01/Feature
Oxygen in Moscow
Jean Michel Jarre dazzles over three million people in Moscow for the city’s 850th anniversary celebrations
Jean Michel Jarre is internationally acclaimed for his unique concerts. He has transformed entire cities around the world over the past fifteen years. In Paris, China, Houston and London Docklands he has astounded the millions who flock to witness his shows, with his unique ability to fuse his state-of-the-art music with the latest in multimedia technology, creating a complete spectacular.
The French musician chose the Russian capital of Moscow as the location for his most recent concert, a celebration of the 850th anniversary of the city. The celebrations were one of 1997's greatest cultural events on the planet and it was therefore natural that Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov commissioned Jean Michel Jarre to orchestrate the showpiece of the celebrations.
On September 6th 1997, part of the Moscow city skyline was transformed by the vision of Jean Michel Jarre, where he used experiences from previous city-scale concerts to visually and musically stun a record live audience of three and a half million. He created and devised a unique musical and visual experience especially for the people of Moscow, designed to give the city a vision for the future as they prepared for the third millennium.
In a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday August 19th 1997, hosted by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Jean Michel Jarre presented his plans for the show to the world's media.
Jarre explained, "It has been a personal dream of mine for a long time to perform in Moscow, because of the architecture and the relationship I've had with the Russian audience since my first album, Oxygene. I really wanted to create a special event around this idea of Oxygen in Moscow. This whole project, a multi-media concert will be in front of one of the most amazing buildings in the world."
The nucleus of the performance was the Moscow State University, an ornate Stalin-commissioned building, towering into the capital's sky with 32 stories, reaching almost 800 feet high. Tapping into every available form of technology, Jean Michel Jarre used the stunning architecture as the backdrop for the show and transformed the entire building using the latest in multi-media artistry. Jarre explained why he had chosen this particular location, enthusing, "It is one of the most amazing buildings in the world. It is very symbolic, the university is obviously linked with the men and women who have forged the history of Russia and also it is linked to the youth and the future of Moscow."
The facade of the building was used as a giant projection screen, transmitting Jarre's unique vision of Moscow. It was bought to life by choreography of oversized graphics and cutting-edge lighting techniques. Giant beams of light emanated from around the entire building, reaching far into the sky, synchronised with the music on stage, positioned just in front of the University.
Such was the scale of the event, the University formed only part of the concert. Spectacular pyrotechnics were integrated into the show, again synchronised with the images on the screens. The production gave the audience the ultimate multi-media experience, in a one-off two hour event.
It was no coincidence that Jean Michel Jarre was commissioned to produce the concert after his past performances. He has a glittering history of similar-sized concerts and it was these that came to the Mayor's attention. "I was given a video tape of one of Jean Michel Jarre's previous shows," explained Yuri Luzhkov, "and I fell in love with what I saw. This show will be the central event, the highlight of the three day festivities. He is marrying these elements and will make it a reality."
Jarre is no stranger to staging these huge concerts but he saw Moscow as the biggest challenge yet, stating, "It is the most ambitious project that I've ever been involved with. First of all, the sheer magnitude of the event. The stage is actually a building of the University itself. It is also a project that has to be tailor-made for the occasion, integrating a lot of elements from the history of Moscow. It also has to be perceived by the whole of Moscow, not just the people in front of the stage."
The Moscow concert showcased new techniques never used before in outdoor concert production. It was a truly ground-breaking performance, "I'm going to use new techniques such as live video effects on stage," Jarre enthused, continuing, "It is going to be conceived for television as well as the live audience. It is going to be broadcast all over the world."
Oxygen in Moscow evoked many different themes throughout the show, both through the music and the dazzling array of imagery. Jean Michel Jarre wanted to make the show unique to Russia and the City of Moscow. He has the innate ability to absorb the essence of a particular environment and culture and integrate what he finds into his shows. "For inspiration, I have taken the architecture, random elements such as Byzantine art, the space exploration that has been linked with Moscow and Russia. When we talk about the MIR space station, the whole world is focused on Moscow for this real adventure. Also the literature, painters and graphics that have been developed in the city for almost a century."
