Today, April 5th, is the 40th anniversary for what was then the world’s biggest concert ever. It all happened in downtown Houson Texas. And turned me into a lifelong fan.
The concert was called Rendez‑Vous Houston and it was conceived by Jean‑Michel Jarre as a celebration of Houston’s 150th anniversary and also the celebration of the 25th anniversary of NASA. The free outdoor event took place against the dramatic skyline of downtown Houston and attracted an estimated audience of over 1.3 million people, making it one of the largest concerts in history (Jarre would later beat that record twice).
Rendez-Vous Houston combined large‑scale laser displays, fireworks, projected imagery on skyscrapers, and synchronized electronic music in a way that was unprecedented at the time. Jarre premiered much of his Rendez‑Vous album live, blending analog and digital synthesizers with other instruments including saxophone, a laser harp, a full scale choir and electronic percussion, to create a futuristic yet emotional soundscape.
The event also included the track Last Rendez-Vous: Ron’s Piece. It was performed as a tribute to astronaut Ron McNair. He was originally meant to play a piece of music on his saxophone while on a mission with Space Shuttle Challenger. This would have been be the first piece of music ever recorded in space. Unfortunately Challenger exploded on takeoff, killing all onboard, including Ron. When Jarre and his crew wanted to cancel the concert in the light of this tragic event, the astronaut Bruce McCandless contacted Jarre and said the concert had to go ahead, as a tribute. The concert therefore took on a whole new and emotional dimension
Fourty years later, Rendez‑Vous Houston is remembered not only for its sheer scale, but for redefining what a live concert could be—transforming the city itself into an instrument and setting a new benchmark for multimedia performances worldwide. It remains a landmark moment in electronic music history and a defining chapter in Jean‑Michel Jarre’s legacy. Oh, and you gotta love the stories from these eyewitnesses.
The concert was also broadcast on TV stations all around the world the following year. I was already familiar with his music, and had been for some years, but I hadn’t yet become a fan. When I read in the Norwegian TV Guide that the concert was going to be shown on the only TV Channel we had in Norway back then, I set our VCR to record it, because I was busy with other stuff that night. In the evening when I came home, I put it on to watch it, and I became a lifelong fan, there and then. It was the coolest thing the 14 year old me had ever seen, and I went straight out the next day and bought the LP from the concert. Today I know that the album only includes one track from the Houston concert (Equinoxe 5), all the other tracks are taken from a concert Jarre gave for the Pope in Lyon in October the same year he did the Houston concert (October 5th, 6 months to the day after Houston). However, the setlists for both concerts were pretty similar, and the album includes sound snippets from the Houston concert video. So you feel like you’re there.
I’ve also interviewed several artists through the years that had the same experience as I did. They saw that concert video as teenagers, and were hooked. M83 even told me that watching a Jarre concert on TV was what turned him into a musician in the first place. And if you ever meet a Jarre fan my age, I can almost guarantee that it was seeing the Houston concert on TV that turned them into fans. I therefore think that this is Jarre’s crowning achievement concert wise. It turned him into a superstar for the next decade and a half, and the Rendez-Vous album, which was the backbone for both the Houston and Lyon concerts, became his second biggest selling album. It was top 60 on the Billboard 200! And today he’s still making music, art, books and shows. And he’s touring again this summer, selling out all over the place.
As a good friend of mine said: «I may not like his music much, but he’s had a fascinating and incredible career. And he’s still doing it! Respect!»
I, on the other hand, have thankfully enjoyed his music very much. It’s been the soundtrack to my life in many ways. And through my love for his music I’ve gotten lots of friends in the Jarre fan community. In addition to all this, I’ve been able to interview Jarre several times (imagine telling my 14 year old self that!) However, I have to admit that I don’t listen to this concert album much. But I pulled out my LP again today, and was transferred back to the kid I was back then. And I had also forgotten what an awesome album cover it was:
In 2013 a friend of mine and I visited Houston, and we were able to find the exact same spot where we had to stand to get the skyline as it appears in the video. I gave Jarre a copy of this photo when I met him in Oslo in 2018. No idea if he still has it, but I have a big copy hanging on my wall in my living room:
Here you can see the entire concert video, including the preparations. Enjoy, and thank me later:
