Place de la Concorde (Mega-concert, July 14, 1979)

Place de la Concorde
Place de la Concorde, Paris (Out-door)
Entrance	Free
Date	July 14, 1979)
Length	Approx. One hour. 12 songs
Crew	Jarre alone on stage
Audience	1.000.000
Notes: Jarre’s first record of audience in an outdoor concert

To celebrate the Bastille Day in 1979, the Paris Mayor and its Deputy Culture ask Jean Michel Jarre if he could perform live in Paris. Jarre says yes, and chooses Place de la Concorde, Paris biggest square, and the main technicians he would like to work with. This aspect is very important, Jean Michel needs nobody to tell him who to work with but himself. Lights are work of Jacques Rouveyrollis. The Fireworks are confined to Daniel Azancot, an old friend of his. Christian Bourret is in charge of the giant images projected on the walls of the environning buildings. Music is synchronized with the waters jets on the square.

When Jarre climbs on stage, he his very anxious to see such a crowd watching him. Jarre plays the entirety of his two albums, Oxygène and Équinoxe, with some improvisation on the top of it. The young man enters the Guiness books of records with an audience of 1.000.000 (confirmed by the police) whereas he expected 10 times less. The police is exceeded by the event itself. In the audience, Mick Jagger is stunned from the total show (lights, music, images) he attends live. He rushes backstage to ask Jarre for a future collaboration. But their respective schedules will never match. It will take Jarre months to recover from all those emotions. On a single night and with his proper ideas, Jarre has changed the face of concerts forever.

Jarre said he was inspired by Opera from 18th and 19th century to conceive La Concorde. He might just as well been influenced by the big parties given by Louis XIV in the Château de Versailles.

The show is aired live on french television. The filming of this concert is a part of history itself. It is one of the first videotape ever published in France. A rare single named “La Concorde” is edited.

Tracklisting

1. “Equinoxe 1”
2. “Oxygene 1”
3. “Oxygene 2”
4. “Oxygene 5”
5. “Equinoxe 2”
6. “Equinoxe 3”
7. “Equinoxe 4”
8. “Equinoxe 8”
9. “Equinoxe 7”
10. “Equinoxe 4”
11. “Equinoxe 5”
12. “Oxygene 4”