"Children of Space" (Rendez-Vous in Space concert, Okinawa, January 1, 2001) - "Velvet Road" (Geometry of Love)
On January 1st, 2001, considered by some as the true first day of the new Millennium, Jean Michel Jarre, together with the Japanese mega-artist and producer, Tetsuya "TK" Komuro, gave a concert in Okinawa. The concert, entitled Rendez-vous in Space, was a tribute to the science-fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, who was a close friend of Jarre's. Prior to show, Jarre visited Clarke in Sri Lanka and recorded him on video. At the concert the recordings were used as an introduction to each number. Clarke could be seen on the big screen where he talked about such matters as the possibility of life on other planets and sex in a weightless state. None of Jarre's classic hits were performed at the concert, but exclusively new material created by The Vizitors, which Jarre and TK had decided to call themselves for the occasion. The opening sequence of the concert was based on the theme from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is one of Arthur C. Clarke's literary classics, for which Clarke acknowledges to have been greatly inspired by Jarre's music.
Track list:
1. Overture (part 1) - Theme of 2001
2. Overture (part 2)
3. The Voyage
4. My Name Is Arthur
5. Children of Space
6. Nobody
7. Rendez-vous In Space
8. Race In Space
Ouverture part 1 & 2
I am Arthur Clarke. Good evening Jean Michel.
Good evening TK. Good evening Okinawa.
I am with you in spirit for our "Rendezvous In Space"
with The ViZitors. Happy 2001 everybody! The Future is Now!
1. The voyage
We are all voyagers on Spaceship Earth.
But when we leave it, we have to take with us
the environment that nature has given us.
We must know where we're going, so we have
to have computers and telescopes. We have to
build an artificial world in fact...
And when we'll be doing that, we'll travel out
into the universe on voyages which may take Months
to the nearer planets. Years to the closest stars.
Thousands of years to the more distant stars and
perhaps Millions of years to other galaxies.
2. My name is Arthur
Losing in space would be much the same as on Earth
and when I say in space I mean in a spaceship because
as everyone knows in space no-one can hear you scream...
IN SPACE, NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM!
3.
Children of space
Lifeforms on other planets will be even more varied
than they are on this planet. They will depend to a
large extent on the gravitational field on a planet
which has a much higher gravity than Earth - obviously
you couldn't have large animals - they'd be small and
squat and perhaps with many legs. On the other hand,
on planets with very low gravity you would have very
spindly, thin animals - very tall ones - and trees
perhaps hundreds of feet or hundreds of metres high
and maybe even kilometres high. The variations we will
find in space are almost infinite...
4. Nobody
Space is unimaginally empty. Beyond human comprehension.
The planets and stars are seperated by inconceviable distances.
So one of the aspects of space is utter lonliness. And of course,
absolute silence. The effect on the human psychy will be profound -
some people may even go mad, because of the lonliness and silence.
On the other hand, others may find themselves in that very emptiness.
5. Rendez-vous in space
A "Rendez-vous in Space" would be a meeting with
other space travellers -human or alien. It could
be re-visiting a colony in space, on a planet or
a space station. Obviously there'll be a great
deal of love-making in space and there are some
suggestions that's already happened. Making love
under low gravity obviously has attractions as
how often does the weight of your partner cut of
your circulation!?
6. Race in space
Because light travels at a finite speed -
and so therefore anything further away is
further and further back in time. The Moon
is only a second away. The planets, minutes
away. The Stars, years away back in time.
If we do have visitors from space obviously
they'll know much more about the universe than
we do, so we'll ask them what it's like out there.
But I think the most important question we could
ask them is "Do you believe in God?".
.jpg)
.jpg)
