End of First Week

Yesterday was the fifth concert of the 2010 Tour, after general rehearsals in Belgium which went quite well considering the amount of work done.

I worked a lot on this project to get closer to what I have been having in mind for quite a while. First of all, I rearranged existing tracks for the instruments the four of us use on stage. I also spent time on the mix with Alain Courieux to get every part of the music we play as clear and precise as possible, and with Julien and Vincent to get the best possible sound in our ear monitors, an essential ingredient to play in the most natural way. Then we worked hard with Cedric Courieux and Arno to adjust our new L acoustics PA system for each venue. I did practice quite a lot as well, especially the new Theremin part and my various solos. All that was previously rehearsed in the studio with the musicians Claude Samard, Francis Rimbert and Dominique Perrier. I really wanted that, beyond the technical aspect of the music, every one would express every emotion in each track, our eight hands playing with the same feel.

The other endeavour for this 2010 project was also to design a scenography which could convey the magic of my outdoor concerts, with each song building its own visual world. With Ignace d' Haese, the lighting director, we drafted specific color schemes for the cyclo behind us and I asked him to consider the instrument on the stage like "actors" in a play.. I also made the decision to include video backdrops but to avoid any directly narrative content so that the music should let every one create their own story in their mind. With Hugo and Ansar, the Laser team, we improved the laser harp and thought through ways to use the laser on stage and in space with a 3D approach. That gives the feeling of total immersion into the show for the audience, and will come in handy when we film the concert in 3D in Strasbourg and Liege.

Once we put the last touch to the music in my studio in France, I could focus on the scenography in Belgium. For the first time I decided to inject some live video throughout a few songs, to share some close-ups with the audience, as the way we are playing the instruments is sometimes quite "special". All the live feeds are intentionally in black and white to match the vintage look of the analog synthesizers and to provide a better contrast with the high-tech look of the scenography. Peter is doing an excellent job catching the best angles of the performance. To that effect, we put eight cameras on stage, including a mini cam on my glasses to give a dynamic first-person point of view.

The last general rehearsal went rather well which is quite unusual.. Then we left Belgium for Katowice in Poland, by bus. In fact, I asked Chris Rowley our great production manager to travel as much as we can by bus. In these days where the sense of geography and distances is becoming more abstract because of planes and communication technologies, it is a great experience to go through each continent by road.. And I just love the community spirit and those moments we share with the musicians, Chris, Pierre, Louis or Fiona, drinking sake, discussing future shows or making music..

The first concert in Katowice was exciting because of the Polish audience, always warm and so special to me. Technically, we had all possible problems. It was difficult to install the whole production in time, then something went wrong in Julien's console and suddenly the mix we had on stage was awful. It was a nightmare to play with such a mess in our ears. We knew from the beginning that this hall was the most difficult of the tour... But again, the audience was great and gave us the energy to fight.

During the day off, we decided to visit Auschwitz, which is only 20km away from Katowice. I thought a lot about my Mum, a great figure in the french resistance. She was caught three times by the Germans, and was sent to Ravensbruck, another horrible deportation camp. Everything has been said about the camps, but when you actually see one for yourself, it is beyond all description. The most striking thing to me is to measure the ability of some human beings to be as systematically, massively and madly destructive. It is something that every teenager should see. You feel so sick afterwards.. Thank you Mum for having taught me tolerance after all you have been through.

Then, we set off to begin the German part of the tour to Braunschweig. This second gig went much better, more or less at the level of the general rehearsals.
Hamburg was the first large city, with a lot of media presence, plus my agent Paul Charles and Gerard Drouot, the french promoter.. It was much tighter this time, the show starts to sound the way I want, still some visual glitches to improve. I think that Paul and Gerard understood what I am aiming for with this project..

We left for Berlin, always challenging and difficult like every capital in the world. Not only is it the capital of classical and electronic music, but it has also been the heart of european culture for centuries.. It is always something to play Berlin.
Fortunately, the concert went really well, the audience was so great, a mixture of young musicians, people closing their eyes to focus on the sound, girls dancing, others taking pictures. They were all so enthusiastic, it was a huge encouragement for all of us..

Yesterday night was Oberhausen.. I think for the first time, we delivered what I had in mind, all week we have made the few necessary adjustments on stage and visually and the result was an incredible feedback from the crowd. Everybody stood up for the last 45 minutes, and we delivered such an energy on stage that everyone went really crazy.

I hope we can keep this level of quality next week and maybe even improve it. Then when I will feel we "have" the show, I shall be able to introduce some new songs, but first we need every one in the crew to become in total control and confidence...

Next step Stuttgart.. Stay tuned.