But how does a French man come to be so involved in Russian culture ? "I have a bit of Russian blood as my great grandfather was Russian," Jarre revealed, "but as we all know it is not necessary for that to be aware of the history of the city of a country. I've been interested and involved in Russian history for a long time. When I was asked to do this project, it became a true genuine priority in my life. It is a challenge for an artist to try to integrate some elements from Moscow, to be able to convey, with my own tools and Russian artists and technicians, what Moscow means to history in a poetic way."
Yuri Luzhkov was clearly delighted about the prospect of Oxygen in Moscow, remarking, "Jean Michel Jarre is a wonderful composer and he is inviting us to look into the 21st century. This show will be his perception of mankind and will contain the most important elements of our culture."
For Oxygen in Moscow, each composition throughout the show represented something different in the history of the city and the country, ranging from Napoleon and the Tsars through to the Bolchoï and Space. One moment the entire skyline was transformed into a Gotham City-style scene, dark and mysterious with Jean Michel Jarre moving amongst the huge shadows and the next, the skyline metamorphosed into a brilliant, dazzling array of colour and light. The audience travelled on this visual and musical rollercoaster for two hours, created for one night only with Jarre's vision of Moscow.
In keeping with the Moscow link, the show included many local artists. The ex-Red Army choir joined Jean Michel Jarre on stage for Rendezvous II, as well the young Bolchoï dancers, the Children of Popov and many more... He also re-arranged some of his pieces of music, "I have made special arrangements, re-orchestrations for the show, including traditional Russian instruments such as trombones and choirs. The show will be a real fusion of all the elements."
The show was an explosive occasion. Tons of fireworks were integrated into the show, triggered from Jean Michel Jarre's keyboards for complete real-time synchronisation. With a huge variety of pyrotechnics, the whole of Moscow was integrated into the performance, including aerial bombs that lit up over one square kilometre each, released from Russian military aircraft.
A true civic event, the show was free for all and over one million people congregated in front of the University, but given the location on the Vorobiovy Hill, over two million more viewed the spectacle from all over the historic city. Millions more saw part of the show broadcast live on Russian television during a fifteen minute link-up. More than 5,000 VIPs, including many key political figures from around the world, were present at the event, in specially constructed seating in front of the stage.
Jarre's spectacular events have attracted record-breaking audiences, gaining him two entries in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest attendance figures ever. His concert at Place de la Concorde in Paris attracted over one million people and his first concert in the USA to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the City of Houston attracted an audience of 1.3 million people. This was one of the most spectacular concerts in the history of music - the concert in Moscow bettered all shows seen so far.
Jarre commented on the inspiration behind these ground-breaking shows, "I like creating huge one-night circuses, where skyscrapers rear up like dazzled urban animals, where architects and prima donna’s rub shoulders in the wings with mountain climbers, laser harp and firework experts, Arabian lutes and computers, taggers, French horns and policemen."
Was it Jarre's Russian blood that drew him to Moscow for his latest extravaganza? Whatever it was, the people of the city of Moscow will look upon their ornate architecture in a different light now it has been touched by the vision of Jean Michel Jarre.
Photographs by Christine Ferreira and Mark Gidley
02/Interview
Jean Michel Jarre
Jean Michel Jarre and his team discuss the Moscow project, his personal doubts about the project and also his feelings about Moscow itself.
Jean Michel Jarre has travelled all over the world to stage his one-off spectaculars. He has talked about wanting to stage a show in Moscow for many years but it wasn’t until 1997 that he succeeded in his dream.
“Moscow is definitely the place to be today.” Jarre explained, “It is like Tokyo fifteen years ago or Los Angeles twenty-five years ago. It is like the Wild West, you have businessmen, Mafia, designers, architects, techno music, a true genuine renaissance. It is like suddenly they are opening the window and don't know how to cope with freedom.
“When asked by the city of Moscow to do this outdoor concert for the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the city, it seemed obvious that the university site would be ideal.”
Jean Michel Jarre’s wife, Charlotte Rampling, was clear about the project, “It seemed like the logical step to be in Moscow now. He didn't push it at all, he said, 'If it is going to happen, it'll happen. I'm not going to push it, I'm not going to control it. If Moscow is to be, it'll be.' And that's how it happened.”
However, before the show it was obvious that Jean Michel was not presuming anything about the concert going ahead. When you arrive in Moscow, you realise nothing is easy to achieve here, not even the simplest of things.
