San Diego, California was in for an ethereal experience transitioning from summer to fall with legendary French band Air on their stunning North American tour. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have been on the road for a significant stretch of time earlier this year enchanting crowds with their compositions flowing out of their iconic white cinemascope ratio spaceship. I have been in grand anticipation to catch their clean, nouvelle architectural stage design celebrating their 25th anniversary of “Moon Safari” since I missed their set last year at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles.
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Once the tour was announced, I originally sought out to photograph their set. To my delightful surprise, I was granted the sumptuous opportunity to capture Air in the written word; like lightning in a bottle. Venturing on a road trip midweek was a blissful escape from Los Angeles to San Diego in preparation for ascension into the cosmos by way of “Moon Safari”. Nestled in an intimate, open air venue, built 1941 into an existing canyon on Montezuma mesa, CalCoast Credit Union Amphitheater greeted patrons with a cozy and alluring aura on this brisk Autumn evening.
Walking up to the venue, located on San Diego State University campus, the choice felt intentionally aligned with that youthful, dark, dreamy spirit and poetic existentialism pairing well with the 25 year anniversary homage to “Virgin Suicides’ soundtrack. Stadium lights beaming down passing by as groups of collegiate peers engaged in sports activities on the expansive soccer field. Getting into the venue, I sought out to explore a bit of the merch booth before descending into Ionna Gika haunting set.
Singer of Greek origin represented by Los Angeles based Sargent House label, Ionna’s spellbound vocals for Out of Focus and Roseate off of her “Thalassa” album thrives in inviting a dark academia probing of the mind. It feels as if you, the viewer, stumbled upon a divine oracle weaving songs of longing and seeking justice while standing firmly in her power. Diving deeper, you notice the crowd awe inspired in a solemn trance. The striking contrasting of the bright LED stage lights raining down on her white gown with the black void behind her that kept your eyes glued to their set as the white smoke billows up enveloping the two as their dark fantasy set came to a close.
Anticipation swoons and shouts as house lights dim and the iconic blinking “Kelly eyes” projected onto the screen above opening up Air’s ritual set. Crowd began cheering in spurts and started growing to a roar as the glowing white box started to fill with each member of the band. Up first, Louis Delorme, drummer, waved to the crowd taking his spot, demure and prompt arrival of Nicolas Godin on bass, synth, vocals, acoustic guitar and Jean-Benoît Dunckel on keyboard, vocals, and synths dressed in their milky white beaming outfits. Off we go exploring the multi-dimensional AIRverse.
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Warm honey-hued incandescent lighting lining the interior frame of the spaceship began to throb and glow, elevating us all with the sensuality of La Femme d’argent. Each panel of the box lighting up and breathing life into the pulsating tip tap-tap 4/4 drum beat with sultry, weaving bass relaxed and groovy. Suave Fender Rhodes piano jazz notes effortlessly enveloping you as you are boarding the spaceship with the band.
Ready for hyperspace as Sexy Boy starts up and proves to be the funky heartbeat of “Moon Safari”. Absolute chills as Jean-Benoît oozing voice instantly transforms with the Roland VP-330 into an otherworldly prophet that would probably make Bowie proud. They have come to take you far, far away. 👽
All I Need and later in their set You Make It Easy, Beth Hirsch’s distinctive feminine backing vocal track melts away any fears of deep space unknown all the while downtempo instrumentation aligns chakras up and down your spine. Accents of Korg MS-20, Korg MS-20 FS and with acoustic guitar deliriously paints the vision of visiting an undiscovered oceanic planet on a beach in a far off world with another portal galaxy just on the horizon.
Twinkling, upbeat space pop Kelly Watch The Stars rising, spiraling the crowd out from the void with vocoder vox echoing back into the abyss. So surreal to believe this golden tune was inspired by Charlie’s Angels character Kelly Garrett, played by muse Jaclyn Smith.
Remember soars so high and almost helps you to forget to load up on spaceship fuel mid journey with ELO moody melodies and vocoder vocals layered on thick. It felt like being on a cinematic adventure with Barbarella for ‘Ce matin’là just basking in the space dust afterglow.
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Standing ovations occurred twice at the start of their set and for a two part encore. The band gave the crowd tastes of Talkie Walkie (2004) as Cherry Blossom Girl bubbled up with Godin’s acoustic guitar tantalizing the senses as a sweet breeze softly wisps by invigorating the mind. The white box was now drenched in soft pink tones. The build up of longing for this illusory, feminine totem to worship this Goddess presence pulled the crowd in tight. Unfurling that mystique with each verse as this mythic gal floats by only to disappear into the synth soundscapes.
Continuing on with soul shaking picks from “The Virgin Suicides” score (2000), 10 000 Hz Legend (2001), Venus, High School Lover, ‘Don’t Be Light, and Alone in Kyoto are among the vibrant choices of the evening. Delving into their instrumentation of their 2001 album, the end of the set burst open in chaos fury like genesis or birth of the AIRverse.
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Each new glowing screen panel changing from sparkling colorful stars to blasting into hyperspace as they became light beams was utterly breathtaking with each song unleashed to the concert devotees. The visuals for the entirety of the set had such brilliant, celestial, and soulful capacity to both hold you so gently in euphoria and give you that independence to reign free flying through the cosmos exploring further.
“Moon Safari” (1998)’ continues to be a source of ever-expanding inspirations to artists as the years flow by. Earlier on tour this year, the duo invited Charli XCX to sing on stage in Paris for ‘Cherry Blossom Girl’ at We Love Green Festival. Whether it be nuanced percussive elements, vocoder layering vocals making for eerie otherworldly soft prowess like a siren leading you into the unknown, or sensuous synth carving out rare, retro-futurism soundscapes, there is an epochal majesty to these compositions. The ever-evolving influence is truly timeless and inter-generational to fuel the possibilities of a progressive and evocative future.
Words by Grace Dunn
Photos by Narda Crossley
