The unique genre of airport music was taken to a different level with Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978), an album by British conceptual musician Brian Eno. Loops of piano and synthesizer sounds designed to relax travelers waiting for their flight and stimulate their thoughts. The work is considered the founding work of ambient, the most zen-like trend in electronic music. Little did we realize that a terminal could be transformed into a concert space. This was demonstrated on Wednesday, July 17, at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport, to mark the 50th anniversary of its inauguration on March 8, 1974.
To celebrate the anniversary of the airport's creation, which planned to ease traffic congestion at Orly and Le Bourget airports, the ADP Group (Aéroports de Paris) wanted to go a step further than London's St Pancras station, where a piano generously abandoned by Elton John in 2016 after a three-minute impromptu performance has since been used by John Legend, Alicia Keys and Norah Jones, to the surprise of Eurostar commuters. Dubbed "Terminal 1," the evening aimed to transform the upper surface of the circular building designed by architect Paul Andreu (1938-2018) into the "roof of the world". Not forgetting that with nine days to go until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Paris's Charles de Gaulle will be its gateway for many.
What better style than French house, the envy of the world, to symbolize national genius? A prestigious line-up was assembled around the two bands Air and Phoenix − whose names are an obvious link to the location − complemented by veteran DJs from the French electronic scene: Etienne de Crécy – composer of the 1997 house music classic album Super Discount – and the duo Benjamin Diamond and Alan Braxe, who had their moment of glory in 1998 with the song "Music Sounds Better with You," a hit from Stardust, the short-lived group that also included Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter. To avoid an old-timers' reunion and an all-boys' club, Parisian DJ Inès Mélia and Swedish DJ Izzy Lindqwister were included.
To complete the fun, the concert was free of charge, requiring only registration on the Dice online ticketing channel. It was limited to 2,000 people, not including VIPs and guests, and tickets were nonetheless expensive. The concert was broadcast live on Amazon Music's Twitch Monde channel and on Amazon Prime.
This wasn't the first time that Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport had invited musicians to exercise their talents close to the runways. Electronic artist Rone showed the way in 2015 in a Terminal 2 departure lounge, followed by British pop group Metronomy at baggage claim, and again recently, in March, by virtuoso Chinese pianist Lang Lang. But nothing would compare with the influx of hipsters in caps mingling at ticket counters with flight attendants and travelers waiting to board flights to Kigali, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Istanbul and Seoul.
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