“What is really different in this country is nothing is logical or straightforward.” Jarre explained, “Things can happen or they will not happen at all. I tried not to think too much about it because otherwise it is the most scary thing. The most frightening thing about a project that you are working with and you are living with day after day, night after night is that maybe at the last minute something will happen and maybe this concert won't happen.”
However, there was real momentum to stage the concert in Moscow. It was supported by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the Russian promoter Artyom Borovik knew exactly why the show should go ahead after seeing his Paris show in 1995.
“I saw Jean Michel's concert in Paris with the planes and the whole event and I wanted to do the same thing for Moscow.” Borovik reasoned, continuing, “Moscow is very different from the rest of Russia, some people even say that it is a State within a State. It is very different, the level of life, the salaries and the amount of money in Moscow is very different from the rest of Russia.”
Very different it may be but it is obvious that you are still in Eastern Europe and still in Russia. Even for a star like Jarre, he still feels it.
“As you travel through Moscow you still have a feeling of being followed,” Jarre explained, “the old KGB rules still seem to apply. The citizens of Moscow, their faces, their attitudes, show people that have been through a lot. I wondered how a man like Theremin stayed faithful to his music, after so much personal depression.”
Production Manager, Roger Abriol, a member of Jarre’s team for many years, and worked on shows as diverse as La Defense and London’s Docklands, still cites Moscow as the most challenging. “I think that this concert is the most difficult one because of the size, take the size of the stage, for instance, it is the biggest one we could find in Europe.”
Roger Abriol knows Jarre well and has huge respect for him and knows him as someone who doesn’t distance himself from any aspect of the production. “He is very involved with everyone in the team, involved with the graphics, the lasers, the light programming. You can see him walking almost a mile away, listening to the PA.”
As Production Manager, Abriol was in charge of negotiating with the Russian authorities for the resources that they needed for to put the show together and in Moscow, when you want something, you sometimes have to talk to an infinite number of people to get it. So, when you want something like a helicopter, this proves a major challenge.
“Some lights we couldn't put directly onto the roof so we are obliged to lift it with a helicopter. For the moment, we expect it to be here at 2pm. To be honest, we expected the helicopter at 2pm yesterday, we also expected it at 9am this morning and now it is postponed. I think we will have it at 2pm!”
“Something changed in my relationship with a lot of Russian people.” reflected Jarre after the Moscow show, “This mixture of land art, street art, rock concert, multimedia event, it fits somehow with the Russian mentality. They are very committed to the project because they feel it is not just my project but also their project. I always presented this project as a project couldn't succeed without them and by the end of the day, I would say that the star is not myself but Moscow.”
It has been a personal dream of mine for a long time to perform in Moscow. It is the most ambitious project that I've ever been involved with.
03/Feature
An eye-witness recollection of the concert
To the millions of proud Muscovites who gathered in front of their city's magnificent university on September 6th 1997, they may well have pondered on the paradox of inviting a French musician to conduct the ultimate celebration for their city's 850th anniversary. However, two hours later, after the last note had sounded from Jarre's keyboard and the final firework had burst high into the night sky, they could have been left in little doubt as to why Jean Michel Jarre had been chosen.
No other artist can embrace, assimilate and spectacularly interpret the cultural heritage of an audience and so captivate them as Jean Michel Jarre. Oxygen in Moscow, a perfect symbiosis between Jarre's architecturally inspired multimedia spectacles and the Moscow State University, a symbolic link itself between the past, the present and the future, from the intellectual pioneers of yesterday through to the Leon Theremins' of tomorrow.
From the moment the Russian military soared over the audience, discharging bouquets of fireworks from their Sukhoi 275 planes, signalling the commencement of the show, it was obvious to all that this would be a night Moscow would never forget. The very image of Russian jets firing a barrage of pyrotechnics not in anger, but in celebration, was a hugely symbolic gesture reaffirming (if needed), that the only Cold War being fought that evening was the audience's personal battle against the icy Siberian temperatures.
Fantastic Universe
With huge bursting shells, Rendezvous 2 commenced with a grandiose opening complete with the choir of the Red Army provided choral back-up as a Gotham City-like façade lit up the central tower of the University.
