AIR (+AM)
Toulouse, 10th June 2010
(By Maud)
The night started with the support artist, the singer-songwriter AM which was good enough to make me wait for AIR patiently. His songs were sweet and soft, and kind of sounded "scandinavian" to my ears. It can't be a bad thing, eh? So there he was on stage, which two other guys, including a drummer with fantastic hair. He was playing guitar and ukulele with great ease. (Check out his songs on spotify.) He made quite an impression on me, so much that I decided to try to interview him after the gig.
When Air entered the stage, I saw only three figures walking on the floor instead of the usual five of the previous tour.
I dread a more minimalist set than usual but it did not happen. It was quite the opposite actually, and that's what fascinated me more than ever.
The concert started with the haunting guitar riff of Do The Joy. From the first moment, I was carried away by the sweet voice of Jean-Benoit Dunckel, ideally placed in front of me.
Some small problems of keyboards' tuning somewhat disturbed the song but what can one say? My ear usually so delicate overcame this fact: they were here, on stage, smiling and full of grace. Their music is a sophisticate mixture of ethereal lightness and enamored melancholy, as shown by the jazzy So Light is Her Footfall that followed. Air plays electronic music with analog instruments providing them with this delicate and vintage hint that they handle so well. I was amazed by their musical abilities, their presence, charisma, when they were just being here, here, in front of us.
They moved on with the sweet Love with its rhythmic offbeat and haunting vocals. I had a beatific smile on my lips in front of so much beauty. The choruses whirled, intermingled and created an alive symphony that has not stopped haunting me since then. The Versailles' duo thanked us warmly at the end of each song in their own way, without pretentiousness, without blowups, without pomposity nor embellishment, but with some distance and a great class. For if AIR is probably the most recognized French band abroad, these two guys nonetheless know how to keep it simple and very humble when they could take advantage of their talent for less honourable purposes. No, they are natural and so human. Two people like the ones that could cross the street next to you, except that they are great.
After three songs from their latest album, Love 2, they went back to their roots with a Remember chanted on the vocoder by Nicolas Godin. The refrain of Venus and its so naively innocent lyrics are still tormenting me right now. The ethereal voices blended in within the synth layers were sending me waves of palpitations. I was driven by a mute joy that could, with no doubt, be read on my face. I was moving in slow-motion to the rhythm of the bass riff.
The sequence 10,000 Hz Legend-ish People in the City / Don't be light / Radian was just perfect. The saturate bass riff of Don't be light, coming along with a hypnotic set of lights and their voices without vocoder made their music much more human and less remote. Their music is so complex and yet they played with astonishing and disconcerting ease. It was really impressive, I must admit.
Jean-Benoit made a quick comment on the weather and the heat in Toulouse before starting Radian and its half-psychedelic, half-ecstatic riff. I had the impression of being on drugs. I wonder if music can ever dilate your pupils? Enough joking. The sound was nothing simpler than on the album. Without samples, without computers, they managed to reproduce a musical ensemble without any hollow, and this, while being only three. They were almost static on stage, always very quiet, which compelled respect. Unflinching when a girl shouted a gorgeous "take it off!" (classy!), Mr. Dunckel did not even look away from his keyboard but gave a hint of a simple shy smile. Cherry Blossom Girl caused quite an excitement within the audience. The live version, slightly different from the one on Talkie Walkie highlighted the acoustic guitar and Jean-Benoit's fragile voice (it was beautiful, touching, I wanted more!)
Nicolas introduced Alpha Beta Gaga by encouraging us to whistle along with him. The heat reminded him how the song had been written some years ago, on a corner table in only a few minutes. The first part of the set ended with an electric and enlightening version of Kelly Watch the Stars.
After several minutes of shouting, of "oohooohoooooh"s, of slapping feet and clapping in hands, they finally came back on stage with Heaven's Light and its melancholic refrain. The lyrics are surprisingly simple but show a highly sensitive meaning. They finally moved on with Sexy Boy and it was ecstasy within the audience from the first notes! The bodies were waddling, the hair winging, the butts wiggling. The gig ended with a wild version of La Femme d'Argent that never stopped extending. The atmosphere was at its peak. The band was more than praised and kept on praising, themselves, their audience.
I'm thrilled, it was my fourth AIR concert and still, they managed to make me admit their scenic greatness once again, they managed to amaze me, they managed to give me goosebumps.
After the gig, I socialized a little bit with AM and stay tuned, you'll probably read an interview of him on our pages soon!
