Oxygène Tour 2008: Barcelona

DAY 1. BARCELONA: (traslation by Javier Moragón



Marta and I arrived in Barcelona midday Monday, and after have lunch, I met with Miguel Ángel (Josmitar for the absent-minded persons) because we had an appointment with ML and Rimbert at the Liceu. So, we went there so nervous!! (Would they allow us to watch the rehearsal??  Would we make an interview with Rimbert??)
We met them at the door (they were smoking, as usual) and after greet them and taking some photos, they said us that they could not credit us for the concert, because of the amazing security measures on site (Jarre defined it in his blog like Fort Knox), but there wouldn’t be any problem for Madrid and Valladolid. So, after the initial displeasure, MAE and I said goodbye until the night.


Then, and for Marta’s joy, we went shopping (ok, she shopped, I joined her). And so much se shopped that we were running really late, so we could not go to the rendez-vous previous to the concert (but we met Núria on the way and we had a very quickly snack to be in form for the rest of the night).


Without realizing, 20:45 h arrived!! We are running late!! (This is because to be with women: Late forever). What a nerves!! We entered into the Liceu and… Oh, my God!! Just entering there is amazing!! The stairs, the lamps, the decoration… Wow! I almost had no time to buy some merchandising (too expensive, faithful to the ticket prices) and to greet some people and to meet some members of our Forum (Quimgagarin, Pisuke, etc, etc).



So we went to our orchestra seats. If the Liceu’s hall is amazing, to be seated at the orchestra site takes your breath away (especially if Waiting is playing in the background)
Everywhere you look is an amazing experience: The theatre boxes, the circle, the stage, the roof, the lamps… I cannot explain with words the feelings lived in those minutes previous to the concert… Jarre & Rimbert. The Liceu. With Miguel Ángel, Núria and specially with Marta.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the concert starts in 10 minutes” (ais, ais, ais, what a nerves!!)

“Ladies and gentlemen, the concerts stars in 5 minutes”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the concert starts in 3 minutes”. Sweat in the hands, bristled hair and more nerves…

The lights turn down, Waiting is removed, and we hear at the back of the hall “Good evening Barcelona!!” Oh!! There is not Egg-Chair!! He is coming from the back, right here!!

The concert starts.


The concert ends.

And, when we left our orchestra seats, we see Jarre’s mother. A very old woman, with her cotton jacket. Jarre dedicated the concert to her. 
Well, we left the Liceu and my mobile is ringing. It was Francis Rimbert who is calling me to say that he and Dominique Perrier are having a beer in a bar in the middle of La Rambla, and say to the four of us to meet them. And, well, that was what we did: To seat there with them and chat about this and that: the concert, what it was supposed to come in the tour, their travel plans, Barcelona, tourism and all this in an fun atmosphere with a lot of laughs and with good mood. Claude Samard joined us for a brief moment to have a “bocadilio con hamón” (a ham sandwich), he ate it in less than a minute.

Then, more people arrived there, people who were taking photos with them, they signed items to them, and even people who joined us in the chat. It was, without doubt, the best moment in the day.


The time was running. The musicians came in to prepare their suitcases. And Jarre were not appearing at all. It was almost 1:00 AM, and nothing happened. Wait a minute!! It seems that he is coming!!. Yes, he is about coming out!! But not: It was the magic trio (Francis, Dominique and Claude) whom tired of being waiting came outside and entered into minibus which brings them to the luxury bus which transports the crew during the tour. (In fact, they didn’t sleep in Barcelona. They left Barcelona right to Madrid in their super luxury bus). But Francis asked me, before he goes, to call him the day later to meet him and give me the pass which will allow me to walking around with total freedom during the rehearsals, to accede to dressing rooms, etc… And also, he told me about the possibility of making him an interview the day later. I asked Francis to take my program, already signed by Claude, Dominique and himself, but not by Jarre. Francis, as kind as ever, told me that he would give the program to Jarre and he would take it back to me signed by Jarre himself.


And in the end, “wait a minute, it seems he is coming!” “Yes, yes, now it is!!” And then were madness everywhere. There were 40-50 fans, but it seems that there were hundreds, thousands… all in mass between, in the top, in the back and by Jarre. The poor guy signed them some items, took some photos and managed to escape outside with two bodyguards.

And so on, it was almost 2:00 A.M. It was time to sleep. A very long day was waiting for me the day after.