Beautifully choreographed fireworks rose majestically in sequence initially from the sides of the stage, then above the entrance to the University, from there to the main structure and finally from high up the central cover, as if illustrating the multi-dimensional backdrop through progressive waves of fire. As show director Christian Bourret explained previously, "We don't make Bastille Day everyday, we want them to fit with the pictures. They must fit into the concept." Certainly, throughout the concert there were numerous examples illustrating this very point. Comets of fire soared from the University as skytrackers pulsated in time to the baroque symphony being played below them.
Byzantine Art and Tsars
The imagery used throughout the concert seamlessly combined both Russian iconography with key images and graphics from previous Jarre concerts. Ethnicolor featured Byzantine art, gilded church domes, Russian Orthodox icons and the Tolerance symbols of the triangle, circle and square on stage. Golden fingers of fire shot glistening tableaux into the night sky mirroring the Byzantine art represented on the University.
On stage, six Russian trombones played in harmony with Jean Michel Jarre, whilst images of Einstein, Alexander the Great and Roublov covered the entire architecture.
Minin and Pozharsky and Folklore
Equinoxe 7 highlighted the architecture of the University as the floodlighting danced in sections with the sky trackers piercing the night proudly. Minin and Pozharsky - a historic moment in the history of Moscow, symbolising the patriotic spirit of Russia.
With an enquiry in Russian of 'Are you cold ?', Jean Michel Jarre instigated the audience in clapping along to Chronologie 6. Visually, a radically different interpretation from the provocatively sexy images used for Europe in Concert, instead we had Russian dolls, galloping rocking horses, naïve drawings and folklore figures.
Napoleon 1812
Magnetic Fields 1 featured Napoleonic images scrolling all around, as the historic 1812 battle is fought with glorious red fireworks, dominating the skyline - Moscow is on fire. Roy Bennett's stage lighting provides a blindingly brilliant centre-piece from which Moscow burns with flames and huge bombs.
Fireworks explode, reminding the crowd of explosions and gun fire. A mesmerising demonstration of light, imagery, music and pyrotechnics, audacious - bold, brilliant in its execution. It would have made a worthy finale were it not for the fact that the people of Moscow had a further fourteen tracks to savour !
Revolt
A full-throttle version of Oxygene 11 evoked the revolutionist movements of 1917 with Russian cinema style images of machine workers, sailors and battleships sounding the rallying cry, all in the style of Russian cinema. A superb piece of music to illustrate the urgency and the powerful significance of the stark images projected for all of Moscow to see.
A Tribute
… "She was a friend. She was young, she was beautiful, she was generous. And she was also a rebel princess. And we're all going to miss her." Sentiments echoed throughout the world, spoken by Jean Michel Jarre in front of a audience of millions. Following a moving silent tribute to Princess Diana, Jean Michel enshrouded in a laser cone effect proceeded to perform a beautifully sombre rendition of Souvenir of China.
Heroes and Space
Equinoxe 4 lifts the sadness with the skytrackers' intensity literally lighting the darkness. Once again, the 'slinkies' strut their stuff as soaring gold and red comets celebrate gloriously. We are reminded of the heroic resistance of the Muscovites during the Second World War.
Oxygene 7 was dedicated to the Russian Space Odyssey. Following a direct connection with the cosmonauts on the Mir Space Station, a symbol of international scientific co-operation, Jarre's laser harp unfolded, sending its glowing beams high and wide. Beautiful silver probes of sparklingly fire were launched in identical fan arrangements as astronauts, and planets and lunar landscapes explored the façade of the University.
If you thought this track was spectacular indoors as it opened the Oxygene Tour, you would quite plausibly have been rendered speechless by their outdoor interpretation.
Science
Oxygene 10 featured, of course, the Theremin, played in front of the inventor's fellow countrymen. A tribute to Soviet technology and Soviet discovery, Jarre manipulated the eerie, ethereal instrument with verve and vigour. Against a oscilloscope projection covering the University scrolled scientific formulae, notably O2 and H2O, eyes opened wide on the University as a counting hand projection mirrored the vigorous movement of Jarre's as he really put the Theremin through it’s paces ! Innovation and intellectualism, the Theremin, having travelled throughout Europe came back to its spiritual home.