Do the Joy
So light is her footfall
Love
Remember
Venus
J'ai dormi sous l'eau
Missing the light
Tropical disease
People in the city
Don't be light
Radian
Cherry Blossom Girl
Be a bee
Talisman
How does it make you feel
Alpha Beta Gaga
Kelly watch the stars
***
Heaven's light
Sexy boy
La femme d'argent
Our pictures from the gig
AM
AIR
AM
The night started with the support artist, the singer-songwriter AM which was good enough to make me wait for AIR patiently. His songs were sweet and soft, and kind of sounded "scandinavian" to my ears. It can't be a bad thing, eh? So there he was on stage, which two other guys, including a drummer with fantastic hair. He was playing guitar and ukulele with great ease. (Check out his songs on spotify.) He made quite an impression on me, so much that I decided to try to interview him after the gig.
AIR
When Air entered the stage, I saw only three figures walking on the floor instead of the usual five of the previous tour.
I dread a more minimalist set than usual but it did not happen. It was quite the opposite actually, and that's what fascinated me more than ever.
The concert started with the haunting guitar riff of Do The Joy. From the first moment, I was carried away by the sweet voice of Jean-Benoit Dunckel, ideally placed in front of me.
Some small problems of keyboards' tuning somewhat disturbed the song but what can one say? My ear usually so delicate overcame this fact: they were here, on stage, smiling and full of grace. Their music is a sophisticate mixture of ethereal lightness and enamored melancholy, as shown by the jazzy So Light is Her Footfall that followed. Air plays electronic music with analog instruments providing them with this delicate and vintage hint that they handle so well. I was amazed by their musical abilities, their presence, charisma, when they were just being here, here, in front of us.
They moved on with the sweet Love with its rhythmic offbeat and haunting vocals. I had a beatific smile on my lips in front of so much beauty. The choruses whirled, intermingled and created an alive symphony that has not stopped haunting me since then. The Versailles' duo thanked us warmly at the end of each song in their own way, without pretentiousness, without blowups, without pomposity nor embellishment, but with some distance and a great class. For if AIR is probably the most recognized French band abroad, these two guys nonetheless know how to keep it simple and very humble when they could take advantage of their talent for less honourable purposes. No, they are natural and so human. Two people like the ones that could cross the street next to you, except that they are great.
After three songs from their latest album, Love 2, they went back to their roots with a Remember chanted on the vocoder by Nicolas Godin. The refrain of Venus and its so naively innocent lyrics are still tormenting me right now. The ethereal voices blended in within the synth layers were sending me waves of palpitations. I was driven by a mute joy that could, with no doubt, be read on my face. I was moving in slow-motion to the rhythm of the bass riff.
The sequence 10,000 Hz Legend-ish People in the City / Don't be light / Radian was just perfect. The saturate bass riff of Don't be light, coming along with a hypnotic set of lights and their voices without vocoder made their music much more human and less remote. Their music is so complex and yet they played with astonishing and disconcerting ease. It was really impressive, I must admit.
Jean-Benoit made a quick comment on the weather and the heat in Toulouse before starting Radian and its half-psychedelic, half-ecstatic riff. I had the impression of being on drugs. I wonder if music can ever dilate your pupils? Enough joking. The sound was nothing simpler than on the album. Without samples, without computers, they managed to reproduce a musical ensemble without any hollow, and this, while being only three. They were almost static on stage, always very quiet, which compelled respect. Unflinching when a girl shouted a gorgeous "take it off!" (classy!), Mr. Dunckel did not even look away from his keyboard but gave a hint of a simple shy smile. Cherry Blossom Girl caused quite an excitement within the audience. The live version, slightly different from the one on Talkie Walkie highlighted the acoustic guitar and Jean-Benoit's fragile voice (it was beautiful, touching, I wanted more!)
Nicolas introduced Alpha Beta Gaga by encouraging us to whistle along with him. The heat reminded him how the song had been written some years ago, on a corner table in only a few minutes. The first part of the set ended with an electric and enlightening version of Kelly Watch the Stars.
After several minutes of shouting, of "oohooohoooooh"s, of slapping feet and clapping in hands, they finally came back on stage with Heaven's Light and its melancholic refrain. The lyrics are surprisingly simple but show a highly sensitive meaning. They finally moved on with Sexy Boy and it was ecstasy within the audience from the first notes! The bodies were waddling, the hair winging, the butts wiggling. The gig ended with a wild version of La Femme d'Argent that never stopped extending. The atmosphere was at its peak. The band was more than praised and kept on praising, themselves, their audience.
I'm thrilled, it was my fourth AIR concert and still, they managed to make me admit their scenic greatness once again, they managed to amaze me, they managed to give me goosebumps.
After the gig, I socialized a little bit with AM and stay tuned, you'll probably read an interview of him on our pages soon!
Setlist
Do the Joy
So light is her footfall
Love
Remember
Venus
J'ai dormi sous l'eau
Missing the light
Tropical disease
People in the city
Don't be light
Radian
Cherry Blossom Girl
Be a bee
Talisman
How does it make you feel
Alpha Beta Gaga
Kelly watch the stars
***
Heaven's light
Sexy boy
La femme d'argent
Links
Our pictures from the gig
AM
AIR
