Jean Michel Jarre to light up Zalgiris Arena

  • 2011-10-12
  • By TBT Staff

LASER POWER: This highly acclaimed artist brings his collection of sounds to the Kaunas stage.

KAUNAS - The legendary French composer, multi-instrumentalist and author of the most ambitious shows in the world - Jean Michel Jarre - will on Oct. 16 perform at the new Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas. This concert is included in the artist’s 2011 world tour and will be the only concert in the Baltic countries.

As usual, the musician’s team will arrive with all the necessary sound and light equipment to provide a unique show for the Baltic audience. Knowing Jean Michel Jarre’s extremely high standards of technical quality for his performances, there is no doubt that the symbiosis of original music, powerful lasers and video projection will not disappoint any electronic music lover.
Jarre’s latest album, “Essentials and Rarities,” which the current tour is based on, was released on May 30 this year. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that this collection includes not only well known artist’s compositions, but also those which were composed before the world-wide-known “Oxygene” album. Thus, with one concert in Kaunas, the audience will be able to live through all the major stages of Jarre’s creative work.

Jean Michel Jarre (born in 1948) first came to international fame in 1977 with his number one hit album, “Oxygene,” which went on to sell over 12 million copies worldwide.
This artist, fairly considered a pioneer in the electronic music field, has largely contributed to the fastest growing musical revolution of the 20th century, through conceiving music in terms of sounds rather than only in terms of notes, and thus allowing the composer to become his own craftsman.

Having followed formal studies of harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire de Paris, he was inspired to reinvent music at its core, with his own singular vision, deploying the technology and tools of his epoch.
Following through with his revolution in music, he also conceived a brand-new genre and format of concerts: breaking away from the traditional theater and arena context, Jarre brought his music and vision outdoors to the masses. Often free and open-to-all, these state-of-the-art concert-spectaculars showcase the natural or urban environment in which they are performed – a truly singular sonic and visual “land-art” event, conceived and performed on a unique scale for a one-off experience.
Jarre’s legendary concerts have attracted Guinness Record-breaking audiences across the planet (3.5 million people in Moscow in 1997). Their settings, their contexts and their players encompass history, politics, environmental statements, socio-cultural coups, mass media coverage… amongst others.

They take place in exceptional settings, marking extraordinary contexts: From post-Mao’s Red China to that of today, from Texas in collaboration with NASA and the tragedy of Challenger, to the concert welcoming His Holiness Pope John-Paul II to the city of Lyon in France during, historically, one of the country’s most vicious waves of terrorism and coinciding with fatal predictions delivered by Nostradamus, from the saga of the Docklands with players such as HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, colorful tycoon and media mogul Robert Maxwell, not withstanding the atrocious weather conditions.

But if Jarre’s music is so universal, this is also because it is in a timeless class of its own, created by a man who has always followed his own vision and expression, far from the passing trends, driven by an immense curiosity of the world and universe in which we evolve: the wonders and sounds of nature, the awareness of preserving our planet, the politics and sociology of our times, the rich variety of culture and people across the continents, the fantastic evolution of technology in our living generation, how music is truly a universal language whatever the age, gender, culture or class… These themes have always driven Jarre, and are the foundations of his successful and ongoing singular career.

Although this concert will be indoors, it will not be any less spectacular. With his world tour, Jarre invites audiences to a journey into his singular universe, to immerse themselves totally in his world of timeless music and vision, in place and time. He promises with this unique and brand new super production to share the energy of his macro concerts with the emotions of an arena experience. With the fusion of analogue synthesizers, cutting-edge digital technology, spectacular laser design and lighting choreography, Jarre has conceived a show that encapsulates his signature expression and talent for creating milestone events.

Tickets are still available at www.bilietupasaulis.lt or www.bilesuserviss.lv