Literature
Oxygene 2 opened with a new introduction, a Phillip Glass-like sequence of rising and falling notes before the familiar sounds soared through. Literature was the theme with Russian texts projected onto the University, transforming the University into a vast outdoor library. A celebration of Russian authors, Pushkin, Tolstoi, Majkovski, Boulgakov and Solgenitsyne, the track once more invited Muscovites to revel in the glories of Russian achievements.
Bolchoi
From Literature to Ballet and in particular the Bolshoi, as dancers pirouetted on the video screen to the frenetic ballet of Magnetic Fields 2. Amid a curtain projection, an animated figure danced high up on the central tower whilst the sky trackers performed their own manoeuvres in the heavens.
Nature
Penguins, tropical fish and butterflies danced upon a backdrop of leaves and sunflowers to the hymn of nature and life, Oxygene 4 or Oxygen in Moscow as Jarre proclaimed. Considering the climate, all these elements seemed remarkably well acclimatised to their new surroundings. Perhaps the infectious theme had something to do with this.
Olympic Spirit
Chronologie 4 blasted out images illustrating the Olympic Spirit, with both laser and projected men striving for gold on the University's façade. A stunning display of pyrotechnics enforced the sporting achievements of Russian athletes with huge colourful medallions exploding, like pyrotechnical awards in the ceremony in the sky.
Peace and the Future
A soaring anthem to the human spirit of determination and dedication, and followed by the equally inspiring Oxygene 8. Peace and reconciliation exude from the music as Moscow dances to its thumping beat. Oxygene 12 illustrates optimism for the future. As years date from the year 1997 to 2000 and beyond, the cycle of life plays on the video screens on stage. A baby surrounded by bubbles of oxygen surveys the future from high up on the central tower. As the scrolling years reach 2025 and onwards, huge kaleidoscopic barrages of fireworks explode like thunderous birthday candles accompanying the birthday cake of the Moscow University. Again a worthy climax but, not yet, we have Revolution and Rendezvous yet to come …
Youth
The Youth of Moscow rave to the anthem of Revolution whilst the megaphoned lyrics are projected onto the University, with a huge 'No' responding on the central tower, the marionettes from La Defense answer the calling and join rank alongside the leader of this Revolution. Frenetic lighting stirs up the emotions and to the accompaniment of sampled chants, the night is once more ablaze with heat and fire. An awesome finale of light and sound incite frenzy before the front of the stage catches fire with a line of Roman candles erupting sparks.
Moscow
A brief pause for breath sees Jarre introduce his fellow musicians as hearts and minds are desperately trying to cope with this sensory overload.
Rendezvous 4 is announced by blasts on Jarre's air-horn and festivities recommence with more intensity than before, with the Kremlin projected onto the University, lasers, skytrackers and a colossal bombardment of fireworks celebrate Moscow's 850th anniversary. "Happy Anniversary, Moscow" announces Jarre.
Finale
The City and the Country of Renaissance is given Oxygene 13 as a dedicated finale with Mockba emblazoned on its University. Magnesium waterfalls cascade down like metallic rivers of silver tears, tears not of sorrow but of celebration and hope for the future. Oxygen in Moscow - Optimism in Moscow.
A landmark for Moscow and a triumph for Jean Michel Jarre. The concert evoked memories of previous experiences. From the West to the East, from Rendezvous Houston, the Concert for the Pope in Lyon, La Defense, the Concert for Tolerance, and the Oxygene Tour, elements from each married into one, and much, much more. It truly demonstrated for me, that as Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage", for Jean Michel Jarre this is truly the case for "… this marvellous composer, the composer for the 21st Century" (Yuri Luzhkov, Mayor of Moscow).
Recollection by Paul Worts
04/Interview
Gary Westcott
Lighting Designer
We speak to Gary Westcott, co-designer of the stunning lighting effects for both Moscow and the Oxygene Tour.
On your role in the Moscow show
My involvement was as co-designer and assistant director to Roy Bennett and the Jarre project began with Christian Bourret and David Bowie. I have worked on various shows and projects with Christian since the mid-80's and he recommended to Jean Michel that he should look towards Roy and myself to help with his new concept and production. Coincidentally, Jean Michel had been to see the show I designed for David Bowie at the Bercy in November 85 and was suitably impressed to ask Christian for the same designer.
