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Air pulled off a pretty amazing trick during their concert Monday night. If you closed your eyes and just listened, the images generated by the mind often mirrored those projected onstage.
The electronic French duo—traveling the United States as part of a lengthy tour to highlight its 1998 debut “Moon Safari,” with the local stop (and, according to setlist.fm, the first time in Ohio) being at the MGM Northfield Park racino in Northfield—went from one song to the next, the colors and pictures organically presented themselves through the music. From the starry night sky in “Kelly Watch the Stars” to the desert sunrise in “Radian,” the synthesizers, guitar and basslines and drums were more than just pretty noise.
But to focus just on the music is to shortchange the fantastic stage show principals Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel put together. Also featuring drummer Louis Delorme, the white-clad trio coolly performed in a white box, almost as if part of an art exhibit. Multicolored lights and images were mostly projected behind and around them, enveloping the inside of the box as they tinkered away on various instruments for 100 minutes.
When combined, it was a potent performance.
The group are contemporaries of French artists such as Daft Punk and Phoenix and aren’t as well known. It’s a shame, because the electronic duo carved out a niche for itself as it dabbles in rock, pop, space-age lounge music and so many other acts.
Air hasn’t put out any new music in more than a dozen years, and all of the songs played Monday were from 2006 and earlier. But nothing felt dated, and instead proved how ahead of their time the group has been since it formed in the mid-1990s.
“Moon Safari,” in particular, has aged well. While tours where the band plays an album in full can sometimes be a tedious experience, especially if the record has some clunkers, that’s not the case here. Dunckel’s piano and synthesizer lines melded well with Delorme’s drumming and Godin’s multiple instruments, giving the audience the feel of a voyage through space over 10 songs.
And the lights were just as great after the group finished the album. As “Talisman” revved up, the stage was enveloped in red. The fireworks projected in the box during “You Make It Easy” made it seem more special. And who could forget the cartoon monkey with the shirt that said “I Heart Moon” during “Sexy Boy”?
The show was just as good after the group finished “Moon Safari” and moved on to songs from other albums. It also got a little more aggressive on “Dirty Trip” and “Don’t Be Light” while even more delicate on “Highschool Lovers” from the 1999 movie “The Virgin Suicides.”
When Air brought the show to a close with “Electronic Performers,” the visuals turned black and white.
The music, however, was as colorful as ever. Again, neat trick.
Setlist:
Set 1: Moon Safari
1. La Femme d’argent2. Sexy Boy
3. All I Need
4. Kelly Watch the Stars
5. Talisman
6. Remember
7. You Make It Easy
8. Ce matin‐là
9. New Star in the Sky (Chanson pour Solal)
10. Le Voyage de Pénélope
Set 2:11. Radian
12. Venus
13. Cherry Blossom Girl
14. Run
15. Highschool Lover
16. Dirty Trip
17. Don’t Be Light
Encore:
18. Alone in Kyoto
19. Electronic Performers
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at eheisig@gmail.com.
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