Nicolas Godin of Air at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Credit: T15 MEDIA
Air performed at Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Wednesday 4 December.
The arrival of three French guys in white safari suits is generally cause for alarm. But the monochrome get-ups worn by Air’s Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, and their touring drummer Louis Delorme, are a signal of tonight’s task: a full-album presentation of their iconic debut, Moon Safari.
Released in 1998, Moon Safari is less a concept album than a lush and articulate work of neo-lounge music. A studio album in the truest sense of the term, it combines crisp Fender Rhodes and squelching synth bass with crystalline acoustics and plenty of vocoder.
In the quarter-century since its release, Moon Safari has become part of the pop cultural fabric. Its songs have appeared in swathes of TV and movie soundtracks – from 10 Things I Hate About You to The O.C. – and the twinning of tasteful sonics and low-key sensuality makes it a staple of café and wine bar playlists.
SEE ALSO: A guide to all the artists touring Australia in 2025
Air's Jean-Benoît Dunckel
It’s no exaggeration to say that Moon Safari has defined Air’s career, but Godin and Dunckel don’t wear this legacy like a burden. Beginning with the walking bass lines and Rhodes vamping of opener “La femme d’argent,” the pair supply the Melbourne crowd with a loving recreation of their masterpiece.
There’s no rockstar gesturing or feigned indifference. Rather, from the retrofuturist pop of “Sexy Boy” to the baroque psychedelia of “Ce matin-là,” Godin and Dunckel approach each song with the utmost care. And the meticulousness pays off – rarely has a gig at the Bowl sounded so good. There is not a note out of place nor an instrumental layer that gets lost amid the profusion of sonic detail.
Air's Nicolas Godin
The stage design is minimalist but complementary. Dynamic images of suns, moons and morphing watercolours light up a rectangular video screen that frames the three instrumentalists. Godin and Dunckel both command a station of keys and synths, while Godin frequently straps on an electric bass guitar and Dunckel holds it down on the Rhodes.
Delorme is an unexpected focal point. Perhaps this is ignorance on my part, but drums are rarely the most attention-grabbing feature of Air’s recordings. The opposite is true tonight, especially as Delorme’s 70s prog-inspired fills bring a space rock grandiloquence to the album crescendo “Le voyage de Penelope”.
Air's touring drummer Louis Delorme
Moon Safari is followed by a set of favourites from the rest of the duo’s back catalogue, such as “Cherry Blossom Girl” (from 2004’s Talkie Walkie) and “Highschool Lover” (from Air’s soundtrack to 2000’s The Virgin Suicides). The Bowl is all good vibes and lashings of love, and so while no subsequent Air LPs have matched the effervescent sophistication of Moon Safari, no one is keen for the show to end.
When it does, after an especially rocking version of “Electronic Performers,” Godin, Dunckel and Delorme shake hands at the front of the stage and wave effusively at the audience. Each wears a smile of gratitude and mild bemusement, as if they’ve just returned to earth after an oneiric lunar voyage.