We began the project for the Oxygene concert tour in February 97 and produced a design by liaising between Jean Michel, Christian, Roy and myself. We realised the potential of the non vocal and multi-musical aspect of Jean Michel's music, which actually allowed a wider scope of choices for imagery and dynamics to enhance the music.
This kind of concert is a lot more difficult as it is necessary to create more emotion with the lighting and effects as there isn't a story-line vocal for the audience to concentrate on, and so one has to create themes in the effects to entice the viewers. As the music of Jean Michel Jarre is in a type of landscape, so is the stage set and environment we try to create.
On how Moscow differs from usual concerts
The Moscow show was a great challenge from the standard type of stadium show that we are normally involved with. The size of the area is considerably larger and the décor is there by choice rather than design, which can be an obstacle.
The lighting equipment had to be airlifted onto the roof as it was far too large for the elevators and access to the towers was very difficult. The Moscow town council had to supply new curtains for all the dormitories and classrooms in the University and get all the students to put them up and close them.
There were a lot of windows, over one thousand on the projection side of the building!
Due the size of the backdrop and building, placing all the equipment also takes a lot more time to organise. For example, where to place the lighting units and power distribution, as this has never been tried before and everyone had to liaise with the local crews and council.
The real difference was to discover just how many people were in attendance during the concert. It not often that one does a show in front of three and a half million people.
ON HOW the dynamics of the University BUILDING INFLUENCED THE LIGHTING DESIGN
The University as a monument, one of Stalin's six buildings that surround the City of Moscow, a sign of his power and strength over the Russian people, is a foreboding structure and testament to the great architects of this bygone era. The style of the building was a definite inspiration to us.
The columns behind Jarre's stage were an obvious choice of backdrop and made for some interesting depth effects, lighting inside the doorway and the columns created an interesting 3D canvas as a backdrop. We used the column colours and effects as a direct reference to the rest of the façade and tower lighting so that it created a theme throughout the spectacle.
We used the basis of the original Oxygene tour program and design for the system as the time-scale didn't allow for a complete re-think or re-design. The program was then adjusted to the scale of the area and new stage. We re-designed the screen area and how to interface the drops with the dancers and special guests involved in the concert. This allowed a better and bigger projection area for JC Deep's video
On working with Jean Michel Jarre
Working with Jean Michel Jarre is an interesting learning experience as he is the leader in the large scale 'Cityscape' type of spectacular, the inventor of this kind of public performance, and in this he is an authority, so it was a learning experience for me to work with someone who has more perception than usual.
It is a bonus being involved with someone whose career is steeped in rich textural visual concepts and knows how to achieve it. This sort of collaboration is unique. It was also a pleasure working with an artist who is not just a musical innovator to a generation of young synthesiser musicians, but also a very intelligent and aware person. He is talented in many aspects, as a humanitarian, an ambassador for his country, an innovator in music technologies and a really nice guy who is a part of the team.
My involvement was a labour of love, as I was working with long-time friends, Christian Bourret and Roy Bennett, in a very friendly artistic atmosphere.
05/Interview
Francis Rimbert
Musician
We speak to musician Francis Rimbert about his Moscow adventure
On the memories and souvenirs you brought back from Moscow
To me, the Moscow Concert was one of these "French Commando" missions which Jean Michel is so good at. We had just completed the first part of our European Indoor Tour, and we had just really got that cracked. For this concert, however, it was a case of almost starting all over again and dedicating ourselves totally to this new adventure. Jean Michel could have contented himself to simply transposing the Tour program to Moscow, but those who know him will recognise that this is not his style. Even during the tour, he was already thinking about a new album, and soon started recording sessions to experiment with new sounds, and new arrangements in a more techno style.
I had not felt as touched by a site since first visiting Houston when we saw the Moscow location, in front of the monumental university building. The first time I climbed on stage, it was an enormous emotional shock. When you find yourself confronted with the enormous square, that you put your hands on the keyboard and the boss counts down to the kick-off, you believe that anything is possible - and it was. From the quality of the sound mixing (down to the eternally youthful Renaud Letang) to Jean Michel's stage management, everything came together to make an evening that was the most memorable of all the tour.
