

My fave moments of the concert:

Oxygène 5 turning into an improvisative trance-thing

Oxygène 12 with the fantastic video behind

Equinoxe 4 with the nice original art inspired video

the song, when we could see incredible numbers from the wolrd

Equinoxe 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qop9Ms82FI8

Oxygène 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4HN4Kxju1c

Oxygène 4 + 12 (not Budapest):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWICdlD_85w&feature=related

His official website:
http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/

Concerts coming

It's only a few days ago when I got to know that Pet Shop Boys and Jean Michel Jarre, two of my old half-nostalgic favourites will come to my country: PSB to BalatonSound in summer, JMJ to Papp László Budapest SportArena, in May. There was no question in my mind about going or not. As you can see it in this blog, I follow PSB's life every now and then, and I was glad to see them on VoltFestival maybe three years ago. Now Yes has come out and there are lots of new concert videos which make me very curious. About Jean Michel Jarre: being a fan of him started in secondary school, such as of Kraftwerk, these two were the coolest music which we could imagine with my best friend with whom I shared a desk in the classroom, and if we even listened to many other music nowadays, it would be a huge effect on us maybe for good. I had the chance to see his concert last year, that was the Oxygene tour, where he played the whole album from its first sound to its last, and songs from Oxygene 7-13 as well - on analogue devices. And now it's the World Tour, with which my old dream will come true.

PSB in your living room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rEVeyDukGE
(visit mypricelessgig.co.uk)

Watch PSB concert videos in older posts:
Did you see me coming?
Yes

About the JMJ World Tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJLm0jHh4b0

JMJ playing Oxygene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kQEvGmnkCQ

Pet Shop Boys' new products

It seems like the Pet Shop Boys never rest, they always come up with something new. Now, the Pandemonium concert dvd and cd, released on the 15th of February. Quite a cool choice with those new "two songs in one" types.
Or the ep Christmas, released on the 14th of December, 2009, containing the new version of It doesn't often snow at Christmas, a cool remix of Madness' My girl, or the Viva la vida / Domino dancing mix. Now they have an own YouTube channel, too.

Pandemonium dvd trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/petshopboys#p/c/CC5459DB602B6963

Domino dancing / Viva la vida:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJp-0kKgvlA

My girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M37TnocXUSc

Madness - My girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ARfGbCfMs

Power of three concert review

It seems that nowadays I always get to concerts which may be the last chance for me. Chick Corea will come perhaps a few more times, but McCoy Tyner... I don't think so. Or Kraftwerk... so who knows, in a bad case, this was the last - but my newest unforgettable memory.

After the revival of Return to forever in 2008, their world tour was so succesful and great event for them, they established a trio, at the piano: Chick Corea, at the bass: Stanley Clarke, and at the drums: Lenny White. It's a quite interesting idea, because the trio plays the older jazzrock/fusion songs more softly, but this ability is highly recommended for other songs, for example standards.

The concert was excellent. We could see a real trio. Trio is always an interesting thing and can be fascinating, too, because sometimes they can create everything. Every mood, every sound, every point on the hard-soft line, and none of the trios is the same. They are all different. So Corea, Clarke and White are very accustomed to each other, it was felt very well. They played Rtf songs, Chick Corea songs, and standards as well, so the palette was exciting. I hope that our concert will be soon uploaded to the setlists/photos menu on http://www.ccwtrio.chickcorea.com/ which is the band's website. Here you can find more photos which are very expressive for me and almost talk about the atmosphere of the concerts. The last song is always Spain, one of Corea's most known pieces. There was a part in it when the audience were humming to the melody he played.

Reinventing the trio 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR1VUvDGLZY

Stanley Clarke solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDzjUQihHGg

Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLi9RfhbhrM

George Benson concert review

This concert was held in the Budapest SportArena at the 22th of July, and was a part of "The European Tour". Mr. Benson and his band did a great job, a two hours long show, introducing us to the world of smooth jazz. I'm not really interested in this genre, but I liked the concert very much, it matched with my actual mood. There were some expectances by me, for example the song "The ghetto", "Breezin'", or "Summertime/Take five" which are two classic song and I saw it on youtube, in his earlier performance. Unfortunately he didn't played them, but amongst the tracklist there was for example the well-known song "On Broadway", "Give me the night", and a very interesting version of the old jazz standard, "Nature boy" (you can hear it on the album: In flight).

So Mr. Benson - with his thin moustache, with his fascinating singing voice and with his almost singing guitar - proved that he's not only a great musician, but an effective performer, too. He also told us that he spent a lot of money and saw a lot of beautiful girls in Hungary.

A part of this concert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMwBPAF7i-8

Kraftwerk concert review

I had the honour to visit Balaton Sound festival (which is an electronic music festival at the coast of the lake, in Hungary), for one day, especially to hear and see the performance of one of my favourite groups and the group which has taken the biggest influence on me in music, I think. It's Kraftwerk, the well-known german electronic band, which is usually named as the "pioneer of electronic music". Yes, it isn't just an exaggeration, because any time they released a new album (after a long, long waiting time), they produced something which is brand new and we couldn't hear before. The clean, minimalist arrangement are the basis in their songs - and the word "perfection" is always connected with them in my mind.



This word is suitable for describing the concert, too. The songs were very similar to the songs of the concert 05 05 24 which was also held in Hungary (and that was my first Kraftwerk concert), but there were little changes, just a little, to improve the quality. I think only the biggest fans could realize it. For the first time I saw the performance of Showroom dummies, an extremely cool remix version of the original album song, and the Computer love, which was also new for me. Unfortunately they didn't play the song Airwaves which I saw on youtube, from another concert, and it's very good. But it's hard to write more about the concert, because the audio-visual effects only works when you're there. See the links below.

I suppose they won't come again here, because of the rare concerts and their age, but the hope dies last...

Visit their minimalist website: http://www.kraftwerk.com/

Some concert videos:
Radio activity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zymSXKoME60
Showroom dummies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB1DDvU8Y0E
Autobahn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWcuP4PaKtY&feature=related

George Benson concert in Budapest

While I was taking a ride by my new bicycle with my friend yesterday, we decided to see George Benson: on the concert which is going to be held in the Budapest SportArena, on the 22th of July. It will be a great night.

Some of his live performances:

- Breezin':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjTK0pL1go

- On Broadway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voNjeUUcdSo

- Affirmation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKXXzJhhlhQ

- This masquerade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iHu8TvCV5I&feature=related

- Lately:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUcrpgXATw&feature=related

- Give me the night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wear0apWHOI&feature=related

Hope he'll also play well-known songs besides his famous hits, for example Summertime (also mentioned in the "Summertime" post): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCaPno7QChY

or Take five: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn27IcAapPI

His official website: http://www.georgebenson.com/