ON stories abouT experiences in Moscow you’d like to share
One evening, Jean Michel organised an evening out for all the team in a superb Moscow restaurant. He wanted to say thank you to all of those who had been part of this adventure. We ended up surrounded by glasses of vodka (lots of it), listening to the sound of Russian violins in the most pure Russian tradition. When you realise the pressure that organising this sort of show puts on you, it was great that 'the little guy from Lyon' was still up to organising an evening out for us all.
I also have a vivid memory of the Migs who, during the rehearsals were amusing themselves by performing acrobatics just above our stage in a thunder of jet engines. These Russian Pilots are mad! The "Patrouille de France" who did a fly-by at the Eiffel Tower concert were far more sensible…
On the freezing cold weather
It was not easy. Mind you, it was far worse for the Russian ballerinas… Irrespective, I await the call from Jean Michel to signal the start of the next French "Music Commando" raid!
06/Feature
A not quite so VIP entrance
Have you ever had the feeling that things are not quite going to plan ? Put yourself on a hired Pink Russian bus along with representatives from the world’s media and try driving through three and a half million people ...
Earlier, everything seemed to be ideal. We had managed to get ourselves on Sony Music’s bus to the Moscow show, with seats in the VIP area waiting for us at the concert site. We had enjoyed an afternoon at a five star American-styled hotel, where Jean Michel Jarre and his crew were also staying, and were really looking forward to arriving at the concert site in comfort with plenty of time to spare before ‘showtime’.
We met up in the foyer of the hotel at around 6pm. There were representatives from both Sony Music and the media from around the world including Germany, Holland, Japan and Greece. A (pink) bus arrived on time and we were sat down for the, we thought, short drive to the concert site. Unfortunately, it turned out that the driver was a replacement for the original driver who was ill and had been carrying vital information as to how to get to the site and through the various security checks.
To cut a long story short, the first checkpoint we got to was our last. The driver didn’t have the correct pass for that particular checkpoint and no amount of laminated passes being flashed at the armed security would persuade them to let us through. After an hour or so of waiting for the right pass to turn up, the bus turned off and headed straight into the nearest traffic jam (to this day, I still can’t figure out why he did that!). So that was it, we were all now on foot and mingling amongst three and a half million Muscovites.
The area around the University is surrounded by thick trees and so it is not easy to tell where you are in relation to the University. Thankfully, we had been at the concert site the previous evening so recognised certain landmarks. As 8pm approached, we got more and more anxious about reaching the site on time.
We had a number of Sony and media people in tow, as we seemed the only people who had any idea where the stage area was. We received a couple of calls on our phone during this time, one notably from Jean Michel Jarre’s manager enquiring to the whereabouts of their VIP’s!
More by luck than judgement, we hit upon a way in - the immediate problem was persuading the Red Army soldiers (hundreds of them) who were surrounding the area to let us through. The concert was starting and we were faced with hundreds of soldiers, none of whom seemed to speak English. After much sign language, we were directed to a soldier with ‘three stars on his soldiers’ who allowed us in, remarking “You are somewhat late, to my mind”. He was absolutely right, as the flypast heralding the start of the show had already passed overhead and we could hear Rendezvous 2 echoing through the trees. After an undignified scramble through the trees and undergrowth, avoiding the other soldiers with Alsatians dotted around, we finally made it to the VIP enclosure just as the first track was ending.
I shall never forget the feeling of relief when I stumbled out of the trees to see the concert in full swing. I now know what people feel like when they reach on oasis in the desert!
After the show, we realised we were now minus one Pink bus and so had no transport back to the hotel. Backstage was a hive of activity, everyone exclaiming how great the show had been and there was general consensus that it was the most impressive and complete show to date.
Just as we had resigned ourselves to walking back, we found a minibus with a driver who could drive us back (the advantage of having a native-speaker in the party). The way back was a real eye-opener, thousands of people walking through the streets, trams crammed full of people, people hanging from the roofs and sides.
At the aftershow party, the musicians remarked how they had been stranded at the University after the show, apparently their minibus had mysteriously gone missing ...
07/Gallery
Photography
The night as it was photographed.
08/Gallery
Artwork
The show's marks and motifs.
This piece is about
